Washington appears to be moving towards a short term deal to give finance to the Big Three automakers, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi relenting on her refusal to allow utilization of the so called greeen finance package that was approved last year. It appears that the bailout number will be about fifteen billion, with the funds coming from that so called green loan program. From the Washington Post:

In talks with White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dropped her long-standing opposition to tapping a loan program created by Congress to fund the development of fuel-efficient cars. Pelosi agreed instead to use the money to provide immediate cash to General Motors and Chrysler. Without government help, GM executives have said their company may not survive the month.

Pelosi is insisting, however, that money pulled from the loan program be “replenished in a matter of weeks so as not to delay that crucial initiative,” she said in a statement. The White House has yet to agree to those terms, senior congressional aides said, but Democrats believe President Bush would be unlikely to veto a bill over those provisions.

I had advocated for that short term solution last month, and pointed out that the Democrats had no choice if they were for preventing G.M. from entering bankruptcy.

But were I for this proposal I would urge my Democratic colleagues to accept this Republican proposal, in light of the stated urgency of the financial condition of the big three. Then I would suggest filing another exact replica of the just altered bill in the new session of Congress, with a Democratic President and larger Democratic majorities. The logic is obvious, since the “green auto bill” can wait a bit longer, while the financial condition of the big three requires more immediate action. Politically it would place the Republicans on their back heels, and likely is the only way to get a bill out of the lame duck session.

Despite my taking a bow here it is unclear yet whether the votes will be there to pass this modified package. It will likely be close, with the future of G.M. and Detroit hanging in the balance. But the Democrats and Detroit have made the only deal they had available to them in the short term.