Here’s something that Americans are dying to hear: Can’t sell those new “small cars,” just tax gas!  In our effort to keep a dead industry alive, our domestic car makers are toying with the idea of pushing the gas tax up, up, and away.  Now, you may be thinking, “they can try to raise the taxes all they want, but it ain’t gonna happen!”  Think again.  Consider the fact that Barack Obama raked in TONS of money and support from the UAW and SEIU.  I don’t know about you, but I feel obliged to give back when someone lets me go in front of them in line at the coffee shop, let alone when someone hands me 10 or 20 million dollars.  According to usatoday.com execs at GM are pushing to see this go through asap:

“The carmakers acknowledge that raising the gas tax is an unpopular idea, but they also saw how fast consumer preference shifted toward small cars when gasoline prices topped $4 a gallon last summer. Without that economic incentive, the tide is turning back to bigger cars, crossovers and trucks.

And that could be a problem for automakers such as General Motors, (GM) which are investing millions to get fuel-saving technology on the road. At the North American International Auto Show Monday, GM CEO Rick Wagoner said taxing gas or providing rebates on fuel-efficient cars “is going to be the most effective way to move the needle fast.”

Is it worth 5 billion dollars of bailout money to produce an inferior car and have your gas bill raised by 2 bucks a gallon?

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