Twas a fortnight before Christmas, when there came to the House
A cadre of Detroit clowns doing a sad bailout grouse.
Their company's were hung by years of inept stupidity and greed,
Now there they were standing, the last of a dying breed.

The union ranks were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of hybrids and plug-ins danced in their greedy heads.
And John Dingell with his big auto ‘kerchief, that old Detroit hack,
Had just settled his brains for some more motown crack.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
It sounded like a vehicle powered by reverse anti-matter.
Away to the window all flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

There on the pavement without snow
With the lustre of well designed objects below.
What to their wondering eyes should appear,
But a brand new Toyota Prius powered by eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
All knew in a moment it must be Bailout St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Toyota! now, Nissan! now, Daihatsu and Honda!
On, Isuzu! On, Suzuki! on, on Mistubishi and Mazda!
To the top of the market! while the big three all fall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before old hurricane Katrina fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the rotunda the coursers they flew,
With the hybrid sleigh full of Bailout Toys, and Bailout St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, there was heard under the Capital roof
The silly prancing and gnawing of each Big 3 auto goof.
As all shook our heads, and made a skeptical frown,
Then through the hearing room doors lept Bailout St Nicholas with a bound.

He was dressed all in red Texaco overalls, and black harley boots,
And his clothes were all tarnished with 10W40 and soot.
And billions of bailout dollars he had flung in his bailout sack,
And he looked like a used lemon peddler, just commencing his attack.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the bailout stockings, then turned to those three Big 3 auto jerks.
And laying his fingers to cover his nose,
While giving a nod, all the taxpayers got hosed!

He sprang to his Bailout sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like one big Detroit bailout missile.
But they heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Bailout Christmas to all, see you next year good-night!"

They do make lots of "non-tactical U.S. military vehicles," otherwise known as cars and SUVs and pickup trucks.

As a business executive and former CFO of major multinational businesses, one of the first lessons I learned was that top management, stakeholders and the markets do not like surprises. Allow me to repeat that, “they do NOT like surprises!”

The reason that corporations have so many internal reporting mechanisms such as planning, forecasting and a daily or weekly cash flow statements is so they can avoid surprises. They conduct periodic risk reviews in order to mitigate any potential surprises and if necessary, take appropriate actions. GM clearly knew that revenues were down, market share was down, cash was burning at the speed of light and debt was spiraling out of control.

With that in mind, it's should have come as no surprise to anyone, that GM execs, (who arrived in Washington in a private corporate jet) requested a federal bailout—they need $4 billion just to pay their bills this month, or risk running out of money. They are seeking an additional $18 billion—$12 billion in loans and a $6 billion line of credit.

Now that they're on the hotseat, the company is finally making plans to shrink its work force by 34%, close nine plants, shut down 1,750 dealerships, focus on four of their eight current U.S. models, cut its debt in half and win new concessions from the UAW. They may have been considering these actions for awhile, but why would they put off outlining a plan until they were running out of cash? Why now? This is not the way to run a corporation. . . or has this become the new standard?

The current board and top management have failed spectacularly, and in my opinion, the government should forget the bailout and allow the company to file for Chapter 11. However, my main concern is that the $18 billion is not nearly enough for GM to survive at current production levels anyway. Furthermore, using rough estimations, the restructuring process alone could cost GM $20 billion.

Another fallout of the global credit crunch is that auto finance companies do not have enough money to lend to consumers. But GMAC Financial Services, GM's finance arm, has applied to become a bank holding company, making it eligible for a slice of the bank bailout pie, as well as giving them access to the Federal Reserve's discount window for emergency loans.

The bottom line is that even if the government bails GM out, who will want to invest in them? I don't mean to sound contrarian, but I am realistic enough to think that GM filing for Chapter 11 would be the best option for the taxpayer and the American consumer.

We stated in our book, “The Big Gamble: Are You Investing or Speculating?” that maybe we should not give up just yet on GM. After all GM was once considered a rock solid investment, even though in hindsight, it turned out to be mere speculation. But we were still betting that GM could bounce back and steal the spotlight from Toyota. However, looking at the reality of their current situation, perhaps it is too late now.

GM missed an opportunity to learn from the Chrysler bailout in 1979 and 1980. In that landmark case, Chrysler spent months building support for a $1.5 billion loan guarantee. Executives received zero bonuses, took deep salary cuts and negotiated for concessions across the board. Their efforts eventually helped save the company and tens of thousands of jobs. GM did indeed miss an opportunity to learn from this, but unfortunately, that seems to be true of many of today's corporations