The Big Three's Last Shot

Today the CEOs of the Big Three automakers go before the House to plead their case one last time, but the reality is Democrats don't have the votes in either chamber of Congress to pass anything.

With time fast running out, Congress and the Bush administration will wrestle again today over whether to lend $34 billion to Detroit automakers, even after senators heard grim warnings that their failure could cost 2.5 million jobs and the liquidation of three iconic U.S. companies: General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, told the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday that even the $34 billion that the executives of the three companies pleaded for would hardly be enough. Detroit eventually would need $75 billion to $125 billion to avoid almost certain liquidation over the next two years.

Still, Zandi told senators that the automakers' failure would be "so damaging to the economy, you don't have the choice."

Bailout fatigue among the public and lawmakers is blocking the money in Congress. Lacking votes in both chambers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are preparing to blame the Bush administration for letting Detroit go under. Reid said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson could "with the stroke of a pen" save the automakers by tapping the $700 billion financial rescue Congress passed in October.

Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin saw in Thursday's testimony a new path to do just that.

Ford and GM executives pointed to an estimate by J.P. Morgan that the automakers' failure could trigger $1 trillion in losses to the banking system. Levin described that scary figure as key to persuading Paulson to allow automakers access to the $700 billion.

But President Bush said in an interview with NBC News, "No matter how important the autos are to our economy, we don't want to put good money after bad. In other words, we want to make sure that the plan they develop is one that ensures their long-term viability for the sake of the taxpayer."

It's pretty clear that the bailout is just not going to pass. It's even clearer that GOP lawmakers in states outside the Big Three's home of Michigan, Ohio Pennsylvania and Indiana have no interest in saving GM, Ford and Chrysler when their own states plan to benefit from foreign automakers having plants in those states outside the Rust Belt. And it's even more clear that the President will simply veto anything that comes down the pike.

The GOP is bound and determined to kill the Big Three in order to kill the UAW, plain and simple. Obama could step in at this point and promise something in January, but that may be too late.

We'll see.