Kevin Hassett shares with print-version National Review readers the following observations about the auto bailout, which President Obama has been touting as one of his administration’s substantive achievements.
In the majority of his comments, the president focuses on the negative consequences that the bailout prevented and the number of jobs it created in the industry. According to Obama’s website, he “made the tough and politically unpopular decision to extend emergency rescue loans to the American auto industry, saving more than 1.4 million jobs and preventing the loss of over $96 billion in personal income.” The White House also states that “the industry has added 200,000 jobs in the last two-and-a-half years, and GM is once again the top-selling automaker in the world — posting its largest-ever annual profit in 2011.”
These assertions are poppycock. If the government had allowed the automakers to reorganize in bankruptcy courts, unions would have taken a bigger haircut, the automakers would be stronger today, and the government would have saved money.
But the administration’s most objectionable false statement regards the cost of the bailout to taxpayers. In a February 28 speech, President Obama referred to this expenditure of $80 billion as a bet on the American worker, and added: “Now, three years later … that bet is paying off, not just paying off for you, it’s paying off for America.” His implication that the bailout is succeeding — that it will not ultimately be a loss for taxpayers — is a constant theme of Democrats. …
… Out of the total $80 billion that has been paid out, only $35 billion has been repaid, some $7 billion has been written off, and $37 billion is still outstanding. That is, 9 percent of the original amount has already been lost, and close to half is still in limbo.
