All right, can any of you name the current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of General Motors (GM)?

Just raise your hand if you know who it is. He is the person appointed by the US Treasury Department to be their man on the General Motors Board of Directors after they became – Government Motors, a wholly owned subsidiary of the government. He moved from the Board to the CEO position then added the Chairmanship on January 1 of this year.

Daniel Akerson is the current CEO of GM. Even after their self-inflicted financial debacle, taxpayer bailout and government ownership Mr. Akerson still remains a real titan of industry and one of the most powerful businessmen in the country, if not the world.

Even though the GM CEO halo is a little tarnished and dinged up; he’s still the big guy on campus, the big cheese and the grand pooh-bah of an American corporate icon.

That’s why his recent comments in a Detroit News article are very perplexing, extremely disappointing and, to be quite honest, shockingly and totally dumbfounding.

Mr. Akerson believes that the government should raise – that’s right – raise the gas tax by as much as a dollar!

He believes that a higher gas tax will – force – the American consumer into buying smaller cars like the Chevy Cruze and electric Volt while also being part of a long term “ green” environmental policy.

But Mr. Akerson does not just stop with a gas tax. He also says, “ 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”.

That’s just what we need. The government, using their power to tax, forcing us into buying a product and accepting a policy they have “chosen” for us. Can’t people make the right decisions for themselves? I know they can. If there ever is a contest over who can make the right decision  – the American people versus the government, my money is on the American people every time!

Mr. Akerson needs look no further than out his window at the devastating condition of Detroit to prove that more often than not, government makes terrible decisions.

In a deteriorating economic environment where gas prices remain over $ 4 in many areas of the country, including mine, the stupidest thing you could do is raise the gas tax, or, for that matter, any tax on anybody.

Perhaps Mr. Akerson really just wants to make sure there is plenty of taxpayer money available for GM the next time they need to be bailed out. GM already has received 50 billion dollars from the U.S. taxpayer and 9.5 billion from the Canadian government. They also received 17 billion for their financial arm GMAC. To date less than 10 billion has been paid back to the American people.

You take our money to bail you out of your self-inflicted mess, and then you want to reward us with higher taxes so you can sell your cars. Nice work if you can get it.

Some thing must happen to the brain of a person occupying the CEO chair at GM. You become so insulated from the world where real people work that you believe such a stupid thing like raising taxes on such important items like fuel and the middle class will actually benefit anyone, let alone help the economy.

This is major stupid. I mean, were talking Marie Antoinette stupid. Remember her? She was the Queen of France when the revolution in that country occurred around 1792. She was so out of touch with reality that when seeing her people wearing rags, starving and begging for bread to eat, told them too “ just eat cake”. That comment and that level of arrogance helped her receive a one-way trip to the Guillotin

Now please folks, I am not advocating the same treatment for Mr. Akerson. Believe me. But this kind of arrogance and thinking about higher taxes is just buffoonery at the highest level. Mr. Akerson needs to be held accountable for this kind of dimwitted thinking.

Jobs are scarce. The unemployment rate is listed at 9.2% and has been over 9% for 24 of the last 26 months. An ever-growing group of job seekers have given up trying to find a job, while many other workers are underemployed or only working part time.  Because these numbers are not factored into the overall public statistics, many economists believe the real unemployment rate could be as high as 20%. These are depression level numbers. Higher fuel costs are not helping the employment outlook any.

Every month prices are rising for all consumer items because of higher transportation costs linked to higher fuel costs. Even some thing innocuous like my garbage service has gone up in price. Three times over the last year-and-a-half my garbage service costs have risen because of “ fuel surcharge costs” and I’m sure it will happen again. That is money right out of my pocket.

My wife is a realtor. Home sales, as most working people know, are in the dumps and she has to work a lot harder over much longer hours just to hang on. This extra work calls for additional driving to show properties to the ever-dwindling pool of clients. The higher fuel costs means less money in her pocket when she can make a sale. That hurts.

Food costs are rising due in large part to higher fuel costs for transportation and the actual farming itself.

Higher fuel costs affect everyone everyday in every way. Family income is dropping partially because of higher fuel and food costs. We are not going to tax ourselves back into prosperity or lower prices.

The CATO Institute, a respected Washington DC based think tank that advocates for individual liberty and free markets, has advocated for the total elimination of the current fuel tax. They made this call as far back as 2007. I agree with this approach. The fuel tax does very little in helping the environment and eliminating the tax will lower the cost on working families. You can make up the loss of revenue to the government by cutting spending.

Money is tight. Jobs are tighter. Fuel costs, loaded down with high taxes, are a huge contributor for the economy being in the dumps. We do not need a higher tax to put even more downward pressure on the economy making it worse for working families. We need to be set free from higher costs.

In 1953, President Eisenhower nominated then GM CEO Charles Wilson, to be Secretary of Defense. During a hearing for his confirmation, Mr. Wilson, in response to a question about GM, said “ I have always thought that what was good for the country was good for GM and vice versa”. (this is really what he said not what has been attributed to him all these years)

There lies what we need today Mr. Akerson.

What’s good for the country is having a government that’s not pushing down on our necks choking us to death with high taxes and overreaching regulation. GM was strong and powerful the world over, selling quality cars that people wanted when that environment existed. Taxes need to be low and government spending needs to be slashed and controlled by balanced budget amendments while onerous regulations need to be eliminated.

That’s good for country and the GM – and vice versa.

Support these policies and get the economy rolling. Create jobs and give people opportunities again so people can buy more cars. That is what we need. Not more burdens of taxes and regulations.

Mr. Akerson, come back to the real world and drop the ridiculous tax hike talk. Concentrate on building quality cars again. Help us out. We need it.

Oh, and please pay us back every dollar you owe us!