After the bailout bill passed in the House by a significant margin there were high hopes by for the bill’s passage.  However, in a vote of 52-35, the automobile bailout deal died in the Senate last night.  GM and Chrysler were seeking a $14 billion dollar loan.  Ford is not seeking funds at this time.  The proponents of the bailout needed 60 senate votes for the bill to pass.  The White House was adamantly against using any of the $700 billion dollar TARP (Troubled Asset Rescue Plan) money to give to the automobile makers.  Looks like the White House will have to reverse itself and use part of the TARP money afterall because W doesn’t want to see the automobile industry fail on his watch.  The Democrats advocated the use of the TARP money to begin with but was immediately shut down by the White House.  One of Sen. Harry Reid final statements ”I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow….it’s not going to be a pleasant sight.”   Japan’s Nikkei index and Hong Kong’s HANG SANG lost more than 5% overnight.

UPDATE:  Twenty minutes before the Wall Street rings its opening bell the White House signals that it would be willing to consider using the TARP money for the auto bailout.  No indication if many of the strings negotiated within Congress for the last couple of days will be part of a TARP package.  Lets hope that this news makes a difference to Wall Street.