GM paid back bailout money by using other bailout money!

GM named in deceptive advertising complaint filed with FTC

General Motors Co. on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 said it lost $4.3 billion in the last half of 2009 as it struggled to emerge from bankruptcy protection, repay government loans and cope with a severe downturn in U.S. sales.

A prominent conservative Washington activist think tank has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against General Motors' nationally advertised claim that it has repaid its government bailout loan "in full, with interest, five years ahead of schedule."

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) argues in its FTC filing that GM's claim is misleading to consumers, and factually inaccurate, and therefore violates the Federal Trade Commission Act.

"Most consumers would reasonably interpret GM’s ads as meaning both that GM has paid back all the money that it received from the government, and that those repayments were made with its own funds rather than with other government funds.

"Neither of these interpretations is accurate. While GM might argue that its ads are literally correct, they are deceptive within the meaning of the FTC Act because they leave a misleading impression with consumers."

The problem, according to CEI in its complaint, as well as a wide swath of financial and political analysts and media outlets, is simple: GM's repayment of one of its government loans was made with funds the company received from another government loan as part of its $49.5 billion bailout deal last year.