It took about nine hours on the highway for the chief executives of the Big Three automakers to arrive on Capitol Hill. It took just a few minutes of questioning from lawmakers for them to realize they might not get what they want.

General Motors' Rick Wagoner, Chrysler's Bob Nardelli, and Alan Mulally of Ford appeared before Congress for the second time in recent weeks to beg and plead for government funds to keep them afloat.

Last time, they were ridiculed for flying on private jets, receiving big compensation packages, and having no detailed plans for the funds they were requesting. This time, they drove from Detroit in fuel-efficient cars, agreed to take symbolic $1 salaries, and presented plans for how they would stay in business with government help.

Unfortunately, they may be driving home without so much as a penny of the $34 billion they requested.

Comments by members of the Senate banking committee underscored the intensity of the debate over whether or not to bail out the automakers and, if so, how. The fact that all three of the chief executives agreed to execute their plans under a newly created federal oversight board didn't appear to sway many senators to agree to the financing.

G.M. has requested $4 billion immediately and another $14 billion in loans next year, with the promise to repay the government by 2011. Ford needs $9 billion in bridge financing, and Chrysler wants $7 billion immediately. Wagoner and Nardelli both suggested that Congress check back in with them on March 31 to see if they need more funds to keep going.

The $34 billion requested, one congressman noted, is more than 5 times the total market capitalizations of the three companies combined.

Members of Congress seem perplexed on how to finance the automakers, should they agree to take that path. The Treasury department could include the carmakers in the $700 billion TARP, since Congress approved loose restrictions on how that money can be spent. The Federal Reserve won't likely lend to the Big Three directly because none of them can meet the Fed's collateral requirements for financing.  

Another witness today, economist Mark Zandi of Economy.com, forecasts that the total cost of bailing out Detroit would reach as much as $75 billion to $125 billion.

The debate will continue tomorrow when the executives appear before the House financial services committee.