Taxpayers still owed $132.9B from bailout

WASHINGTON - A government watchdog says U.S. taxpayers are still owed $132.9 billion that companies haven't repaid from the financial bailout, and some of that will never be recovered.

The bailout launched at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008 will continue to exist for years, says a report issued Thursday by Christy Romero, the acting special inspector general for the $700 billion bailout. Some bailout programs, such as the effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure by reducing mortgage payments, will last as late as 2017, costing the government an additional $51 billion or so.

The gyrating stock market has slowed the Treasury Department's efforts to sell off its stakes in 458 bailed-out companies, the report says. They include insurer American International Group Inc., General Motors Co. and Ally Financial Inc.

If Treasury plans to sell its stock in the three companies at or above the price where taxpayers would break even on their investment — $28.73 a share for AIG, $53.98 for GM — it may take a long time for the market to rebound to that level, the report says. AIG's shares closed Wednesday at $25.31, while GM ended at $24.92. Ally isn't publicly traded.

It will also be challenging for the government to get out of the 458 companies as the market remains volatile and banks struggle keep afloat in the tough economy, it says.

Congress authorized $700 billion for the bailout of financial companies and automakers, and $413.4 billion was paid out. So far the government has recovered about $318 billion. The bailout is called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

"TARP is not over," Romero said in a statement. She said her office will maintain its commitment to protect taxpayers for the duration of the program.

Treasury spokesman Matt Anderson said the department "has made substantial progress winding down TARP and has already recovered more than 77 percent of the funds disbursed for the program, through repayments and other income."

"We'll continue to balance the important goals of exiting our investments as soon as practicable and maximizing value for taxpayers," Anderson said.

The government has unwound its investments in four of the companies that received the most aid: Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Chrysler Group LLC and Chrysler Financial, the automaker's old lending arm.

On Wednesday, Treasury announced that it had sold the final batch of securities under its $368 million Small Business Administration loan program under TARP.

In Romero's quarterly report to Congress, she said her office has uncovered and prevented fraud related to TARP. Investigations by her office have resulted in criminal charges against 10 people and three convictions, the report notes.

[mentalist65]

No bonus for you company exec until you pay everything back.

[drcbs]

Does this mean I don't have to file this year? Pretty please?

[DebbieCorona]

Surprise! GWBush and Paulson didn't see the crash coming? Oh come on. Number 1001 why I will never ever forgive Bush. He almost destroyed the USA economically, allowed our children to shed their blood for a war based on lies for his personal gain, and borrowed from China placing the USA in a very bad position defense wise. I will never forgive GWBush!

[LtSmily]

Does this actually surprise anyone? Anyone that listened would know this was going to happen. While liberals are masters at logicall fallacies (we didn't spend enough, but we cannot prove our thesis), conservatives are demonized for telling teh truth. Too bad there are only a handfull of conservatives in Washington. Too bad Bush wasn't a conservative. Too bad none of the current crop of GOP candidates are conservative. We are in a deep hole getting deeper.

[PourpaixPourpaix]

Maybe you got a good point. To me, the conservative thing to do is exhaust every reasonable avenue to prevent war. War is expensive and ruins nearly every young person sent to do the government's murder policy. It's not a conservative policy to go off shooting as the result of every insult and cross-eyed look, but that's the Republican philosophy. Ergo, the GOP is not a conservative organization.

[LtSmily]

Yes, skyk, GM paid back most of what they owed. With money borrowed from another government handout. That means essentially they paid a credit card with a credit card. Only in America.

[josephp5]

The TARP bailout, which occurred under George W. Bush, has nothing to do with the bailout of the auto industry, which occurred under Obama. The auto bailout was a huge success, with Detroit now stronger than ever and the repayment ahead of schedule. The TARP bailout, on the other hand, only allowed the Too Big To Fail banks to get even bigger, pay out even huger bonuses, and lobby against stricter regulation, while doing nothing to help the homeowners that faced foreclosure. So don't conflate the two issues, CBS.

[ibsteve2u]

I reckon the taxpayer has already gotten 15% back...after the wheels that drove the collapse of the American Dream distributed that $132.9B to themselves as "capital gains".

[josephp5]

Somebody needs to call Erin Burnett and give her this news. She is evidently under the incorrect impression that all that TARP money was paid back to taxpayers. When Burnett was doing her report on the Occupy Wall Street movement (the first of her new program on CNN), she castigated the occupiers for not understanding how beneficial the TARP bailout was to the public and how profitable the deal was for taxpayers. Now we see that Erin Burnett is "Seriously?!" mixed up.

[skyk801]

Who in their RIGHT mind wants to return to Policies that made THIS necessary? Who in their right mind wants to again allow Corporate Wh@res in our Congress to De-Regulate Banks and THEN allow their Lobbyist to come into the halls of congress and write their OWN Regulations. ANYONE with a "R" before their name should be voted OUT of office..

[Montana5]

$132 billion of of borrowed money down the toilet(and still counting with the loss of interest income on this silly investment) and some people consider this program to be a success.....only in America. I thought AIG and GM were now "profitable"? Shouldn't they pay back the loans? Of course not, there was absolutely no risk to them and no obligations. Check out the compensation packages currently being paid to the executives of these companies while they remain in hock to the taxpayers.. Shameful!!

[skyk801]

Montana5, GM has paid back it's loan and THAT loan was entirely different that what was done with AIG. The GM Loan was provided an AMERICAN Car Maker so it could come out of Bankruptcy and produce JOBS for American Workers. AIG was part of the Corporate group that paid off the Republiklan Party to De-Regulate their Industry so they could be part of the Bank/Loan Rip off.

[occupy_cbs]

While the government's $182 billion bailout of insurance giant AIG was a scandal, GM had absolutely nothing to do with the TARP bailout, and is paying back their government loan ahead of schedule!