Will GM Spend Taxpayer Bailout Money on Overseas Operations?

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By JAKE TAPPER and MATTHEW JAFFE

At a meeting with President Obama Monday morning, Communist Party Secretary Yu Xheng Sheng told the U.S. president how well General Motors' Chinese division was doing.

U.S. taxpayer dollars could go toward global restructuring efforts.

"The business of GM in Shanghai is pretty good," Secretary Yu told the president. "By the end of October this year their sales has increased by 40 percent over the same period of last year. I think that the fantasticperformance here in Shanghai is definitely a boost to their business in the United States."

"Absolutely," said President Obama. "I think they can learn from their operations here in terms of increasing sales back in the United States."

But some critics wonder if GM is a little too focused on its international operations.

Specifically, at a time when the nation's unemployment rate has soared to levels not seen in decades and GM is cutting thousands of U.S. jobs, the company's CEO is considering spending millions from its U.S. coffers -- fattened by $50 billion in taxpayer aid -- on its overseas operations, a possibility that has outraged critics and lawmakers.

"I don't think most Americans believe that when the taxpayer bailouts were happening it was intended for that purpose," said Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. "It was intended to protect theAmerican economy -- not take the money overseas."

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