As the waves of the financial meltdown pound banks and governments, the human cost is easily lost in the background. From layoffs to shattered dreams, the global crisis becomes a personal crisis. Do we really see how deeply it reaches into the global community?

SOURCES: Al Jazeera English, Qatar; CNN, U.S.; Deutsche Welle, Germany; South Asia Newsline, India; Russia Today, Russia; KBS, South Korea.

The House plans to vote today on a scaled-back $15 billion bailout backed by Democrats and the White House intended to keep GM and Chrysler in business through late March. Ford's slightly better financial portfolio will allow it to sit out this round of proposed aid. The measure though may face a fatal filibuster from Senate Republicans, despite several weeks of back-and-forth negotiations.

One anti-bailout argument has been that the Big 3's workers must cut back on their lavish $73 an hour compensation. But as David Leonhardt writes in the New York Times today, "Big Three workers aren't making anything close to $73 an hour (which would translate to about $150,000 a year)." American auto workers do claim more generous health and retirement benefits than their foreign auto worker counterparts, but the actual take-home pay of the two groups is  roughly comparable.

We are more likely to agree with Leonhardt's conclusion, that American automakers are failing less because of outdated labor costs, and more so because most Americans no longer care for their outdated cars.

This week's program enters its final phase of production, rousing us from our somnolent Capitol Hill watch.

One auto crisis strategy we are tracking across the world, which could give heart to the Big 3: government bailout. Sweden, Australia, Brazil, France, and Spain are just a few of the countries whose governments have opened their checkbook in recent weeks to shore up sluggish auto industries.

If the U.S. Congress does in the end warm to Detroit, one group in particular will be sure to rejoice: members of the extended Ford family. The Detroit News reported last week that the Ford family's stock wealth has plummeted in recent years to a mere $117 million today. You can track their losses in the graphic here.

We're watching the New York Times live blog of the auto bailout session on Capitol Hill, though drowsiness has begun to set in. Sen. Richard Shelby got the most pressing item out of the way early on, confirming that auto executives have in fact shared driving responsibilities for the Detroit-Washington ride. R.I.P. to comfort class.

Our tired eyes are now drifting elsewhere, first to Salon where Andrew Leonard counsels a healthy distrust of a Big 3 bailout, reminding us of Detroit's countless past economic and environmental sins. CNN meanwhile stirs up populist fury with its poll of Americans against the bailout.

Hope is in the future though if we are to believe the car lovers at Wired's Autopia blog, who sing the praises of Chrysler's  fuel-efficient sedans set to roll out in 2011.

But will Chrysler even live to see a new decade? Let us know what you think starting tomorrow in the comments section here.

With apologies for our Thanksgiving slumber, Global Pulse re-emerges tonight with a look at the BIg 3 automakers' return to Washington, pleading for a tow. What many Americans may not yet realize is that Detroit's breakdown could have dramatic implications for jobs and stability across the globe. Also, we find that auto outfits in Latin America, Asia, and Europe may soon lap US-based GM, Ford, and Chrysler in energy-efficient, profitable production.

Watch the episode beginning tonight here.