::::*I think I get what you are saying.  It can be asked, "If GM et al didn't do this why would people say they did?"  One set of answers is what Bianco discusses, ie what roll conspiracy myths can play in culture.  The other angle, the one I think you (Anmccaff) are trying to hit on is that in politics the goal is often to get money for your constituents.  If you are an urban mayor (say of San Fransisco) it's nice to claim that some corporate conspiracy is the root of your troubles and the solution is federal tax dollars.  That does make sense.  If we were discussing this on a forum I think we could suggest that as a reasonable hypothesis as to why some people would push the GM killed streetcars story.  However, I haven't seen any articles that support this so I would be reluctant to add it to the article even though it makes sense.  That said, perhaps a section on what motivates the perpetuation of the story would be good?  I think PeterEastern is thinking about adding such information to the article.  Do you have any suggested supporting links?  Also, who are Schrag, Garrison etc?  Were they in the stuff added by Spearmind?  Do they talk about this topic or just conspiracies in general?  I would be interested if you have some links.