The Observation Deck

Hi,
Remember back 8 months ago? GM was needing a bailout. So, they were flying around in private jets and offering a very poor management model. I was confused (nothing new there) about how these managers could be doing such a bad job of asking for US gov't help. I saw stories of guys' in their garages converting a Hummer and getting get over 100mph, yet noone from GM could say, "Bail us out and we'll make very high mileage cars too!" I thought then that they were just as dense as they were acting. So, GM went into bankruptcy. Oh how that must have hurt GM's suppliers! And the union! And GM stockholders! And GM car dealers!

Now that GM is relieved of all of that, look what they do: GM: New Chevy Volt To Get 230 Miles Per Gallon

There's a major announcement! Why didn't they announce this back before they crashed? Surely, the US Gov't would have bailed them out with such promises. Please, someone explain this to me.

They did get a bailout. 13.4 billion from TARP in December from what I can find.

If I may play the conspiracy theorist for just a moment:
GM has OnStar.
The government owns 61% of GM.
Now, the government has control of OnStar.
I wonder how OnStar could be used in conjunction with such things as the Patroit Act or the warrentless wiretaps?
Let's also point out that the number 2 owner is the UAW, who generally favor the democratic party. A return favor?
Ok, I'm done.

Let's boil everything down:
By getting its fingers into GM, it can nudge the company to building the "right" cars for us to buy. They've got some banks, they can nudge us around there. They're working on health care...don't eat that Big Mac fatso...nudge. Cap and Trade...you don't need your AC today...nudge.

The government seems to think we are incapable of making the right decisions for ourselves.

They announced that the Chevy Volt was coming a few years ago, they just didn't release it because the battery that powers the car would catch on fire.

This is not old news.