Well the Republicans in the Senate (with the usual exceptions) and a couple of Democrats kept the US government out of the car business last night.

Reading the blogosphere, on both sides, has been fascinating. From Ed Morrisey's "good" to Jane Hamsher's "the Republicans quite plainly want the economy to fail" and everything in between.

But just when Republicans, at least in the Senate, seem to be returning to their ideological roots, it appears that the White House is poised to gut the effort and spare the Democrats the necessity of standing up and taking ownership of the entire debacle themselves. Yes, friends, Bush and the boys are now talking about doing something they rejected previously. They're talking about using part of the $700 billion bailout package for financial institutions for the auto industry:

Bush officials warned wavering GOP senators earlier Thursday that if they didn't support the legislation, the White House will likely be forced to tap the Wall Street bailout to lend them money, two Republican congressional officials told CNN earlier.

The White House on Friday confirmed that bank bailout funds may now be tapped to aid Detroit.

"Given the current weakened state of the U.S. economy, we will consider other options if necessary - including use of the TARP program - to prevent a collapse of troubled automakers," said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino in a statement released Friday. "A precipitous collapse of this industry would have a severe impact on our economy, and it would be irresponsible to further weaken and destabilize our economy at this time."

This is a noteworthy change since the White House and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have previously refused to use bank bailout funds to help General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler LLC.

The point of course is regardless of the process, regardless of the principles at war in the process and frankly, regardless of who won the battle, there was a fallback plan under which a Republican administration planned on using other funds to thwart a final vote that didn't conform to their desires.

You have to wonder why they bothered? Heck, this could have been done weeks ago. But as you recall, the administration refused then. Now, suddenly, the Bush administration is the Democrat's best friend:

"I would only hope that the president, who has worked so well with us for the past several weeks, would now use consider using the TARP money," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., after the vote.

You just have to read that to know how screwed up this entire government has become. Oh, and this:

One of the sources said a White House official made clear to a GOP senator that that would be the worst option, because the loan could go to the auto companies with few or no requirements attached.

No. The "worst option" is undermining the supposed "will of the people" which said, last night, that the deal is dead. If TARP funds are used, the businesses are propped up with no required changes and the same failed business model continues burning through billions and billions of dollars. Of course, if the administration carries through on this, it won't even be their own billions they burn through this time.

This is a travesty and a sham. It points out what is becoming increasingly evident to those who observe the process of government in this country - if they can't get what they want through the legal framework allowed by the Constitution, they'll find a way around it. And that marks a country in serious and evident decline.

[Crossposted at QandO]