It was pretty clear from the get go that if Congress was going to do an auto loan with the Big Three, it would extract a pound of flesh as a down payment.

          Well it appears now it will be a pound and a half and the other half is Ricky Wagoner. Some key folks want his head on a platter as they say.

          If it was some flunky senator calling for the resignation that would be one thing, but it's the chair of the senate panel which is writing the bridge loan and when Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut speaks, he gets an audience and votes.

          Actually Dodd is late to the party.  Several weeks ago on  one of the national Sunday news shows, Michigan's own Senator Carl Levin talked favorably about jettisoning some or all of the current auto management.

          That was followed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm who noted that "symbolism" was a vital ingredient in this save-the-industry recipe.  If some heads had to roll, she signed off while noting that even Wagoner himself said he was willing to be a sacrificial lamb.

           So even though the GM leader got a pat on the head from his embattled board of directors recently, that carries no weight with the folks in D.C. who are calling all the shots.

           One voice that has been somewhat muted is that of the president-elect.  Asked directly on Meet the Press if the current auto management should stay, Barack Obama weighted in very carefully.  He bemoaned the Big Three's "head in the sane" attitude "for decades" but he stopped short of joining the chorus to oust somebody.

          "Here's what I'll say.  It may not be the same for a ll the companies," he told Tom Brokow.  Make of that what you will.

          He did say that government should not be running the car companies, but if Congress demands Wagoner's walking papers, isn't it doing just that?

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