Detroit Dolts Drive Home a Point

One of the arguments Detroit's Big 3 beggars have been using in their pleas for a federal bailout from Washington is that Americans won't buy cars from a bankrupt company.

Although it's easy to doubt anything the Dolts of Detroit have to say these days, it seems they may actually be on to something with this point.

The newest CNBC/Portfolio.com's Wealth in America survey shows 52 percent of Americans would be unwilling to buy a car from a manufacturer under bankruptcy protection. Only 37 percent said they would be willing to do so.

CNBC's Steve Liesman talked about the results on the air this morning.

So it seems GM's Rick Wagoner, Ford's Alan Mulally and Chrysler's Bob Nardelli have stumbled onto a truthful argument on why they should be bailed out.

Maybe they did so on their highly publicized drive from Detroit to D.C. for this second round of hearings.

Some lawmakers think it will be a disaster to let the automakers fail, but most others, perhaps tired of writing checks to drowning companies, seem skeptical.

By Rafael Cohen