An eagle-eyed writer at The American Thinker flags this Inspector General report, “Factors Affecting the Decisions of General Motors and Chrysler to Reduce Their Dealership Networks.” Closing down scads of auto dealerships as part of the GM/Chrysler bailout was always controversial, but after this revelation in the IG report, I imagine things are about to get even more heated:

GM officials attributed these inconsistencies primarily to a desire to maintain coverage in certain rural areas where they have a competitive advantage over import auto companies that are not typically located in rural areas, although ultimately close to half of all of the GM dealerships identified for termination were in rural areas. Other dealerships were retained because they were recently appointed, were key wholesale parts dealers, or were minority- or woman-owned dealerships.

If you were a dealership owner who lost his business, the idea that the government disappeared your livelihood in favor of other people based on completely arbitrary factors would probably be infuriating.

(h/t Instapundit)