US Auto Makers Ask for More than More

The nation's Big Three automakers returned to D.C. again asking Congress for money to keep them afloat. There is a difference this time. Now instead of asking for $25 billion, the automakers say they need up to $34 billion taxpayer dollars to stay in business.

In separate packages to the House Financial Services Committee, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler submitted business plans and supporting documentation outlining their considerable problems and the considerable quantities of money needed to fix them.

General Motors, asking for about $12 billion through 2010, says it needs $4 billion, just to make it to the end of this year.

Ford says it can get by with $9 billion, and Chrysler is sticking with its original Christmas wish of a "bargain basement" $7 billion.

Boiled down and analyzed, the Big Three could end up needed from $28 billion to $34 billion in order to stay out of bankruptcy.

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