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The federal government plans to sell its shares in General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group as soon as it can, the head of the autos task force told a congressional panel Monday.We are very eager to dispose of them as soon as possible," said Ron Bloom, chairman of the Treasury Department task force overseeing and Chrysler. auto style, our expectation is a Bloom said the government would not sell all of its shares at initial public offerings as it could get more money following an should shares of the company rise. He did not give a timetable on such a sale of or Chrysler stock.The U.S. government owns percent of the new General Motors and eight percent of Chrysler. The task force is overseeing the two companies because they have received New versions of both GM and Chrysler recently emerged from short stays in government-funded bankruptcy protection, cleansed of old debt and burdensome contracts.Bloom would not articulate any particular financial or operational milestones or Chrysler have to reach before the government would cash out its stock.It's going to be based on the situation," he said, adding that success would be measured in the taxpayer's ability to get their money back. treasurer, Walter Borst, testified that would seek to repay its loans faster than the six year timeframe outlined by the autos task force. He added that is now working on "fresh start" accounting measures that companies use to reorganize their books following a trip through bankruptcy court.Jan Bertsch, senior vice president and treasurer for Chrysler, said the company would be able to service all of its debt.Our goal is to pay that back," she said of the government loans. "We see no issues paying it back."Also at the hearing, Bloom denied that the government had coerced Chrysler's debtholders into dropping a legal protest that they were being treated unfairly in court. Some holders of $6.9 billion in secured Chrysler debt initially protested that they were being pushed behind unsecured creditors such as the United Auto Workers union's retiree health care trust.But the debtholders dropped their protests after receiving $2 billion in cash to wipe out their debt.Bloom said he spoke to former task force chief Steven Rattner, who denied making any threats to any of the lenders. Some of the lenders had received government money from the bank bailout program.Rattner stepped down from the task force on July and was replaced by Bloom, a former United Steel Workers union official.The administration said Rattner had decided to return to private life and his family in New York City. It remained unclear whether the departure had anything to do with the ongoing public corruption probe that has nibbled at Rattner's heels in New York.Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the Securities and Exchange Commission have charged a state official and a political consultant with extracting millions of dollars in kickbacks from investment firms trying to raise money from the state's big public pension fund.The private equity firm Rattner led before joining President Barack Obama's administration, the Quadrangle Group, paid more than million to one of the people indicted in the case, New York political consultant Hank Morris.Rattner has declined to comment.Rep. Jeb Hensarling, of Texas and a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel, said he was "disappointed" that a representative from the United Auto Workers union as well as the CEOs of and Chrysler were not present to testify.Now that it is time to account for the money, you don't see them today," he said.and Chrysler appeared before Congress last December, asking for aid to save the companies from liquidation. Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford Motor Co. also went before Congress, but did not take government aid. Alan Mulally has said that Ford would not be disadvantaged compared with and Chrysler's cost cutting deals with the UAW or by Financial Services, GM's auto financing company now controlled by the government.At issue is whether would get more favorable loan rates than other auto financing companies, such as Ford Motor Credit. has received a total of billion in government funding to make loans to car buyers and dealers.Bloom said was still on equal footing with Ford Motor Credit, when it came to favorable loan terms.We are not aware of any rate discrepancies," he said.We would not expect to sell the entire stake,” said Ron Bloom who testified before the Congressional Oversight Panel at a hearing in Detroit. Bloom was questioned by Chairwoman Elizabeth Warren, who is a Harvard Law School professor, and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R Texas. The point of the hearing was to learn more about the task force’s ongoing role in managing the two companies after the government has invested billions of taxpayer dollars in them. Chrysler and GM used an accelerated government-backed bankruptcy process to leave behind their unproductive assets and sell their most viable operations to new companies with much lower costs.In a credit bid, creditors agree to forgive their loans to the company in this case, billion. Delphi said the bid was similar to the offer originally submitted by Platinum.Delphi said the creditors' offer was supported by its former parent, General Motors Co. To win the bankruptcy auction, the offer still must be approved by the bankruptcy court.Much of Platinum's proposed billion acquisition of Delphi would have been financed by GM, which also would have acquired several of Delphi's North American plants and its global steering business. Platinum has said it would put up million in cash when the deal closes and put another million in a fund that Delphi could draw on as needed.

A majority of Delphi's creditors voted against the Platinum deal, according to court documents filed last week.The outcome marks a rare setback for Platinum, which is headed by year-old Tom Gores and specializes in acquiring distressed companies. Platinum, which earlier this year acquired Alcoa Inc.'s wire harness and electrical distribution business, had planned to add Delphi to what it hoped would be a group of auto suppliers.Platinum's quest for Delphi was marked by controversy. The creditors complained during a court hearing last month that Gores' firm was getting a "sweetheart" deal that would enrich Platinum while repaying Delphi's bankruptcy lenders no more than 20 cents on the dollar.Another hurdle to Delphi's emergence from bankruptcy was crossed last week when a government agency agreed to take over its pension plans because GM is no longer able to assume them. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. agreed to take responsibility for funds covering Delphi workers and retirees.he transfer, subject to court approval, would reduce the financial burden on GM as Troy, Mich.-based Delphi tries to exit court protection.Beverly Hills investment firm Platinum Equity has failed in its effort to acquire Delphi Corp. after the bankrupt auto parts maker opted late today to accept a competing bid from its creditors.Delphi, which has been under bankruptcy protection since 2005, said in a statement that its board of directors had agreed to accept a "pure credit" bid from its bankruptcy lenders. The bid was approved "following consultation with Delphi's official committee of unsecured creditors and its largest based union," the company said.How will we know if the taxpayer investment is a success?” Warren asked.Bloom’s response: “Success will be measured by whether taxpayers get their money back.”Bloom also said Chrysler and GM will begin to release quarterly financial reports by the end of this year. They are no longer publicly traded companies, although 20% of Chrysler’s stock is owned by Fiat, which is owned by public investors.Those initial reports will include revenue and profitability, but may not have all the accounting detail required by the Securities and Exchange Commission of publicly traded companies. Over time, the quarterly reports will become more comprehensive as they will have to be if and when either company seeks to share stock to investors.Hensarling is among the Republican congressmen who did not support the use of Treasury assistance for Chrysler and GM. He read letters and e-mails from several GM bondholders who asked why they ended up with a smaller share of the new company Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association which people in Michigan out of work, more people are losing their homes each month and there’s little demand from buyers. The state has the nation’s seventh-highest foreclosure rate, with more than filings in June, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Housing prices in the Detroit area have fallen in the past year, under the Shiller Home Price Index, and have dropped since late No other state has lost as many jobs, and lost them so quickly and apparently so permanently,” says East Lansing economist Patrick Anderson, who doesn’t see Michigan’s economy turning around until employment begins to rise something that might not happen until late next year.People need to have jobs and good prospects of employment before they can borrow money, before they can start businesan pay their bills,” he said.