Representatives Darrell Issa of (R-CA) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a blistering letter to General Motors CEO Ed Whitacre this week accusing the company of misleading the American public. The new GM television ad suggests GM repaid its taxpayer-funded loan with the company's own earnings when it used separate bailout money to repay the $4.7 billion balance of the original $7.1 billion government loan.
GM was only able to pay back their bailout money early by dipping into a separate pot of taxpayer bailout money.
The billions General Motors paid back this month came from a different pot of bailout money. The ads also hide the fact that US taxpayers may also be forced to pay for the car manufacturer's union pension shortfall.
Today Republican Reps. Darrell Issa of California and Jim Jordan of Ohio accused GM CEO Whitacre of coming dangerously close to committing fraud.
Issa and Jordan say the ad is misleading because it suggests GM repaid its taxpayer-funded loan with the company's own earnings. In reality, GM used separate taxpayer money from an escrow account worth $17.4 billion – set up by the Treasury Department upon taking a 61 percent majority stake in the company – to repay the $4.7 billion balance of the original $7.1 billion loan.