White House: Taxpayers will be repaid for 'some' of auto bailout
David Shepardson Detroit News Washington Bureau
November 04, 2009 20:13 PM

Washington -- The White House won't guarantee that General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC would repay the full $62 billion they have received in government bailouts.

Reacting to a Government Accountability Report that said automakers are "unlikely" to repay all of the government loans, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters today that taxpayers would at least get "some" of the money back.

"I think the American people will see some of that money returned," Gibbs said, declining to suggest how much. "I'm not the car czar."

The Obama administration's former car czar, Steve Rattner, says taxpayers have lost roughly $25 billion on their investment in GM, and there's no hope of recovering the first $4 billion loaned to Chrysler.

The GAO report cited the Treasury Department's internal analyses that said GM and Chrysler's market capitalizations, when their stock is publicly offered, are "unlikely" to be enough to be repaid.

Other reports, including the Congressional Oversight Panel, also suggest taxpayers stand to lose billions on the $81 billion auto industry bailout, which includes loans to GMAC and an auto supplier support program. The Congressional Budget Office predicted in June that taxpayers will get just 27 percent of their initial investment in the auto industry back.

GM received about $50 billion in government loans. The government swapped about $43 billion of the loans for a 61 percent equity stake in GM, so the only way the government can be repaid in full is if the company is worth far more than it was previously, when it holds an initial public offering as early as late next year.