WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is telling Congress that the administration believes the final cost of the government’s heavily criticized financial bailout effort could be as low as $87 billion.
Geithner made the new estimate in a letter Friday to congressional leaders.
A year ago, officials were estimating the bailout could cost as much as $500 billion.
The new estimate said the biggest losses will occur from the government’s support of mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
That loss was put at $85 billion followed by a loss of $49 billion from providing help to homeowners facing the threat of losing their homes through foreclosures.
The biggest offset to that and other losses will be earnings of $115 billion that the administration expects the Federal Reserve to realize from the extraordinary assistance it has given to provide liquidity to the financial system.
The new estimates are part of the administration’s campaign to get Congress to pass sweeping financial overhaul legislation.
GM fires Chevy’s advertising firm
DETROIT — General Motors has replaced the advertising agency that brought you such memorable campaigns as “See the USA in Your Chevrolet” and “Like a Rock” after more than 90 years of work.
Campbell-Ewald, headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Warren, will be phased out of the Chevrolet account during the next few months, replaced by Publicis Worldwide, which is part of French advertising company Publicis Groupe SA.
GM spokeswoman Cristianna Vazquez would not give a reason for the move, but GM executives in recent months have stated publicly that they were unhappy with the company’s advertising and marketing.
The agency, which has had Chevrolet business since 1919 and at times has had all of GM’s advertising, also did Chevrolet’s “Heartbeat of America” campaign.
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