I think those who oppose stimulus programs which provide an extra benefit to a specific group of citizens, like people who bought a gas guzzler many years ago, or because the stimulus comes from "my tax money!", completely miss the point.

The point is, stimulus programs can work, to the degree that they put the money back into the economy. The best stimulus starts an economic ball rolling which results in that money being spent over and over. The clunker concept is that the money gets to the folks to buy the car which helps the industry which employs more workers who spend virtually every dollar they make at stores and businesses which order more goods and hire more staff who spend... etc. It's the middle-class American machine which has made our economy the strongest in the world, despite our colossal mistakes and wasteful practices.
The Germans, who rely even more than we on a healthy auto industry, invented the clunker concept, and it has worked very well for them. Our program is pretty good, way better than AIG bailout funds by comparison, but it has one flaw - that some of the dollars are being siphoned off by car dealers who are tricking customers into paying higher prices while mesmerized by the clunker rebate. To the degree that those crooks take that ill-gotten money and salt it away off-shore or vacation in Tahiti, the program is failure. Overall, as angry as I get that those abuses certainly occur, I recognize the relative merits of a stimulus like the clunker program.

For those of you who just get angry at the government for any stimulus program, or at those who are earlier in line for benefits than you, why not direct your venom at those who deserve it, the individuals and companies who redirect or steal the money before it has it's ripple effect.