Is GM trying to alienate everyone? It is really difficult for me to consider buying another GM product. No Pontiac, government bailouts and subservience to government and now a CEO wanting even higher gasoline prices.

"General Motors Co. CEO Dan Akerson wants the federal gas tax boosted as much as $1 a gallon to nudge consumers toward more fuel-efficient cars" - The Detroit News June 07. 2011
See: http://detnews.com/article/20110607/AUTO01/106070368/1148/rss25

"Mr. Obama, we've only sold a few hundred Volts, please raise the gas tax so more people will buy our, I mean your cars"

-Dan Akerson CEO GM

Even with the taxpayers being forced to pay for the ones the government purchased and subsidizing people who want to make some "I'm green, look at me" statement, they have still only sold 2,184 of those things to date. In the meantime, GM has sold over 40,000 2011 Camaros.

and he'll be hired immediately because he'll have "I was GM's CEO" on his resume.

There are cars that people want to buy. I bought one last October. Between the gas prices and the car payments and insurance, it's tough.

I like the idea of a Volt, with its own onboard generator so you are not range limited. I would not buy one, though. Between the cost of the car and the specially configured battery packs and the effect of road salt on undercar electrical components, I don't hold out much hope for resale value or long term economy.

Anyone, individual, corporation, or government, who tries to impose their choices on the general public should meet with great resistance and loud outcry. Suggest, state a good case, prove the benefits...but do not try to blackmail us! Let us live with our choices, good or bad. Freedom of choice is one of the things we still have.

when horse draw carriages went out of fashion ,nobody needed to help push car sales.....the "market" did that all by itself...as it always will if time is right.

They're selling a lot of Camaros, not a lot of Volts. Americans don't want electric cars, they don't want hybrids. And therein lies the problem. When you have a bunch of "green" folks in charge in Washington, and those people own your company, you have to make what they tell you to make. And if the public won't buy your product? Easy, just ask Washington to boost gas by $1.00 to FORCE people into the cars you need to sell.

Having the government in charge of the auto industry is why the "Supercar" failed back in the 1990's. The auto manufacturers realized they would be at the mercy of Washington if they did what they (Clinton/Gore) wanted, so the entire project fell through, costing billions of dollars.

The "Supercar" was a fascinating story back in the 1990's. Take a few minutes to read this.

Supercar

Lost were years of effort, $1.5 billion in taxpayer money and perhaps the best opportunity the nation has had to address some of its most pressing issues.

In fact, the very problems Supercar was supposed to help solve have only worsened.