Normally a story like this would be "dumped" by the Obama White House on a Friday afternoon--the preferred time to release bad news. But the mainstream media--and blogs for that matter--will be focusing on tonight's joint session of congress speech by the president about ObamaCare.Maybe because I've spend more time in Michigan than Illinois in the last two weeks, but this Washington Post story just screamed out at me:
The federal government is unlikely to recoup all of the billions of dollars that it has invested in General Motors and Chrysler, according to a new congressional oversight report assessing the automakers' rescue.
The report said that a $5.4 billion portion of the $10.5 billion owed by Chrysler is "highly unlikely" to be repaid, while full recovery of the $50 billion sunk into GM would require the company's stock to reach unprecedented heights.
"Although taxpayers may recover some portion of their investment in Chrysler and GM, it is unlikely they will recover the entire amount," according to the report, which is scheduled to be released Wednesday.
The report also recommended that the Treasury Department act with more transparency and provide a legal analysis justifying the use of financial rescue funds for the automakers. The report was prepared by the Congressional Oversight Panel, which is overseeing the federal bailout programs.
Wow...this is indeed bad news. Unless you are a member of the United Auto Workers, whose Chrysler claims were put ahead of those belonging to secured creditors in the Obama-arranged bankruptcy this winter.
If a private-industry CEO was behind such a money losing deal, that person would probably be fired.
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