GM All But Certain To File For Chapter 11

Under normal circumstances, bankruptcy protection would be the best avenue for both GM and Chrysler to try to fix their problems, said Daniel Mitchell, an economist at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, D.C.

But politics has become key in negotiations, and Mitchell said the Obama administration appears to be trying to appease the United Auto Workers union with little regard to making sure the automakers emerge leaner and more efficient.

"It's a rather sad thing because at the end of the day there's no way GM or Chrysler come out of this as successful companies," he said. "You're going to wind up with basically hollow shells that are going to slowly die."

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Associated Press writer Mark Williams in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.