GM's Best-Case Scenario

General Motors might be a mess today as the government swoops in to buy up 72.5% of the company, but the White House sees things quickly improving under bankruptcy. According to projections by the Treasury Department, the US would see most of its $50 billion investment recovered within only five years as the company bounces back from a structured bankruptcy to become profitable again. "I'm not here to tout stock. But we're very excited about this as a company," one official told the Washington Post. But given the company's moribund state, some observers believe the government is wearing rose-colored racing glasses in its assessment. "Whenever a company goes through that deep of a restructuring, there are all kinds of risks," one economist told the Post. "This is not a nip-and-tuck exercise. This is major surgery."