The $15 billion bailout designed to prevent U.S. automakers from going bankrupt -- especially General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) and Chrysler L.L.C. -- need to avoid bankruptcy has hit a snag, according to the New York Times. Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is not in as dire shape.

"The last-minute disagreement centered on a single word - with the Senate bill requiring the automakers `to comply with all applicable federal fuel efficiency and emissions requirements' and the House bill referring to `all applicable fuel efficiency requirements,' which would also include state emissions rules that the automakers oppose," the Times said.

Senate aides told the paper that the House bill was "doomed" because it would be rejected by the Senate. Many Republicans also oppose the bailout. These sorts of fights are nothing new.

Detroit has fought against tighter CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency) standards for years, arguing they made them less competitive. The companies were able to beat back these efforts thanks to Rep. John Dingell, who chaired the Energy and Commerce Committee. Dingell could make bureaucrats, particularly those at the EPA, quiver at the mention of his name. They dreaded receiving "Dingell grams", lengthy often acerbic letters designed to heap scorn on policies he opposed -- and there were many. But Dingell is gone now.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, the longest serving head of an automaker, is personally lobbying members of Congress to back a federal bailout of the struggling automaker, which wants to merge with its much weaker rival Chrysler LLC.

Bloomberg News, which broke the story, reported that Wagoner's "involvement includes attending meetings, such as one with Treasury Department officials last week in Washington." You can bet that Michigan's powerful senior member of Congress, John Dingell, is attending many of the same meetings as Wagoner. GM no doubt is employing an army of lobbyists -- both Republicans and Democrats -- to press its case. The company, which for now may be the largest, has little choice.

GM and Chrysler would need between $10 billion and $12 billion to integrate their operations, according to a Citigroup note cited by Bloomberg. Combining the two fading industrial behemoths would be a logistical nightmare. Imagine trying to combine disparate systems for everything from personnel to purchasing to accounting. Let's not forget the byzantine IT systems at both companies as well.

Economically, it's hard to justify bailing out GM. Decades of incompetent management at the Big Three resulted in the industry drowning in billions of debt. The problem with telling the industry "no" is political. Dingell is a 1,000-pound gorilla in Congress. The auto industry continues to have considerable clout in Washington as well. Their argument is simple: if Wall Street fatcats can get a federal bailout, why not us?

The problem with rescuing Wall Street is that lots of struggling industries are going to pass the hat in Congress. What about the airlines? The retail sector? Pharmaceuticals? When does it end?