Reid, Pelosi Have Advice For Big 3

Democrats, unable to move an auto-industry bailout package through Congress this week, sent the heads of the Big Three back to Detroit to craft a proposal outlining how they will spend the money, how they intend to pay it back and how they're reorganize what it is they do.

Given the tone-deaf political performance the executives turned in this week, Democratic leaders aren't leaving it up to them and this evening offered the Big Three some free advice as they sit down to do their homework. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sent a letter outlining what that proposal ought to look like and by when it needs to be turned in (December 2nd).

The auto-makers' proposal must include a number of taxpayer protections, the letter insists, including the requirement that "government loans be immediately callable if long-term plan benchmarks are not met."

For Congress to instruct industry on how to advise Congress on how to write the legislation that will impact industry might be a bit of a role reversal, but in fairness, the traditional approach on display this week went nowhere. 

The letter after the jump...
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