Forgiving GM debt another bah, humbug to taxpayers

Last week the U.S. taxpayer took a $10.5 billion hit to the wallet when the Treasury Department sold its final shares of General Motors stock and closed the books on its bailout of the troubled automaker. In the end, the government recouped $39 billion of the $49.5 billion it spent to keep GM from closing its doors in 2009.

Yes, the amount of money is likely small compared to the impact the loss of an estimated 1 million workers associated with GM might have had on the economy at the time, potentially turning the recession into a depression. Since 2009, GM has had 15 straight quarters of profi...