Barrel Strength

GM is on the ropes and the condition is so dire that they even had to scale back their presence at the LA Auto Show.  There are reports that the company may not survive till January, without an immediate massive infusion of cash.  The One pressed Bush to provide bailout funds given the urgency, but was rebuffed by Bush.  Even if Bush was to approve the bailout-for-billionaires, it is unlikely that it would be approved in Senate given this report in WaPo.

A stumbling block may be the Senate, where Republicans control 49 seats until the new Congress is seated in January. Many Republican senators were attacked on the campaign trail by Democratic opponents for supporting the original Treasury bailout legislation last month and probably won’t be in the mood to expand the program to the car companies, Senate aides said.

A USA Today/Gallup poll taken over the weekend found that helping the auto industry and other big firms ranks low on the public’s list of economic priorities, with just one in five of those surveyed saying such assistance is “critical” or “very important.”

Reid seemed to acknowledge as much yesterday. “Senate Democrats are committed to doing all we can to help the auto industry,” he said in a written statement. “But until next year, we still have the slimmest of majorities in the Senate; this will only get done if President Bush and Senate Republicans work with us in a bipartisan fashion.”

That is right, let bygones be bygones.  After all it was 9-days ago that we were attacking you.

When trying to understand what happened to Detroit, this article is a must read.