Would it be better to liquidate GM?

The CNBC Power Lunch shouters love to moan about how horrible it is that the government is putting money into General Motors (GM). They shout: "Why not just let it fail? After all, what good are free markets if they only work when times are good? We have a perfectly good process for handling failed businesses and it's called bankruptcy."

Of course this thinking works well when a business other than General Electric (GE) or CNBC advertisers are involved. But as far as I know, none of the Power Lunchers complained when the FDIC gave GE Capital a $139 billion helping hand last November so it could issue commercial paper. To be fair and balanced, I'd like to hear CNBC complain as loudly about government intervention on GE's behalf as it does when GM gets U.S. cash -- $19.4 billion so far.