Auto industry to be exempted from new bailout fee

Consumers in the market for a used car in New York may be interested in a recent decision by the Obama administration that should benefit the auto industry as a whole.

Last week, President Obama proposed a fee to recover the $117 billion spent by the government to help bailout companies affected by the recession. The new “financial crisis responsibility fee” will target industries that took money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

The good news for the auto industry is that General Motors, Chrysler and delinquent mortgage brokers are all exempt from the fee. The tax will primarily be imposed on financial institutions with over $50 billion in assets.

The auto industry is reportedly exempt from the fee because of the fragile nature of the current auto market and the fact that the administration believes that banks helped cause the crisis that doomed car companies, the Wall Street Journal reports. The fact that some major financial institutions recently gave out large year-end bonuses may have had an impact on the decision.

“We want our money back, and we’re going to get it,” said Obama, quoted by the LA Times. “If these companies are in good enough shape to afford massive bonuses, they surely are in good enough shape to afford to pay back every penny to taxpayers.”