The federal government’s bailout of the auto industry will cost $3.4 billion more than previously thought, according to revised estimates this week from the Treasury Department.
The department now says the taxpayer burden is $25.1 billion, up from the last quarterly estimate of $21.7 billion, Reuters reported Monday.
The 2009 federal bailout of General Motors and Chrysler continues to play a key role in the presidential election, particularly in the critical swing states of Michigan and Ohio.
President Obama has touted the bailout as a successful accomplishment in his first term. Romney has argued that the auto bailout was not such a success. He says many jobs were lost — particularly in Michigan and Ohio — which have still not been recovered. The high cost to taxpayers can only help Romney’s argument.
Democrats have repeatedly reminded voters of Mitt Romney’s advice to “Let Detroit go bankrupt,” the title of a 2008 op-ed that the Republican candidate wrote for the New York Times. In contrast, Obama’s campaign released a TV ad in May calling the intervention into the failing companies “the right thing to do.”
Read More at The Hill. By Alicia M. Cohn.
Photo Credit: The US Army (Creative Commons)
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The Auto bailout of obama motors is a waste of taxpayer money, GM is going down in flames with record losses, the only thing keeping the doors open is taxpayer money
Bond holders of GM got a double green weenie, compliments of our Leader. pennies on the dollar for their
bonds, and now their share of at least $25 Bill as taxpayers. Nice one King!
This is what unions will do to an industry.