Throw a TARP on it! How we never meant to pay back the government bailout monies!

Color me amazed at GM and their announcement of unbelievable profits! Well, profits may be too generous a term, but hey, they didn't lose as much money as they thought! Fritz Henderson shared today that a $1.2B loss was better than expected. Huh...what was that!?!? Were they on target for a $4B loss? Why not round up, way up...

In the advent of such a bold announcement regarding profits, it was nice to discover that by enacting TARP (the Troubled Asset Relief Program), the government never really expected to get repaid. The Department of the Treasury shared that bailout recipients like Chrysler and GM would have to be more profitable than at any other time in each company's respective history. Theses two automakers owe an estimated $65B in total (GM at $50B and Chrysler at $15B). Water under the bridge, as American consumers are left wondering where they can purchase a Pontiac, Saturn, or Hummer.

In retrospect, it is nice to know that the one-time members of Detroit's Big Three have a plan to pay back the moolah. Well, use of the term "plan" can be substituted for a line in a Popeye cartoon, "I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." Of course, any "profits" are coming from those emerging Asian markets as Americans may not be falling for Ed Whitacre's "May the Best Car Win" campaign. Hmm..the best car...well it sounds Korean and looks a lot like a Hyundai.