The Worst Cars On The Road, 9 were GM Cars

It seems the $50 billion bailout to the auto industry didn't do crap to improve the company or the cars they produce. Obama called it an investment for America. As it turns out, that investment was a losing $11 billion proposition to the American taxpayer. Of the 12 cars named, 9 automobiles were produce by General Motors (GM). Not including the 3 foreign imports, the only company that wasn't mention and didn't receive bailout money was Ford. Therefore, the government is in no position to take over the private sector. The government doesn't understand how to run a company. The government purpose is to waste our tax dollar and create a nanny state. This bailout was a waste of tax dollars to help line the pockets of lobbyist.

The Worst Cars On The Road - ABC News

1. Cadillac Escalade (Base Model):Listed Among: Consumer Reports Worst Value, Consumer Reports Highest Costs of Ownership, Consumer Reports Worst Safety Performance

2. Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid: Listed Among: Consumer Reports Worst Value, Consumer Reports Worst Safety Performance, Consumer Reports Least Reliable

3. Dodge Nitro SLT: Listed Among: Consumer Reports Worst Value, Consumer Reports Worst Cars, Consumer Reports Least Reliable, Consumer Reports Worst Fuel Economy

4. Dodge Dakota: Listed Among: Consumer Reports Highest Costs of Ownership, Consumer Reports Least Reliable

5. Jeep Wrangler Unlimited: Listed Among: Consumer Reports Worst Value, Consumer Reports Worst Cars, Consumer Reports Least Reliable

6. Mercedes Benz S550: Listed Among: Consumer Reports Worst Value, Consumer Reports Highest Costs of Ownership, Consumer Reports Worst Fuel Economy

7. Chrysler Town and Country: Listed Among: Consumer Reports Highest Costs of Ownership, Consumer Reports Least Reliable

8. Chevrolet Colorado: Listed Among: Consumer Reports Worst Safety Performance, Consumer Reports Least Reliable

9. Chevrolet Aveo/Aveo5: Listed Among: Consumer Reports Worst Cars, Consumer Reports Least Reliable, Consumer Reports Worst Fuel Economy

10. SmartForTwo coupe: Listed Among: Consumer Reports Worst Cars, Consumer Reports Least Reliable

11. Jeep Liberty/Jeep Liberty Sport: Listed Among: Consumer Reports Least Reliable, Consumer Reports Worst Fuel Economy

12. Nissan Titan: Listed Among: Consumer Reports Least Reliable, Consumer Reports Worst Fuel Economy

(ABC NEWS)By all accounts, Detroit's Big Three automakers have begun producing better-made, longer lasting, more efficient vehicles. It's a distinct change from the 1990s and early 2000s, when they fell behind their European and Asian counterparts in each category.

"This change is not even a gradual thing," says Christine Overstreet, an automotive consultant and director of Heels and Wheels. "It's like they've said, 'OK, we really want to step it up, we really want to compete, we're ready.' After past years of being so bad, they've really stepped up their game."

But with three exceptions--the Mercedes-Benz S550, Smart Fortwo and Nissan Titan--all of the cars on this year's list of the Worst Cars on the Road are (still) made by domestic companies. That includes the Dodge Dakota, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and Chrysler Town & Country. The only American car company with zero vehicles on the list? Ford.

Washington State Considers Annual Flat Fee for Electric Cars

A user base tax to drive a car on public road is another way how the government is trying to siphon every penny we earn. This tax will affect every person who owns a car. It will affect every social economic class; from the poor to the very rich. The government doesn't discriminate anybody because they believes it's their money and they want it. By the way, the user base tax will not only affect electric cars, but also, eventually affect cars that run on gas and the combination of gas/electric. The government isn't stupid. They have all areas covered. The annual flat fee to drive an electric car is only the beginning.

(Yahoo) OLYMPIA, Wash. – Drivers of electric cars may have left the gas pump behind, but there's one expense they may not be able to shake: paying to maintain the roads.

After years of urging residents to buy fuel-efficient cars and giving them tax breaks to do it, Washington state lawmakers are considering a measure to charge them a $100 annual fee — what would be the nation's first electric car fee.

State lawmakers grappling with a $5 billion deficit are facing declining gas tax revenue, which means less money to maintain or improve roads.

"Electric vehicles put just as much wear and tear on our roads as gas vehicles," said Democratic state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, the bill's lead sponsor. "This simply ensures that they contribute their fair share to the upkeep of our roads."

Other states are trying to find solutions to the same problem, as cars become more fuel-efficient and, now, don't use any gas at all.

In Oregon, lawmakers are considering a bill to charge drivers of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles based on the number of miles they drive. In Mississippi, lawmakers briefly considered a similar plan. In Texas, significant opposition scuttled an electric vehicle fee.

In Washington state, some electric car drivers and lawmakers are against the fee, saying they prefer paying based on how much they actually drive.

Of course, such use-based fees could end up costing drivers more.

Obama Screws Tax Payer $11 Billion in Failed GM Bailout

Obama bailed out GM for $50 billion. In return, Obama screwed the American people $11 billion in a failed bailout of an auto manufacturer. Obama accepts the loss in order to cut ties from GM. Its purpose is to run for the 2012 presidential race without an association of a failed bailout. Well, the American people aren't quick to forget.

(AFP) NEW YORK — A report that the US government plans to sell off much of its remaining stake in General Motors this year despite the firm's lackluster share price caused investors to flee the stock Tuesday.

After the Wall Street Journal reported a government sale could come within the next six months, GM's shares fell by nearly 1.3 percent to end at $29.59.

The government sale would "almost certainly" mean that US taxpayers would take a loss from a politically controversial $50 billion rescue of the auto giant in 2009, according to the paper.

The government would need to sell its roughly 500 million shares for $53 dollars each in order to break even, but GM's stock is currently hovering at a price of just under $30 per share.

At the current price, the government would lose more than $11 billion, but the Obama administration is willing to accept the loss in order to cut its last ties to the auto manufacturer, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

Obama Rushes to Sell GM Stock at a Lost

The government is willing to take a loss with the bailout with GM because the Obama administration would like to sever its last ties to the auto maker; of course, at the expense of the taxpayers. It is already a lost cause. Obama dump billions into the auto industry and for what? GM built defective cars with steering wheels that come off, electric cars that causes electrical spark, electric cars that can cause an electric fire while plugged in, and building smaller cars that people don't want. It is a huge waste to the people tax dollars. This need to end right now.

(WSJ) The U.S. government plans to sell a significant share of its remaining stake in General Motors Co. this summer despite the disappointing performance of the auto maker's stock, people familiar with the matter said.

A sale within the next several months would almost certainly mean U.S. taxpayers will take a loss on their $50 billion rescue of the Detroit auto maker in 2009.

To break even, the U.S. Treasury would need to sell its remaining stake—about 500 million shares—at $53 apiece. GM closed off 27 cents a share at $29.97 in 4 p.m. trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange, hitting a new low since its $33-a-share November initial public offering.

"Planning for the sale of our remaining GM stock is still at an early stage, and the IPO lock-up does not expire until late May," a Treasury spokesperson said. "At that point, we will consider all of our options, based on our twin goals of protecting taxpayers' interests and exiting as soon as practicable."

Shares have been hurt by rising fuel prices, industry production disruptions and management turnover. At Monday's price, and taking into account shares sold during the IPO, taxpayers would lose more than $11 billion on the rescue if the government dumped the rest of its stake now.

Government officials are willing to take the loss because the Obama administration would like to sever its last ties to the auto maker, the people familiar with the matter said. A summer sale makes it more likely Treasury could sell all of its stake in GM by year's end, avoiding a potentially controversial sale in the 2012 presidential election year.

Gas Prices Have Gone Up 67 Percent Since Obama Became President

DRILL BABY DRILL! Obama needs to stop blaming oil-rich nations and oil companies. Opening the oil reserves would only save us ten cents at the pump. It is time to really lift the ban on off shore drilling and let us drill because America will not buy electric cars from the GM (Government Motors)

(Weekly Standard) Ah, January of 2009. Hope was in the air, but more importantly, gas was under two dollars a gallon. Since then gas prices, have gone up 67 percent and it's an ominously upward trend. Interestingly enough, the Heritage Foundation also took a look at the first 26 months of Bush's presidency -- gas only rose 7 percent during that time frame.

Now obviously turmoil in the Middle East has something to do with our current astronomical gas prices, but keep in mind that by this point in the Bush presidency 9/11 had happened and we were on the verge of invading Iraq. So while the president can't be entirely responsible for global commodity prices, it's still worth asking what Obama's doing to make things worse.

After all, this is the President who told us "We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.”

This is the President that appointed a Secretary of the Interior that famously said he didn't mind if gas hit $10 a gallon.

GM's union recovering after stock sale

Bailouts never work, especially when government intervention is involved. When the government took over General Motors, they created a partnership with the unions. When the government(owner) made money, the unions benefit the most. When something looks too good to be true, it is. It proves that Obama's stimulus package and bailouts only benefited those group of people that helped him get the White House. It is also called a "pay-off".

(Washington Times)- General Motors Co.’s recent stock offering was staged to start paying back the government for its $50 billion bailout, but one group made out much better than the taxpayers or other investors: the company’s union.

Thanks to a generous share of GM stock obtained in the company’s 2009 bankruptcy settlement, the United Auto Workers is well on its way to recouping the billions of dollars GM owed it — putting it far ahead of taxpayers who have recouped only about 30 percent of their investment and further still ahead of investors in the old GM who have received nothing.

The boon for the union fits the pattern established when the White House pushed GM into bankruptcy and steered it through the courts in a way that consistently put the interests of the union ahead of many suppliers, dealers and investors — stakeholders that ordinarily would have fared as well or better under the bankruptcy laws.

“Priority one was serving the interests of the UAW” when the White House’s auto task force engineered the bankruptcy, said Glenn Reynolds, an analyst at CreditSights. The stock offering served to show once again how the White House has handsomely rewarded its political allies, he said.

The union’s health care and pension trust fund earned $3.4 billion through the sale of one-third of its shares in GM last week. Analysts estimate that it would break even if it sells the remaining two-thirds of its shares at an average price of $36 — close to where the stock traded shortly after the offering hit the market. GM shares closed at $33.45 on Wednesday.

For taxpayers to break even, by contrast, the stock would have to rise to at least $52 and by some estimates as high as $103 — levels that would take years to achieve.

In any event, after selling one-third of its shares last week, the U.S. Treasury has agreed not to sell any more of its GM stock for another six months, while the union fund is free to keep selling its shares.

Through the offering, the Treasury recouped $13.7 billion of its $49.5 billion cash infusion in GM, with another $1.8 billion possible by the end of the year. GM is repaying another $9.5 billion in loans from the Treasury, but that still leaves taxpayers a long way from breaking even.

Union claims ordinarily do not receive such special treatment in bankruptcies.