We here at Bailout HQ never pass up an opportunity to add up large numbers. So when we saw Timeadding up the auto bailout, we couldn't resist.
Time gets to $83 billion by including two large sums not included in our database: $25 billion in loans appropriated by Congress last year to help auto companies develop green cars, plus billions more through the TALF, a Federal Reserve program to juice the secondary market for a number of different kinds of assets, including auto loans.
Set aside the Fed's spending, and you still get an enormous number.
Count along with us.
That $25 billion loan package is a taxpayer bailout conceived by Congress even before the financial crisis hit. (We detailed the loans in our pretty history-of-bailouts graphic.) The money will be distributed through the Department of Energy. A number of companies, not just the big three, are applying for a piece of the funds.
And then there's the TARP. As you can see from our auto page, the toll currently stands at $35.29 billion, a sum that includes Treasury's promised loans to Chrysler as it moves through and emerges from bankruptcy. But the total also excludes the $5 billion in aid for GM and Chrysler parts suppliers and two large sums on the horizon.
The administration gave GM a June 1 deadline to restructure, and although it's not yet clear precisely what will happen, it's likely that GM will receive additional government loans just as Chrysler did. A GM spokesman tells Time those could be in the ballpark of $12 billion. And GMAC, GM's financing arm, will likely soon receive $7.5 billion in additional bailout funds, the Washington Post has reported.
Put all that together and you get almost $85 billion.
Other links:
Bernanke Says U.S. Banks Must Test More to Identify Other Risks (Bloomberg)
Bernanke's Speech (Fed)
Credit Insurance Hampers GM Restructuring (FT)
We’re Dull, Small Banks Say, but Have Profits (NYT)
BoA Raises $7.3 Billion from Sale of Chinese Bank Stake (WSJ)
Goldman to Pay $60 Million in Subprime Settlement (Bloomberg)
