Big Three appeal for $34 billion from Congress

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The CEOs of the arch automakers were aback afore Congress Thursday, arguing for a beyond bailout than they asked for just two weeks ago, and acquisitive to disengage the accident they did to their case at the beforehand hearings.

The three automakers are now allurement for up to $34 billion in federal loans, up from their beforehand appeal for $25 billion in assistance. Two of them, General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler LLC, are admonishing they could run out of the money they charge to accomplish afore the end of the year after actual help.

This time GM CEO Rick Wagoner, Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) CEO Alan Mulally and Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli drove fuel-efficient hybrids to Washington, rather than flying in on corporate jets as they did two weeks ago.

Ford and GM have since announced they would sell their jets. And all three CEOs have agreed to cut their pay to $1 a year if they get the federal help they are seeking.

After presenting plans to Congress Tuesday that detailed how they would use loans to return to profitability, each company warned of tremendous damage to the economy if they are forced to file for bankruptcy due to lack of help.

In prepared testimony in front of the Senate Banking Committee Thursday, Mulally quoted an estimate from Goldman Sachs that said the impact to the economy from failures could be up to $1 trillion.

But the Big Three face an uphill battle to get loans approved by a skeptical Congress. Even the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate who are in favor of help for the automakers have refused to commit to calling the outgoing members of Congress back next week to vote on an auto bailout.

Congressional leaders are concerned that public opinion has turned strongly against help for the automakers. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll of nearly 1,100 Americans conducted earlier this week found 61% oppose a bailout, while only 36% support it. Even in the Midwest, home to most of the automakers' remaining plants, 53% of those polled opposed federal help.

That was a stunning reversal of polls taken before the CEOs last trip to Capitol Hill. A poll Nov. 11 and 12 conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates found 55% supported federal assistance for automakers at that time, and only 30% who believed they should not get federal help.

To that end, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the ranking Republican on the committee, repeated his earlier opposition to helping the Detroit automakers.

He said the increase in the money being requested by the Big Three is a sign that the automakers can't give good assurances that federal loans would be enough to solve the problems facing the industry. He said he wanted answers as to "why we should believe that things will get better as the economy continues to contract."

The automakers did get some support from Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn. In his opening comments, he said that allowing the automakers to go bankrupt would be the equivalent of playing "Russian roulette with the economy."

Dodd added that despite mistakes made by the automakers, GM, Ford and Chrysler had all done more than banks and Wall Street firms to show they deserve federal help.

But he also argued that the administration had authority to give the automakers help under the $700 billion bailout for banks and Wall Street firms.

Gene L. Dodaro , the acting Comptroller General of the General Accounting Office, said in testimony that he agreed Treasury can use the Wall Street bailout money to help the automakers. He said the Federal Reserve could also provide cash as well.

The Bush administration, which has voiced support for helping the automakers, opposes using money from the bank bailout for the automakers, however.