Taxpayers Lose Big As Feds Finish Chrysler Bailout

According to figures released by the US Treasury Thursday, American taxpayers lost 1.3 billion dollars in the Chrysler bailout..

The US Government recently sold its final 6% share to Fiat, completing the bailout portion of the 2009 TARP Program, and it hit taxpayers with a hefty bill.  Of the original 12.5 billion committed by the Feds, 560 million was paid by Fiat for the six percent share, and another 11.2 billion was "repaid" through principal and interest payments as well as what are called cancelled commitments by the automaker.   Despite the 1.3 billion hit, the Treasury Department and Obama Administration consider the bailout a "success".  However, according to the latest unemployment figures, the bailout, as well as TARP, does not appear to have helped the US economy.