From the New York Times:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Wednesday that the government will lose about $14 billion in taxpayer funds from the bailout of the U.S. auto industry, a third of the loss officials had initially estimated.Buy Ford.
In a report from the president's National Economic Council, officials said that figure is down from the 60 percent the Treasury Department originally estimated the government would lose following its $80 billion bailout of Chrysler and General Motors in 2009.
The report's release coincides with the administration's efforts to tout the bailout's role in the revitalization of the U.S. auto industry after last week's announcement that Chrysler is repaying $5.9 billion in U.S. loans and a $1.7 billion loan from the Canadian government. Those payments cover most of the federal bailout money that saved the company after it nearly ran out of cash in and went through a government-led bankruptcy.
For Obama, the auto industry comeback is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise sluggish economic recovery. What's more, the auto industry has a big footprint in key presidential battleground states like Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri.
General Motors Co., which also went through bankruptcy, received a $49.5 billion U.S. bailout. The federal government has lowered its equity stake in the company from 61 percent to 26.5 percent of GM after selling part of the stake in November. Ford did not seek federal government assistance.
I don't understand the math. Make them continue to pay back the taxpayers until the whole debt is erased. Why are automakers off the hook and the taxpayer in the hole?
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