$700 billion is going somewhere, and American automakers want their share.  A separate lump sum would be fine by them, too, of course, so long as it's really big and is distributed in the near future.  Automakers presented their case to a Senate committee earlier today. If the American auto industry failed, there would be some pretty huge effects.  Consider automobile sales, for starters.  Who's going to buy a car when the company that made it might not stick around to ...