The least surprising business news of the day

Take it away, WSJ:

General Motors Corp., nearing a federally imposed deadline to present a restructuring plan, will offer the government two costly alternatives: commit billions more in bailout money to fund the company's operations, or provide financial backing as part of a bankruptcy filing, said people familiar with GM's thinking.

(Hat tip to Business Insider.)

As co-contributor Jim Manzi pointed out at the time, GM barely pretended to have a viable business plan in connection with the initial bailout talks late last year.  And those who remain convinced that GM has already taken the steps it needs to return to viability (such as Jonathan Cohn) should read this Fortune piece by Alex Taylor, who has covered the auto industry for over 30 years and, by his own admission, fallen for GM's promises of turnaround far too often over that span.

As with many aspects of the election season, the best summary of GM's business plan was presented by SNL. For some reason, it has not been posted on Hulu, but the crack staff of the Atlantic has spared no expense (in the form of Google searches) to bring you this example of cutting-edge business journalism.  (The key excerpt is from about 2:15-3:20.)

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