Obama and the government did not dictate GM build electric cars. GM was heading in this direction years before the government bailout with the development of the BAS hybrid, the full truck hybrid and the Volt. I sat in design meetings for the Volt three years before the government takeover. If anything Toyota and Honda selling a shitload of hybrids pushed GM in this direction.

It is accurate to say that the government has provided a lot of funding to companies to develop the battery technology to make sure they can be made and made to last without premature breakdowns and that the government has encouraged GM and Chrysler to continue building this technology after the bailouts but the American auto companies were well on their way to already doing so.

While there is plenty to criticize about government spending under Obama's administration the bailouts of GM and Chrysler were successful - this is something even the GOP is avoiding talking about. Hundreds of thousands of jobs around the country were saved and both Chrysler and GM are both hiring and heading towards paying back their loans early (with a little accounting kung-fu which is something all corporations do as well as they).