U.S. taxpayers likely to lose billions on Chrysler, GM bailouts

Uncle Sam may have made hundreds of millions of dollars after it agreed to stand behind $1 billion in loans to Chrysler in 1979, but 30 years later it stands to lose billions for agreeing to bail out Chrysler and General Motors. That's the conclusion of a Congressional Oversight Panel in its latest monthly report released Wednesday.

According to the report, most of the $23 billion initially loaned to General Motors and Chrysler late last year, prior to their bankruptcy filings, will likely go unpaid, leaving U.S. taxpayers on the hook. Among amounts expected to go unpaid are $5.4 billion in loans granted to the old Chrysler company.