Except when the alternative is "nothing". That's exactly where GM would be. *All* those autoworkers would have had their jobs at risk. In the end, after it's all over, GM and Citicorp will be in the hands of private investors. That's not Socialism. Socialism says the government KEEPS ownership.

You can argue that it's Socialistic, just like Medicare is, just like the military is, etc. But there is no difference between what happened here and what happened with Penn Central which became Conrail back some 30 years ago. The government sold THAT enterprise at quite a profit.