Washington - As the conomy founders, so too do attempts by Congress to put together a bailout package for the ailing automotive industry. The Dow dropped more than 220 points Monday on news that Citigroup is cutting 52,000 jobs in the coming months. The layoffs come as Capitol Hill lawmakers weigh the pros and cons of bailing out America's "Big Three" automakers.

Lawmakers critical of the Treasury's decision not to buy up bad mortgages and loans want to know just what happens to the remaining $410 billion in the Wall Street bailout package. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says he'll leave much of it in the hands of the new administration.

But Democratic lawmakers already have their eyes on some of the remaining money. They want $25 billion to prop up Detroit's big three automakers: Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors, whose top executives will also be on the Hill today, hat in hand. They say that, absent a government rescue, the industry could collapse and take thousands of jobs with it.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan argues, "The ripple effect throughout this country will be horrible."

Roughly one of of every ten jobs in the country are connected to the auto industry in one way or another, or about 13 million people -- roughly the population of Virginia and Maryland combined.

Jack Gage at Forbes says, "Well it's a tough situation for the markets, I mean I think there's nothing else you can do, it's really tough now to get another job."

And David Trone, a banking analyst Fox-Pitt Kelton, "The vast majority of the people getting laid off themselves are not bad characters, you know, they were just doing their jobs... then of course when their pay goes down, they spend less, and it affects all Americans indirectly."

Economists now predict the unemployment rate will climb to eight percent by this time next year. And Detroit's Big Three could aggravate the situation even further. Even so, critics say, Detroit struggled even in the good times. G.M. posted record losses in 2005, as did Ford in 2006.

Daniel Ikenson of the Cato Institute argues, "Taxpayers should never be on the line to bail out private companies. They should most emphatically not be bailing out companies that have made very bad decisions."

And don't expect the White House to give in anytime soon on plans to use some of the Wall Street bailout money for Detroit.

White House spokesperson Dana Perino argues, "We only think taxpayer dollars should go to companies that can show viability and a willingness to make tough decisions to resturcture themselves."

But the debate and decisions are driven by an economic environment already hemmhoraging jobs... citigroup issued 52-thousand pink slips just yesterday... another consideration in the lawmakers dilemma... is there anything they can do to stop the bleeding. i'm matt brock, abc7/nc8.