Having flown their corporate jets into a hail of congressional bullets last month, the chastened bosses of Detroit's Big Three car firms-General Motors (gm), Ford and Chrysler-made their way back to Washington, dc, this week by road, in fuel-sipping hybrids. They hope that this belated gesture, and the new restructuring plans they were due to present to legislators as The Economist went to press, will win them $34 billion of taxpayer-funded loans to help them stave off bankruptcy. But whether their efforts will be enough to land that much money remains unclear.rnThat they will get something is not in much doubt. All three have made other obeisances to the prejudices of congressional Democrats. From now on, an increasing proportion of the vehicles they produce will use the latest technology to achieve low or zero emissions. Executive pay will be pegged-the three bosses are each promising to work for $1 a year. Those company jets are all to be sold.
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