US Auto Bailout Caused More TARP Losses Than Banks (CNN)

The overall TARP program is basically unwound and resulted in a net positive cash flow of $15.3 billion to the Federal Government, but this was after $9.2 billion in losses to GM & Chrysler. Pretty surprised to see CNN openly state the following:

quote:

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Overall, the auto bailout was the one big money loser for TARP. Even with the Ally sale, taxpayers lost about $9.2 billion.

But opting not to bail out the auto industry likely would have proven far more costly, since GM, Chrysler and many car dealers likely would have gone out of business without the government's help.

If GM and Chrysler had gone under, it would have cost an estimated $39 billion to $105 billion in lost tax revenues as well as assistance to the unemployed, according to a study from the Center for Auto Research. And the government also would have been on the hook for billions in promised pension payments to autoworkers.

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Yet Toyota, BMW, and other "foreign" auto companies who employ thousands of American workers in non-union factories required no assistance (to be fair, neither did Ford). While I'm not in favor of "abandoning free market principles to save the free market," I find it amusing that the bank bailouts resulted in a net gain while the auto company bailouts resulted in a net loss. Blame those evil banks, Democrats, and keep kicking the can with the unions.

CNN Money