http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/21/autos/chrysler_government_exit/index.htm?cnn=yes&hpt=hp_t2 NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. taxpayers likely lost $1.3 billion in the government bailout of Chrysler, the Treasury Department announced Thursday. So tell me why we bailed them out?
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The article talke about 113,000 jobs being recovered as a result of the bailout. If each job pays 60K a year, which might be a conservative estimate, would not the 1.3 billions loss be recouped by the federal taxes paid by the workers if the American auto industry recovers and the workers stay at their jobs for several years putting aside for a second the added expense of unemployment insurance, medical care for those who went on Medicaid, and other social safety net expenes had those workers not secured re-employment? One variable obviously is out of the 113,000, how many involved Chrylser as opposed to GM jobs. I understand the agrument re whether government should be involved in picking and cjhossing which domestic industries we should save or not and I suspect that the decision in this case was influenced by the UAW's ties to the Democratic Party. But, putting that to one side for a second and simply crunching numbers, is this going to turn out to be a bad deal for the taxpayer?
Sid, LOL! I put a ton of qualifiers in my posting because I realized that a Hoosier financial wiz might be reading my note and could easily tear apart my analysis if my post was too dogmatic. When it comes to matters involving finance and what is or is not a waste of money, I readily defer to anyone from Indiana who has had a role in maintaining a municipal budget ( with the exception of any Indiana town near Chicago) and financial managers from Grand Rapids whose last name starts with a Van or Van der .....
Bobda, Thank you for the deference. Being retired and no longer hearing nice things from clients, I hunger for compliments, even if they come with a touch of friendly sarcasm. :wink: Actually, all kidding aside, I like your analysis.