Pocket Change

The Treasury is estimating that the fedgov will lose $25B of the $85B invested in the auto company bailout. 

Essentially, the administration's rosy expectation of recouping our expenditure rests on being able to sell GM stock at, what now looks like, an unreasonable high price.

Not that this alone is enough to declare the auto bailout terrible.  But it does mean that not only do you have to think about the interest expense of borrowing the $85B to lend to GM/Chrysler, but you also have to think about the $25B expenditure.  Those jobs the bailout "saved" are pretty expensive after all.

And I'm completely avoiding the issue of whether the bailouts were a good idea or not (hint, they weren't).