General Motors for decades has been the symbol of U.S. industrial might. “What’s good for General Motors is good for the country” is a quotation that has lingered in the popular imagination since it was first said over 50 years ago. And the truth is, at its high point in 1962, GM had 51 percent of the car and truck market to itself.

Its brand names have been everywhere as long as any of us can remember: Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Cadillac and, of course, old faithful Chevrolet. Others have joined the roster since, but those are the storied brands, the cars most, if not virtually all, of America have driven at one time or another.

But when GM came begging to the federal government last fall, driven to the brink of bankruptcy by poor management, high labor costs and a faltering economy, America signaled that the love affair was over. In survey after survey since, Rasmussen Reports has found that Americans are not in a bailout mood, for GM or anybody.

CEO Chairman Rick Wagoner first approached the Bush administration and Congress seeking $18 billion in taxpayer-backed loans last fall. However, in November just after the election, 45% of Americans were opposed to the loans, 35% favored them, and 20% were undecided. Four-out-of-five (80%) were concerned the government would get too involved in the private economy.

That same month, nearly half of U.S. voters (48%) said it was better for the economy to let companies like General Motors fail rather than providing government subsidies to keep them in business. In fact, when Congress rejected an auto bailout package, it got a slight bump in its generally dismal job approval ratings.

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By Thanksgiving as the bailout request dominated headlines, opposition to taxpayer-backed loans for GM and equally troubled Chrysler rose to 55%. But in December, President Bush, convinced that the automakers were essential to the economy, went ahead with a $17.4-billion auto bailout package anyway.

Since then, the story has remained largely the same. By February when the automakers returned to Congress and President Obama for more help, opposition to additional taxpayer-backed loans had risen to 64%. That number was virtually unchanged even after Obama’s new auto task force dumped Wagoner as head of GM and gave the company 90 days to come up with a radical reorganization plan or else go into bankruptcy.

The plan wasn’t good enough, and today GM declared bankruptcy, although it’s part of a structured plan that gives the government a majority say in the company. But 67% of voters are opposed to the plan that would provide GM with billions in federal funding and give the government a majority ownership interest.

So why do Congress and the president go ahead with the bailouts in spite of public opposition? Findings in mid-April give us a clue. While 60% of all voters opposed the bailout loans to the automakers, the Political Class had other ideas. Sixty-four percent (64%) of the Political Class favored the bailout, compared to 23% of Mainstream Americans. It’s not difficult to see, then, why the mainstream, or populist, view is that big government and big business are political allies rather than political opponents.

While GM’s structured bankruptcy may keep the company in business, it faces resistance from the marketplace. Most Americans have consistently told us that they won’t buy a car from a bankrupt automaker.

That number has remained virtually unchanged despite the president’s promise that the federal government will honor their auto warranties, an idea that Americans have very mixed feelings about.

Even though 57% expect the government as majority owner of GM and Chrysler to give the companies an unfair advantage over its business rivals, just 18% think the feds will do a good job running the two automakers.

Meanwhile, the one Big Three automaker who hasn’t sought federal help, Ford, continues to go up in the public’s estimation. Ford is also seen by 61% of Americans as more likely to survive than Chrysler or GM.

No matter, because 76% of voters now believe it is possible for the U.S. economy to recover even if GM goes out of business. Americans, it seems, have decided that what’s good for General Motors isn’t good for the country after all.

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