Will Obama intervention let GM off hook?

That’s the worry of David Brooks

The most likely outcome, sad to say, is some semiserious restructuring plan, with or without court involvement, to be followed by long-term government intervention and backdoor subsidies forever. That will amount to the world’s most expensive jobs program. It will preserve the overcapacity in the market, create zombie companies and thus hurt Ford.

I’m not as alarmist as Brooks, but, let’s just say this opera isn’t 100 percent over yet.

Right now, I’d put the odds of any GM bankruptcy at even. Within in that, I’ll give 1-2 on a “very quick rinse” of no more than 30 days, even on a “quick rinse” of 30-60 days, and 1-6 on a real, actual bankruptcy.