Ripple

The teevee tells me the Bushies might use what's left of the TARP money for loans to the auto companies. They'll probably have to ask Congress to give the other $350 billion before they do it. And as they think about what to do...

General Motors and Chrysler, for example, owe their suppliers a total of roughly $10 billion for parts that have been delivered. G.M. has held off paying them for weeks, and Chrysler is paying in small increments. But the cash shortages at G.M. and Chrysler are getting more severe, according to their top executives and other officials.

G.M. has said its cash reserves are falling by more than $2 billion a month, and the company has hired bankruptcy advisers, including Harvey R. Miller of the firm Weil Gotshal & Manges. Chrysler is a private company, but its sales are falling faster than any other company in the industry, and has acknowledged it will run out of money soon, too.