Detroit Automakers Gain Advocates in D.C.

(MoneyWatch)  For what it's worth, the U.S. auto industry has sure demonstrated some political clout, or at least, friends in high places, judging by the advocates for a federal bailout they have gained in Congress -- and not just from Michigan, either.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sent a letter on Saturday, Nov. 8 to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, calling on Paulson to provide temporary assistance to the automobile industry, under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, popularly known as the $700 billion financial-services industry bailout.

"A healthy automobile manufacturing sector is essential to the restoration of financial market stability, the overall health of our economy, and the livelihood of the automobile sector's workforce," the letter said in part.

Besides its face value, the effort is also interesting because Pelosi was seen as an auto industry antagonist for advocating even tougher gas-mileage rules late last year -- tougher even than the rules Congress eventually passed, mandating a boost in miles per gallon of more than 50 percent by 2020.

The congressional leaders met with the chiefs of the Detroit 3 in Washington on Nov. 6. "We left the meetings convinced that our nation's automobile industry -- the heart of our manufacturing sector -- and the jobs of tens of thousands of American workers are at risk," said the latter from Reid and Pelosi.

"Friday's news of the automobile industry's record low sales figures only reaffirm the need for urgent action," they said.