Many on both sides of the fence, conservative and liberal, hailed the TARP program, started under President George Bush as an absolute necessity and example of when government intervention was both appropriate and good policy. Many cited how the program would not only pay itself off as the beneficiaries of the bailout would pay back the government loans with interest. Those of us such as libertarian leaning Congressman Ron Paul (R. TX) who believe that government intervention in the economy is pretty much universally bad were opposed to the creation of the bailout program. As is usual, it turns out, despite a short-lived General Motors ad campaign claiming it had repaid the funds, TARP is a bit of a turkey (which is a lovely country if you're not an Armenian in the early 20th century, but don't ask President Obama about that, he's kind of vague). The Inspector General in charge of the TARP funds announced today that $119 billion remains outstanding in TARP funds and the government expects $60 billion will never be repaid.
And that GM loan? GM remains one of the three worst examples of the program, with the government still heavily invested in equity shares. Maybe they should stop running those asinine Chrysler commercials that say "Imported from Detroit" reminding us all that Detroit has turned into a third world foreign nation (in my opinion due to unions and Democratic politicians). I have no idea if what they still owe includes the TARP funds they paid back using TARP funds. Those GM record profits and claims that President Obama saved the auto industry have less basis in reality than the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
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