Yep, the government did take a loss on GM. Sometimes investments don't pan out. Investments still aren't gifts. If it was a gift, who was it a gift to? It w

Yep, the government did take a loss on GM. Sometimes investments don't pan out. Investments still aren't gifts. If it was a gift, who was it a gift to? It wasn't a gift to GM shareholders who received none of it. If the bad-guy in this situation is greedy shareholders looking to layoff workers, they didn't get the government's money. One can certainly argue against the investment. However, it's hard to say it's a gift. Who was the recipient of that gift? If anything, it would have to be the workers who didn't face mass-unemployment in the wake of a crumbling auto industry. If the government hadn't bought GM's assets, workers would have been out of jobs very quickly. During the economic crisis, no one had the available capital to take on that risk. The government's investment meant that most of those workers saw stability (or as close to that as could be had). If you're on the workers' side, the government bailout is the side you need to be on. Shareholders lost everything while workers (for the most part) kept their jobs and benefits. Yes, there have been layoffs and contract re-negotiations, but that's nothing compared to the chaos of tens of thousands of people suddenly jobless concentrated in areas that don't have a lot of other employers (and during an economic crisis). That doesn't mean that everything is perfect. However, the bailout benefitted workers, not shareholders who lost everything.