The U.S. auto industry, apparently feeling left out by the recent spurt of government bailouts, is today a step closer to receiving a $25 billion loan of their own after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) backed the idea.

"I think it is extremely important that we do something," Reid said yesterday when asked about the pleas of struggling Detroit automakers, including General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co, and Chrysler LLC. The companies say they need the money in order to develop more fuel efficient fleets in the wake of last year's legislation mandating that fuel efficiency improve by 40 percent by 2020.

Under the proposal, which also has the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the major vehicle manufacturers would be eligible for credit assistance as they make the transition from SUVs and trucks -- which seemed like such a good idea five years ago.

The $25 billion was actually authorized -- but not funded -- in last year's energy bill. Given the less than ideal current credit market conditions, the automakers have found commercial financing to be too expensive, which explains why the companies -- and their army of lobbyists -- currently find themselves knocking on doors in Washington.

The company's swear that this isn't a bailout, just a loan. Though according to Reuters, "Congress would have to approve between $3.8 billion and $7.5 billion in taxpayer funding to cover the default risk and issue the low interest loans."

In reading the analysis about this proposal, much of the mainstream media seems to be forgetting that last year's energy bill contains a number of provisions that would allow automakers to ignore the fuel efficiency standards if the costs become too prohibitive. Makes you wonder whether this $25 billion will really end up in R&D labs for engineers to work on more fuel efficient engines, or ... pretty much anywhere else.

Sometimes you need to look outside the normal media suspects to get common sense analysis. We found ours at, all of places, ESPN.com. Gregg Easterbrook, a freelance journalist who writes a weekly NFL column for the Worldwide Sports Leader, had this to say about the auto industry in Tuesday's football column (you'll have to scroll down a bit to find this item):

Last fall, after 20 years of strident inaction, Congress finally passed a bill to increase the fuel efficiency of cars, SUVs and pickup trucks. There was a lot self-congratulation on Capitol Hill. The law seemed to mandate roughly a one-third increase in new-vehicle MPG by 2020 ... Sounds great! But as your columnist wrote in December 2007, "TMQ is hugely suspicious … [there is] a waiver provision that says that if the new standards prove too onerous, automakers can ask they be waived. That is a formula for what Washington specializes in: the appearance of dramatic action while nothing actually happens."

So what's going on in Washington right now? Pleading poormouth, the big three automakers are already asking for a waiver from the 2015 interim standard, which requires roughly a 15 percent improvement in fuel efficiency. That standard does not take effect for seven years, and already Detroit automakers are saying they can't meet it.

Easterbrook continues: "The automakers are asking for $50 billion in handouts to meet new fuel economy requirements -- at the very time they are also asking for waivers from those requirements. If the past is any guide, they will get both the subsidies and the waivers. The net will be zero progress, more billions of dollars for oil shipped to anti-American forces in the Persian Gulf, and more debt handed to everyone under the age of 30."

Again, that's ESPN. Never thought we'd be linking to them, but we'll give credit where credit is due.