Here’s a crazy idea. Instead of relying on a bunch of politicians with little to no business experience to sort out GM’s problems, let’s find out what someone who actually turns around failing companies for a living would do. How about, say, William Ackman of Pershing Square Capital? After all, his Fannie/Freddie restructuring ideas seemed pretty well put-together. What say you, Mr Ackman? “GM should be allowed to succeed, and the only way GM can succeed is if it has a balance sheet its business can support,” Ackman tells Reuters. He goes on to say that he would expect GM to get to that position by agreeing to a “prepackaged bankruptcy in which GM’s creditors erase large amounts of liabilities in exchange for equity in the newly restructured GM.” Should a newly restructured GM still need more liquidity for its balance sheet, “then the government can play an important role while protecting taxpayers from losing money.” This, in a nutshell, is why Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson refused to let GM into his TARP. Unless GM massively corrects its balance sheet blues, any federal loans will just be so much good money thrown after bad. Restructuring means jobs will be lost, but if the alternative is subsidizing jobs for their own sakes, then we’ve reached an impasse. Now, all GM and the UAW need to do is stop worrying and learn to love the bankruptcy court.

I signaled to the engine room to increase power as I hefted the helm over to full starboard to clear the iceberg curb. Just like the ill-fated Titanic, I failed; however, unlike the ill-fated luxury liner, my interstate bound ship of dreams shrugged off the concrete obstacle with only a slight disturbance of the ever present floating waft. Never had I piloted a vehicle so large and vast feeling as my Avocado Green Metallic 1967 Imperial, made by Chrysler. At 224in long, and over 5600lbs of pure American uni-bodied steel, puts the similar sized Hummer H2 to shame in its ability to show of its largess. At least the Hummer has a modicum of efficient design, not so the Imperial, one of the shining examples of the de facto “Detroit Schoolhouse of Design.”

Read More >