Obama: U.S. Will Recover Auto Loans

Just the Facts:

• President Obama expects $60 million of the auto bailout money will be repaid.
• The total liability is $85 billion.
• Cash for Clunkers program will not be revived.

WASHINGTON — There will be no free ride for GM and Chrysler when it comes to the bailout by the federal government, according to a prediction by President Obama during a Thursday appearance on ABC's daytime TV show The View. Obama said that the government will recover all of the $60 billion that his administration loaned to GM and Chrysler last year.

Obama plans to tout the bailout program's achievements during visits to Chrysler and GM plants in Detroit on Friday. The visit will be followed up next week with a trip to a Ford assembly plant in Chicago, even though Ford shunned rescue financing by the government.

Later, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed that the "total liability is $85 [billion]," during a press briefing. That means approximately $24 billion of the auto loan total is not expected to be repaid. Some of that includes the Bush administration's $17.4 billion loan to GM and Chrysler in late 2008 and early 2009. Gibbs also confirmed on Thursday that the Obama administration will not revive the Cash for Clunkers program.

"So at this point, we don't see or have any plans for redoing the Cash for Clunkers program," said Gibbs.

The White House on Thursday also issued a report updating the state of the auto industry on Thursday, following the government-led bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler. A key question during a press briefing on the report was when the Obama administration will be able to completely exit its investment in the auto companies.

"I think that's not something that's knowable today," said Ron Bloom, the senior advisor to the Treasury secretary for automobiles, whose last day is today. "As soon as practicable. And that means exactly what it says. We don't like having this investment, but we're not going to sell it at a fire sale. So we're on an orderly course. We believe General Motors can achieve an IPO this year. We remain hopeful of that. We are hopeful Chrysler will be able to achieve one at some point thereafter. We're going to take this slowly and carefully, and we're not going to be irresponsible. We recognize people don't want us to own the company. We don't want to own the company. But to do it at a fire sale I think is irresponsible to the taxpayers."

Bloom said 55,000 jobs have been added to the auto industry following the GM and Chrysler bailouts. It is said to be the largest 12-month job gain since 1999. The report says a million jobs would have been lost if the government had not intervened in the domestic auto industry tailspin.

Bloom was asked if the federal government sees any hurdles to GM being able to go public, following word on Thursday from the UAW that a GM IPO is expected in mid-August.

"We stated previously that we are hopeful that General Motors will be able to go public this year," Bloom said. "We continue to be hopeful in that regard. A public offering of this nature, or any public offering is very tightly regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and so until the company files what's called a registration statement, we're really not in a position to give any further information about what the offering might or might not look like."

Inside Line says: The Obama administration has some good news for U.S. taxpayers, but will not commit to a timeline for exiting its babysitting duties. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent