—>What do you do when your industry starts to go belly up and you can't make enough revenue to stay afloat? If you're a short-sighted U.S. auto maker, you beg the government for $25-50 billion in immediate, low-interest loans in order to retool your plants, so you can start producing the hybrid cars you should have been planning years ago.

The U.S. House of Representatives is considering loaning at least $25 billion to GM, Ford, and Chrysler, possibly as part of a second economic stimulus package. If so, they'll have to move fast. Congress will go on break at the end of this month and may not reconvene for the rest of the year.

"House leadership weighs loans for automakers" [Reuters]
(Photo: Getty)