November 18, 2008 Paulson defends bailout before congress Play video

(Greg Wayland, NECN) - It was a busy day in Washington Tuesday. Two congressional hearings have been looking into the troubled economy and how to fix it. U.S. automakers are now making their case for government help.

Earlier, the Treasury Secretary and Federal Reserve Chairman defended their handling of the 700 billion dollar bailout.

Chairman Christopher Dodd has scolded automakers for failing to head off their crisis, but he favors a bailout to save the industry and millions of jobs. Meanwhile house lawmakers were upset by the administration's shift in bailout strategy. The man who engineered that shift said there's no playbook for dealing with an unprecedented crisis.

NECN's Greg Wayland explains.