i found this helpful.

At the moment, D.C. and Detroit are brooding on a Morton’s Fork: Watch the American automakers auger in and take hundreds of thousands of jobs with them, or bail out these failed and incorrigible companies whose management so richly deserves whatever hell (flying coach?) awaits them.

Tops on the critics’ list of grievances is Detroit’s failure to anticipate the inevitable. Why didn’t these companies sufficiently invest in next-generation technology — fuel-efficient small cars, high-mileage hybrids, plug-ins and all-electric vehicles — that could help wean the U.S. off foreign oil and take the automobile out of the climate-change equation? As the auto executives again bring their begging bowl to Congress, a consensus is forming: No bailout unless Detroit builds greener cars.

From my perch, as someone who drives all of the Big Three’s North American product offerings, I think a lot of the anger is reflexive and misplaced.

Read it all.

If the Big Three automakers follow the instructions of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, they will unveil on Tuesday “credible” plans that “result in a viable industry.”

But there is actually little chance of the Big Three presenting Congress with any “credible” plans. A reborn Detroit requires a radical, harsh restructuring for which neither Detroit nor Washington really has the appetite.

The fevered rhetoric of the past few months has been all about protecting workers and resurrecting the American car industry.

But the sad reality of creating a viable industry is all about firing workers and shutting down excess capacity.

Read it all.

Apparently GM is considering selling Saab, Saturn, and Pontiac in addition to already planned sale of the Hummer brand as part of a larger scheme in order to get congressional approval.