http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/20/business/us-signals-end-of-bailouts-of-automakers-and-wall-street.html 2014-12-19 17:51:52 U.S. Signals an End to Bailouts of Automakers and Wall Street The government said a sale of stock in the former finance arm of General Motors was the end of a six-year period of rescues tied to the financial crisis. === WASHINGTON — The Obama administration declared a profitable end to the Wall Street and auto bailouts on Friday, saying a final sale of stock from what was once Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said that while profit was not the motive to bail out Detroit and Wall Street, “it is important to note we recovered more than we disbursed.” The federal interventions agitated the political world and helped give rise to the In all, through the Troubled Asset Relief Program and other efforts, taxpayers pumped $426.35 billion into banks and auto companies. The sale of stock and interest payments brought in $441.7 billion. “There is more work to do, but as we exit the last major financial investment, it’s important to take stock of the progress we have made, and the critical role TARP and the Auto Industry Financing Program played in getting us to this point,” Mr. Lew said in a statement that echoed self-congratulatory remarks on the economy from other administration officials this week. Less than $1 billion in taxpayer funds remain scattered in about 35 community banks around the country, but with the sale on Thursday of the government’s last 54.9 million shares of Ally Financial, previously known as GMAC, the Treasury declared the bailouts done. Thanks in part to the recent surge in stock prices, the Ally sale alone recouped $1.3 billion. The bailout of GMAC started Dec. 29, 2008, with a $5 billion infusion in the last days of the Bush administration, but that grew to $17.2 billion as the Obama White House moved to save Detroit. By keeping auto finance arms alive, the administration sought to keep car and truck sales moving and auto dealerships open. With this week’s sale, the GMAC investment yielded $2.4 billion in profit. The government no longer owns any part of the auto industry, Treasury officials announced. Although the overall bailout efforts turned a profit, the auto rescue did not. With Friday’s announcement, taxpayers were left with a $9.5 billion loss. Most of that came from General Motors, which paid back about $39 billion of the $49.5 billion invested. But with auto sales booming and the Big Three automakers recovered, the Obama administration still points to the Detroit rescue as one of its biggest triumphs. “The Auto Industry Financing Program helped save the auto industry, more than one million jobs, and prevent a second Great Depression,” Mr. Lew said.