Bridge Loan to Nowhere

This week, the Detroit Three were back, plans in hand and determined to show that they were appropriately chastened. In the interim, their need for taxpayer cash grew to $34 billion from $25 billion -- and GM said it needs $4 billion just to make it to Christmas. But instead of viability, what they've come up with is green political correctness. Their plans -- and Thursday and Friday's hearings on the bailout -- show how dangerous it is to throw your business upon the harsh benevolence of Congress.

The Detroit Three - Richard Wagoner (GM), Alan Mulally (Ford) and Robert Nardelli (Chrysler) - crawled back to Congress last week in a repugnant display of pleading and belly-aching for handouts that was hardly a shining example for future entrepreneurs and business leaders. It's hard to imagine a John D. Rockefeller or Andrew Carnegie ever groveling for loans from the likes of Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi, but these guys apparently would rather let Congress run their business than do the job themselves.