The Daily Cow

As we all know, due to the bad bets on gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks and lack of investment in energy-efficient vehicles, the American automobile industry is under the heels of its foreign competitors (Toyota, especially). Ford, GM, and Chrysler are desperate for money--their survival depends upon it. But investors are fleeing, and for good reason too; and their credit is rated at junk level, making debt difficult to obtain.

So what do they do?

They desperately beg the already-strapped Treasury for money and assistance to help GM and Chrysler merge.