Seeking $25 Billion, Big Three to Get a Second Chance on the Hill

In just 10 days, Detroit’s Big Three automakers hope to re-plead their case for a $25 billion emergency loan. But this time they will be expected to produce clearer business plans.

Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) sent the automakers a letter calling on them to submit “a credible restructuring plan” by Dec. 2.

The letter came a day after congressional leaders delayed a vote on providing the auto industry as much as $25 billion in emergency aid.

President Bush, in his weekly radio address, castigated Democrats for failing to vote on an alternative proposal to let automakers instead tap $25 billion in loans that are supposed to help them improve the fuel efficiency of their cars.

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“If the automakers are willing to make the hard decisions needed to become viable, they should be able to receive the funds Congress already allotted to them for other purposes,” Bush said. “The American people expect their elected leaders to do what it takes to solve it.”

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Pelosi and others have said there was not enough support in Congress to provide funding without a detailed turnaround plan.

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