Want to know why Detroit’s Big Three automakers are in such trouble?

Part of it is because they are simply too heavy to be effective. All the years of those lucrative union contracts are finally catching up with them.

But part of it has to do with the products they’ve produced (or, more accurately, the products they haven’t produced). While Japanese and other foreign automakers have developed more fuel-efficient cars and have stayed ahead of the curve—and have done it by building American factories that employ American workers and spawning American suppliers that employ American workers—without unions, by the way—the Big Three have continued to stamp out the same old stuff.

Here are the Top 10 worst cars of 2008, as compiled by Cars.com based on sales throughout this year:

10. Pontiac Grand Prix:  8,252 sold
9. Dodge Magnum: 6,833 sold
8. Chrysler Pacifica: 6,227 sold
7. Hummer H-2: 5,488 sold
6. Lincoln Mark LT: 4,038 sold
5. Cadillac Escalade: 3,779 sold
4. Mercury Mariner Hybrid: 2,011 sold
3. Chrysler Crossfire: 1,819 sold
2. Cadillac XLR: 1,091 sold

And the worst-selling car of 2008: The Dodge Viper, which has sold only 959 units this year.

But wait! That’s actually good news for the Viper: That 959 figure represents a 149 percent increase from 2007 sales!

Click here for pictures of the vehicles (you might need visual aids, since you aren’t seeing much of these cars on the roads).

For its part, the Detroit Free Press is trying to come to the aid of its big employers (and advertisers): It’s published a list of “Six Myths about the Detroit 3.” They are:

1. Nobody buys their vehicles.
2. They build unreliable junk.
3. They build gas-guzzlers.
4. They already got a $25-billion bailout.
5. GM, Ford and Chrysler are idiots for investing in pickups and SUVs.
6. They don’t build hybrids.

Click here for the Free Press’s explanations of the “myths.”

Notice what’s not on the myth list: Anything about how those union contracts have crippled the Big Three.

Keep in mind that union leaders have made it clear that they have no intention of re-opening those contracts for renegotiation in exchange for a bailout that would save the companies that are responsible for fulfilling them.

For what it’s worth, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told a congressional committee today that he opposes including the Big Three in the $700 billion not-a-bailout plan passed by Congress several weeks ago. Congress did not anticipate non-financial companies participating in the plan, Paulson said.

But the lobbying continues:

But auto executives, backed by leading Democrats, insist they need another $25 billion in emergency loans to avert a collapse of one or more of their companies before year’s end. That would bring the total federal help for the industry to $50 billion this year.

The executives, along with the head of the United Auto Workers union, were making their case Tuesday at a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee as auto bailout backers hunted the votes necessary to pass the plan in a postelection session. Aides in both parties and lobbyists tracking the plan privately acknowledge they are far short.

And if you can stand one more list, CNNMoney offers this seven-question breakdown of the auto industry bailout issue. Check it out for answers to questions like, how many jobs are we talking about, what are the pros and cons of bankruptcy and what happens if there is no bailout.

American press reported today that the Obama transition team is getting serious about vetting Hillary Clinton: They’re now reviewing Bill Clinton’s international dealings for potential conflicts of interest.

This potential appointment seems to be picking up steam; it’s looking more likely as Obama’s team is getting down to the nitty-gritty on Hillary.

But if you listen to the British press, they seem to think it’s already a done deal. From the Guardian:

Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama, who is reaching out to former rivals to build a broad coalition administration, the Guardian has learned.

Obama’s advisers have begun looking into Bill Clinton’s foundation, which distributes millions of dollars to Africa to help with development, to ensure that there is no conflict of interest. But Democrats do not believe that the vetting is likely to be a problem.

Um ... Do they know something we don’t?

It appears that the threats Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made against U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman and his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee are 98 percent bark, 2 percent bite.

According to CNN:

Senate Democrats appear willing to let Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, keep his powerful Homeland Security Committee chairmanship, even though he campaigned vigorously for Sen. John McCain’s White House bid, two sources told CNN Monday.

But the veteran lawmaker will, according to the sources, lose a less prominent chairmanship of a subcommittee on the Environment and Public Works Committee.

“He’s not happy about it, but he accepts it,” one of the sources said.

Yeah, Joe. You can’t chair a committee no one’s ever heard of anymore. Take THAT!

But wait! There’s more!

Several lawmakers involved in the discussions over Lieberman’s fate credited President-elect Barack Obama’s desire to keep Lieberman in the Democratic caucus and let bygones be bygones as being a key reason Democratic leaders have agreed to support allowing Lieberman to keep his committee chair.

Let’s read between the lines here:

Lieberman’s fate is due to one key factor, CNN says, but it’s really one key factor and one happenstance factor.

The key: President-elect Barack Obama’s desire to keep Lieberman in the Democratic caucus.

The happenstance: Let bygones be bygones.

Let’s be honest. It’s a lot easier to let bygones be bygones when you’re passing all your important legislation and getting all your federal court nominees confirmed without so much as a second thought as to those pesky, annoying minority filibusters.

And Lieberman has to stay in the Democratic caucus to ensure that the Democrats have a shot at the 60-seat majority to make it happen.

So! The president-elect may be showing some good will, it’s true. But it’s also true that it’s in his own best interests to do so.

By the time you’re reading this tomorrow morning, Senate Democrats will be weighing Lieberman’s fate, once and for all.

Democrats will meet behind closed doors in the Old Senate Chamber in the Capitol Tuesday morning. The Lieberman matter will be the first item on the agenda and a vote will be cast by secret ballot.

Lieberman and several other senators are expected to make presentations about Lieberman’s behavior during the campaign. Several senators who are angry with Lieberman told CNN they would question Lieberman in detail about what he said and why when he was campaigning for Republican nominee McCain.

Lieberman is going to MAKE A PRESENTATION about why he supported John McCain.

I bet that slideshow won’t be available on the web.

Just another meeting for the Don’t-you-wish-you-were-a-fly-on-the-wall series.

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