In campaign stops through swing and auto industry states, President Obama repeatedly has touted his $85 billion auto bailout.
“The American auto industry has come roaring back, making us number one again,” he told a cheering crowd in Pueblo, Colo., last Thursday.
But all the while, General Motors’ stock has been nose-diving. It has fallen 39 percent since its initial public offering in November 2010. And on Friday, the Treasury Department announced that expected losses to taxpayers from the bailout would increase more than $3.3 billion to $25.1 billion — up from $21.7 billion last quarter.
John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute argues the stock decline reflects the liability of the federal government picking winners.
“They’re making the environmentally correct cars. The government, the Obama administration wanted them to make the Chevy Volt rather than some of their better-selling products like some of the GM trucks,” Berlau said.
