gm pushing for higher gas tax

[ponbigi]

[QUOTE=anthonyj9h;3309992]while as my other statement saying that i was pissed at gm is not entirely true its our government and us not standing up and saying F-OFF! this has to be the worst 8 yrs that Americans have seen in a such a long time....someone mentioned that it was the bush adminstration that proposed this..fine but who is pushing it? I dont know bout you but no congressman or senator nor president is getting any type of vote from me who is telling me what i can and cant buy and pushing more taxes on me....period. This is still a democracy and we have the say what goes on in this country and i cant believe that i fight for this type of government everyday, it makes me sick and pissed along with many other servicemember that i work with day in and day out....the things you ppl dont see everyday we do...so take a stand ppl write your congressman and tell them you are not going to be legally forced to buy what they want you to buy. our freedoms that many of us fight for are fading away faster then we think [/QUOTE


I like your statement however I have to correct you. We are a republic or at least the constitution deems we are a republic. Democracy is a term beaten into your brain. Take a few minutes out of the day today (all of you) and look up the definitions of each and find the stark contrasts

[Viral]

Originally Posted by Number 3

However, before you crucify GM or Akerson, please remember that every CEO has touched on this, including Mulally if I recall correctly. Even Lutz has said it.

Now what you are all missing is what CAFE is doing. CAFE is forcing everybody to build and sell smaller cars. But if gas stays in the 3 to 4 dollar range, what customer will buy a smaller car? Full Size Truck sales are still cruising right along at 4 bucks per gallon.

CAFE standards have been in place since 1974, guys. This is not an Obama administration issue. And as mentioned before, the current set of standards were proposed under Bush, only ratified under Obama just 2 months after coming into office. It's not his administration you should be angry with in this particular instance.

[d69chris]

GM...Government Motors....Obama administration wants us to do what they tell us. It's for our own good (in their opinion). So they built the Volt for us to buy. Not many have sold, so they will try and force the issue and then sit back and tell us they were right to make us buy it. Forget that there is a 10 year break even on any of these types of vehicles and that it actually takes more carbon dioxide to build one than they could ever hope to save!
That's not to mention all the heavy metals that go into the batteries that will become a disposal nightmare in 8-10 years when they start being replaced. I'm sure they will figure out that they can just charge you another $2000 to dispose of it while you are paying another $10,000 to replace.

Nanny State......here we COME!

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by cmore

Newspaper must have gotten some pressure as the article has been pulled.

Interesting. Too late though.

GM's Akerson pushing for higher gas taxes

David Shepardson and Christina Rogers/ The Detroit News

Detroit — 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, and he's confident the government will soon shed its remaining 26 percent stake in the once-bankrupt automaker.

"I actually think the government will be out this year — within the next 12 months, hopefully within the next six months," Akerson said in a two-hour interview with The Detroit News last week.
He is grateful for the government's rescue of GM — "I have nothing but good things to say about them" — but Akerson said the time for that relationship to end is coming because it's wearing on GM.
"It's kind of like your in-laws: It was a nice long weekend. We didn't say a week," Akerson said with a laugh.
And while he is eager to say goodbye to the government as a part owner of GM, Akerson would like to see it step up to the challenge of setting a higher gas tax, as part of a comprehensive energy policy.
A government-imposed tax hike, Akerson believes, will prompt more people to buy small cars and do more good for the environment than forcing automakers to comply with higher gas-mileage standards.
"There ought to be a discussion on the cost versus the benefits," he said. "What we are going to do is tax production here, and that will cost us jobs."

For the years 2017-25, federal officials are considering 3 percent to 6 percent annual fuel efficiency increases, or 47 mpg to 62 mpg. That could boost the cost of vehicles by up to $3,500.
"You know what I'd rather have them do — this will make my Republican friends puke — as gas is going to go down here now, we ought to just slap a 50-cent or a dollar tax on a gallon of gas," Akerson said.
"People will start buying more Cruzes and they will start buying less Suburbans."
With gas already over $4 a gallon in parts of the country, a higher gas tax is a hard sell.
Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Global Insight, said higher gas taxes in Europe did lead consumers to buy more fuel-efficient cars.

But she acknowledged that's virtually impossible to see in the United States.
"It's career suicide for a politician to call for raising gas taxes," Lindland said.
Akerson isn't the first auto exec to float the idea of a gas tax to encourage consumers to buy fuel-efficient vehicles. Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. has previously advocated a gas tax increase.
On Monday, a Ford spokeswoman said the company "will leave the policy decision to Congress"; in 2009, GM CEO Rick Wagoner called a higher gas tax "worthy of consideration."

Stock boost sought

Akerson believes the Treasury's continued ownership stake in GM — 500 million shares — is dragging down its stock price, which has fallen 23 percent this year, and closed Monday at $28.56. That's well below the $33-per-share it fetched in November's $23 billion initial public stock offering.

"I think that it is an overhang — to have 500 million shares sitting out there — it's a problem," Akerson said, adding that unrest in the Middle East and oil prices also are depressing GM's share price. "They don't know when (the Treasury is) going to come out. Investors hate uncertainty."
David Whiston, an auto analyst at Morningstar, agrees that government ownership is impacting investors' interest in GM.

"There are a lot of money managers that are waiting for the government to exit before jumping in," Whiston said.
The Treasury, which rescued GM with a $49.5 billion bailout and once held a 61 percent majority stake, "will likely look at another (stock) sale in August, after second-quarter earnings are announced, Akerson said.
The Obama administration has made clear it is eager to exit GM — but hasn't laid out a precise timetable.
Asked if GM is considering buying back its stock, Akerson paused for eight seconds before declining to answer directly. "But we have a lot of cash," he added.

At the current stock price, U.S. taxpayers would be out more than $12 billion on GM's bailout. Still, Akerson believes that, in the end, taxpayers will see the government made the right call in saving the automaker, as well as crosstown rival Chrysler.

"We are in the midst of transforming an iconic American company so 20 and 30 years from now (taxpayers) will look at this company and they'll say, 'Absolutely it was the right thing to do,'" Akerson said. "And it shouldn't be measured on did it sell for $43 or $53 (a share) or did they lose a couple billion dollars?"

GM was saved, he said, because of the extreme generosity of Americans — a spirit that helped restore Europe and Japan after World War II and rebuild cities such as New Orleans after natural disasters.
"We're the most generous country, even in terrible times," Akerson said. "We don't walk to the disaster as a nation. … We can't wait to help."

Things are looking up for GM's image, he said. Pollster Peter Hart, conducting research for GM, found 16 percent had a positive view of GM before the bailout. But that had risen to 65 percent early this year, Akerson said.
"I couldn't believe the press we got on the IPO — it was like a $100 million gift," Akerson said.
GM's rebound, he believes, was a "proxy" for the U.S.

"OK, we took the blow as a nation, we weathered the worst, and my God, we're back," Akerson said. "It's why I came here. It was a story of underdog that tripped as we all have in our lives — it was a good feel-good story."

Call for tax hikes

In his interview with The News, Akerson also weighed in on the nation's debt ceiling, saying Congress should raise it from its current $14.3 trillion mark. The government could default on its debt on Aug. 2.
"We're too good a nation to let ourselves be a banana republic," Akerson said, warning that a default would be "unimaginable" and could hurt auto sales.

But he agrees with those who say the country has been spending money it can't afford.
"Now, we need practical decisions," Akerson said. "I think you need to cut the hell out of the budget and you've got to increase taxes … on everybody — including the middle class and the rich people."
Akerson, who describes himself as "a Colin Powell Republican — not a Sarah Palin Republican" — said President Barack Obama has "done a pretty good job on the economy," which, he said, was "a nightmare.
"I don't think he can fix it in four years and I think we just have to stay the course," he said.

Despite his Republican stripes, Akerson is frustrated with the political climate and the media.
He was invited to appear on CBS' "Face the Nation," but said: "I can't go on it. I'm toxic. I'm like a lightning rod. I couldn't have an intelligent discussion without someone saying, 'He's a welfare guy from the bailout.'"
But he noted the bipartisan spirit of GM's rescue and the rest of the U.S. auto industry.
"If we had gone down," he said, "the supply chain would have gone down. … And Ford was hanging on by its fingernails, too."

GM's failure also would have led to Detroit's collapse, Akerson said. "I have not seen a city in this bad a shape since I went to East Berlin in 1969."

dshepardson@detnews.com
(202) 662-8735

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110607/AUTO01/106070368/GM’s-Akerson-pushing-for-higher-gas-taxes#ixzz1ObV1Fiwj

[StreetStrip]

It's stunning how our government run education system has dumbed down most people's understanding of basic civics.

Pure democracy is mob rule, there's a reason the founders made America
a republic. Although when your representatives fail to represent your interests we have neither a republic or a democracy, you have an oligarchy. That's where we find ourselves today

[ponbigi]

Originally Posted by StreetStrip

It's stunning how our government run education system has dumbed down most people's understanding of basic civics.

Pure democracy is mob rule, there's a reason the founders made America
a republic. Although when your representatives fail to represent your interests we have neither a republic or a democracy, you have an oligarchy. That's where we find ourselves today

So so very true

[BlaSSt Off]

I dont care who is at fault. I am going to spread this like wild fire and this idiot(Akerson) is making GM look worse than it already did. I used to be a VERY loyal GM customer for my whole life along with the rest of my family, but after all the crap they have been pulling, not anymore. I do love my Camaro, but there are other vehicles out there that will get the jobs done. Been nice knowing you GM! But I am just a consumer, what do I know right?

[hot_rod]

Originally Posted by StreetStrip

It's stunning how our government run education system has dumbed down most people's understanding of basic civics.

Pure democracy is mob rule, there's a reason the founders made America
a republic. Although when your representatives fail to represent your interests we have neither a republic or a democracy, you have an oligarchy. That's where we find ourselves today

A very accurate assessment and well put!

[anthonyj9h]

Originally Posted by hot_rod

A very accurate assessment and well put!

thanks for informing me.....now maybe we should take this approach...

Especially during the Fourth Century BC, after the restoration of democracy from oligarchical coups, the Athenians used the drawing of lots for selecting government officers in order to counteract what the Athenians acutely saw as a tendency toward oligarchy in government if a professional governing class were allowed to use their skills for their own benefit.[5] They drew lots from large groups of adult volunteers as a selection technique for civil servants performing judicial, executive, and administrative functions (archai, boulē, and hēliastai).[6] They even used lots for very important posts, such as judges and jurors in the political courts (nomothetai), which had the power to overrule the Assembly

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by anthonyj9h

thanks for informing me.....now maybe we should take this approach...

Especially during the Fourth Century BC, after the restoration of democracy from oligarchical coups, the Athenians used the drawing of lots for selecting government officers in order to counteract what the Athenians acutely saw as a tendency toward oligarchy in government if a professional governing class were allowed to use their skills for their own benefit.[5] They drew lots from large groups of adult volunteers as a selection technique for civil servants performing judicial, executive, and administrative functions (archai, boulē, and hēliastai).[6] They even used lots for very important posts, such as judges and jurors in the political courts (nomothetai), which had the power to overrule the Assembly

Three words, Congressional term limits. That would eliminate the "career politician" who is more concerned about setting himself up for his next campaign than representing the best interests on his constituents. 8 and out.

I'm also a fan of the Texas system of legislature. It isn't a full time position. They get paid something like $8000 a year and only meet during the summer months every other summer or during an emergency. It keeps the representatives plugged into the real world because they still have to go to work on Monday and keeps them from sitting around figuring out ways to spend money and take away freedoms. It also makes them get down to business and not sit around playing games.

[ponbigi]

Exactly and our congress and senete were originally volunteers who worked on a part time basis. We need term limits and take the ability from them to raise their own salaries

[Fogey]

http://detnews.com/article/20110607/...368/1148/rss25

[anthonyj9h]

already a thread started for this

[Fogey]

nt