Henry Payne observes that only nine of twenty models made by Chrysler will qualify for CARS. By quickly acting to triple the size of this program, the government assures that many cars that would have been useful to young people who need good, cheap transportation will not have cars available to them. Immigrant families that would like a larger car for their children to ride with them will not be able to get them. In their haste to get people to spend at a time when many are feeling the need to save, they've only dragged demand for cars forward, as Mike Shedlock notes today. It delays the day of reckoning. How many more ways can government reinflate the bubble?

That's why, Ed, we're in a hurry to spend this money. It was explosively popular because it was first-come, first-served: It was practically creating a bank-run style stampede on dealerships. "Act now, because when they're gone..." And just like anyone making that promise, it's just too easy to come back and try to reap more money ... and more unfavored larger cars ... and remove more affordable cars from the market that poor people can buy from.