General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler aren't selling as many cars these days, but they have gotten pretty good at selling fear.

Auto executives warned darkly of the fallout that would follow a bankruptcy filing. A Chrysler executive even used the "D" word, saying a collapse would cause a depression.

GM President Frederick "Fritz" Henderson insists bankruptcy is not an option. "There is not a Plan B," he says. Translation: As always with the Detroit Three, it is their way or the highway.

But Henderson fails to acknowledge the obvious: His company already is bankrupt. GM needs $4 billion just to survive to the close of business on Dec. 31 and wants $18 billion in all — a fair definition of insolvency.

There are better ways to help the Detroit Three than simply passing out more loans. Any aid should be prefaced by a bankruptcy filing — or terms that amount to receivership — a demand for higher fuel efficiency, the resignation of top executives, and the appointment of an independent board to oversee the funds. Congress must draw a bright line, or it may as well open a drive-up window on Pennsylvania Avenue for the other industries that surely will come calling.

Bankruptcy need not be fatal. Companies continue to operate under its protection every day. Many emerge stronger. As long as the warranties on the Detroit Three's vehicles are honored, which could be accomplished by setting aside money in trust, consumers would have no good reason not to consider their cars. Imagine the ad campaigns Madison Avenue could devise.

One idea is to establish a government fund to help pay for the restructuring that GM and the others would undertake in bankruptcy. Another is to release the previous $25 billion in loans from conditions that demanded that they be used to retool factories to build fuel-efficient cars. Both ideas have merit.

We're concerned Congress will act rashly out of fear of losing votes in battleground states. The record of its members so far isn't reassuring. After the auto executives arrived unprepared during congressional hearings last month, Congress gave them homework: Give us plans to prove you're viable. In a matter of days, the automakers had "plans." But if fixing what ails Detroit was that easy, there never would have been this incessant groveling.

Furthermore, that original package of $25 billion in loans always has been suspect. What if a skeptical public with just cause remains more interested in Toyotas, Hondas and Subarus? What's next? Cash back from the U.S. Treasury on your next Malibu?

We feel for the good people who work for the Detroit. Though the United Auto Workers must share some of the blame for the automakers' demise, the union is in a terrible bind. The collapse of any of the U.S. automakers would ripple across the auto-dependent upper Midwest and indeed through the entire economy.

The government should construct a sure and reliable safety net beneath the workers and spend generously on retraining them. They're going to need it. Even if the government bails out the automakers now, there is a good chance many of these jobs are gone for good.

REPRINTED FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL.