GMAC Bailout Could Cost Taxpayers $6.3 billion http://www.innworldreport.net/inn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2239:gmac-bailout-could-cost-taxpayers-63-billion&catid=35:domestic&Itemid=1

A new watchdog report says the Treasury Department sank billions into auto finance giant GMAC without an exit strategy or proof the company was viable, a decision that could cost taxpayers $6.3 billion. The government said the bailout was needed to save troubled automakers General Motors and Chrysler. GMAC provides critical financing to auto dealers, who borrow to finance their fleets until cars can be sold to consumers.

Yet GMAC faced far fewer conditions than the bailed-out automakers, the report says. When the automakers were rescued, they were forced into bankruptcy. Shareholders lost their investments, creditors took a hit and executives were forced to detail plans for making the companies viable. GMAC was treated more like a bailed-out bank, not having to explain what it was doing with the money. The report is to be released Thursday by the Congressional Oversight Panel overseeing the $700 billion TARP bailout