Chrysler gets $7.2 billion in free taxpayer money

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Chrysler gets $7.2 billion in free taxpayer money

Thursday, May 7th, 2009 | Economics |

CNN - Chrysler won’t repay bailout money:

Chrysler LLC will not repay U.S. taxpayers more than $7 billion in bailout money it received earlier this year and as part of its bankruptcy filing.

This revelation was buried within Chrysler’s bankruptcy filings last week and confirmed by the Obama administration Tuesday. The filings included a list of business assumptions from one of the company’s key financial advisors in the bankruptcy case.

Some of the main assumptions listed by Robert Manzo of Capstone Advisory Group were that the Treasury would forgive a $4 billion bridge loan given to Chrysler in the closing days of the Bush administration, a $300 million fee on that loan, and the $3.2 billion in financing approved last week by the Obama administration to fund Chrysler’s operations during bankruptcy.

So not only is the government picking winners and losers to bailout, they’re pumping up some companies with free money that never has to be repaid. Remind me again why some companies get this money and some don’t?

For the record, I don’t think any company should simply be given taxpayer money without expecting to repay it. Companies that can’t make it on their own should go out of business. Propping up zombie companies with free government cheese hurts healthy companies like Ford that have to stand on their own to feet and compete in the marketplace.

All of this is on top of alleged White House threats to Chrysler bondholders to play ball or have the White House destroy them in the court of public opinion.

Who the fuck do you think you’re dealing with? We’ll have the IRS audit your fund. Every one of your employees. Your investors. Then we will have the Securities and Exchange Commission rip through your books looking for anything and everything and nothing we find to destroy you with.

Tags: bailouts, chrysler