Consider it the last bailout of 2009.
The federal government said Wednesday that it will take majority control of troubled auto lender GMAC and provide an additional $3.8 billion in aid to the company, which has been unable to raise from private investors the money it needs to staunch its losses.
The Treasury Department has said for months that GMAC would need more federal money, but the decision to increase the government's ownership stake came as a surprise, cutting against the grain of the Obama administration's recent efforts to wind down its bailout of large banks...
Treasury said that it will increase its stake in GMAC to 56 percent from 35 percent. The government also will hold about $14 billion in what amounts to loans that GMAC may eventually repay. The government plans to appoint four of the company's nine directors.
Wednesday's announcement is a coda to the stress test of 19 large banks conducted earlier this year. GMAC, which was required to add $9.1 billion to its capital reserves against unexpected losses, was the only bank unable to satisfy regulators by finding private investors.
Does this mean we all get deals on new cars?
surely they can pull another bail out in the last 24!
That burying the unlimited bail out of Fannie/Freddie, someone tried to claim oh, they were not hiding that...they were closed for the Holidays...
well, since they were busy doing yet another bail out...
obviously not.