I can't say I feel all that sorry for the dealers. It's annoying -- yet typical -- that the government is fumbling the ball and it's hurting the dealers, who understandably made their plans according to what they were promised. But at the same time, nobody at any of these dealerships did a damn thing to earn this random boost from the taxpayers of America. Nothing. A lot of them ran around kicking up their heels and bragging that they were "selling cars like candy" (real quote). So I'm not crying for them now. The smart dealerships realized they weren't going to get paid by the government and stopped participating in the program before it ended.

I don't think anybody -- the car buyers, the dealers, and most of all, the carmakers -- deserves one cent of this "stimulus" in the first place. Since they were promised it and made decisions based on that promise, they ought to get it. But quite frankly, it's appalling that they were offered it in the first place.

One of the discouraging things about this recession is that the people and businesses who made the worst mistakes are being offered the most lush bailout efforts so they can continue to make those mistakes. We're doing everything we can to try to make sure banks, automakers, etc., and consumers, can all continue to operate on an entirely backwards principles.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)