The restructuring of General Motors would have happened had the government stepped in or not. Plenty of corporations have went through a restructuring bankruptcy plenty of times and came out stronger on the other side. Ever flown on an Airline? Every major US carrier except southwest has gone through bankruptcy proceedings and kept operating, and rarely do employees lose their jobs. When I left the Air Force and went to work for American Eagle they had just filed bankruptcy and everyone I worked with had years of seniority... hmm. Somehow had General Motors gone through a chapter 7 restructuring they would be better off today than they would be under their current situation, especially considering they owe the U.S. Treasury billions still, and the Treasury is sitting on millions of shares....