In bid for loans, Detroit auto makers outline plans for drastic downsizing

Last month the Democratic congressional leadership rejected the auto companies' appeal for a bridge loan of $25 billion, insisting that they present plans to return to profitability. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler CEOs have returned to Washington, this time requesting $34 billion in loans. GM and Chrysler have acknowledged that they will run out of money in a matter of weeks without federal support.

At a news conference yesterday announcing his pick of Bill Richardson for commerce secretary, President-elect Barack Obama said, "Congress did the right thing" in rejecting the companies' previous request. "They weren't offering a clear plan for viability over the long term... This time out, the executives from the automakers are putting forward a more serious set of plans."

Obama and other leading Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had no such reservations about using taxpayer money when they handed over $700 billion, with no strings attached, to the Wall Street bankers whose recklessness and avarice have brought the world economy to the brink of collapse.

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