CA$H back; Obama to recover taxpayers' money from auto bailout

WASHINGTON (AP): President Barack Obama said the US government will recover all the taxpayer money his administration provided to bail out the auto industry last year.

In an interview aired Thursday on the ABC television's talk show 'The View', Obama said the auto industry "tells a good story" of his administration's efforts to rescue the economy. He planned to highlight that story with stops at three auto plants over the next several days, including stops at General Motors and Chrysler plants in Detroit on Friday.

"You now have all those US auto companies showing a profit. They've rehired 55,000 workers. We are going to get all the money back that we invested in those car companies," Obama said in the interview.

The Obama and Bush administrations poured US$85 billion into General Motors, Chrysler, auto lenders and suppliers to avoid an industrywide meltdown in 2008 and 2009. The companies have shown signs of improvement and Obama plans to discuss the progress in the auto industry following the government-led bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler.

The White House said Obama's proclamation on recouping funds referred only to the US$60 billion his administration spent rescuing the auto industry, not the US$25 billion spent under the Bush administration. The most recent government estimate found that taxpayers will lose US$24.3 billion on the auto bailout.

Rechargeable

Obama will visit a GM plant that is planning to assemble the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car. The plant is one of nine the automaker will keep open during the typical two-week summer shutdown to boost production of popular models.

Obama will tour a Chrysler's plant, which recently added a second shift of production, adding about 1,100 jobs. Next week, the president will visit the Chicago plant where Ford builds the Taurus sedan and plans to assemble a new Explorer sport utility vehicle.