After all that insistence that going into Chapter 11 would spell doom, are GM and Chrysler finally ready to put bankruptcy on the table? The problem with begging for a bailout is that you don't have very much leverage to dictate terms, and some lawmakers are exploring the idea of a pre-packaged, pre-arranged bankruptcy option for GM and Chrysler. According to Bloomberg, the automakers may just comply.

General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC executives are considering accepting a pre-arranged bankruptcy as the last-resort price of getting a multibillion-dollar government bailout, said a person familiar with their internal discussions.

Auto executives have warned bankruptcy would lead to liquidation as customers abandoned the companies. Staff for three members of Congress have asked restructuring experts if a pre-arranged bankruptcy -- negotiated with workers, creditors and lenders -- could be used to reorganize the industry without liquidation, a person familiar with that matter said.

“It’s essential for Congress to do due diligence on bankruptcy as an option so it gets a clear sense from independent people what the risks and possibilities are,” said Alan Gover of White & Case, who has been lead lawyer in $60 billion of corporate-debt restructurings.

Many solutions to the automakers’ financial problems are on the table in discussions in Washington and around the country among company officials, lenders, union officials and other interested parties, the person briefed on internal talks said.

Negotiations are splintered among small groups, making it unlikely a proposed solution such as bankruptcy would emerge until next week at the earliest, the person said.

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