Auto chiefs on hotseat in Congress

The chiefs of the “Big Three” US automakers travel to Congress Tuesday to plead with lawmakers to save their talismanic American industry, despite fading hopes for a quick congressional bailout. The chairmen and CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler will testify to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee as Democrats mount a long-odds [...] "eliotcobb.com"

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress on Tuesday that the administration remains firmly opposed to dipping into the government’s $700 billion financial bailout fund for a $25 billion rescue package for Detroit’s Big Three automakers, no matter how badly they need the help. “There are other ways” to help battered automakers, Paulson told the House Financial [...] "eliotcobb.com"

President-elect Barack Obama and vanquished rival John McCain met for the first time since the November 4 election on Monday, pledging to work together to face the financial crisis and other national challenges. “We’re going to have a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country,” Obama said, adding [...] "eliotcobb.com"

The top US military officer said Monday he was “stunned” by the reach of the Somali pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker off the east coast of Africa, calling piracy a growing problem that needs to be addressed. But Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there were limits to what [...] "eliotcobb.com"

Sen. Joe Lieberman will keep his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee despite hard feelings over his support for GOP nominee John McCain during the presidential campaign. The Connecticut independent will lose a panel post on the Environment and Public Works panel as punishment for criticizing Obama this fall. Lieberman’s colleagues in the Democratic caucus voted [...] "eliotcobb.com"