Citi Isn't GM

Citigroup (C - commentary - Cramer's Take) just can't be compared to GM (GM - commentary - Cramer's Take). You just can't call for the firing of Vikram Pandit because the government fired Rick Wagoner at GM.

At least not yet.

It is true that the government has had to be directly involved with administrating the unwieldy aspects of Citigroup. But Citigroup has a very good hope for profitability if we can just forebear and get through this period. Even with Pandit.

GM didn't have a hope. There was no plan at all -- just losses as far as the eye could see. So why should they somehow be considered equal? This all comes down to the inherent profitability of one business -- the banking business -- and the inherent unprofitability of one of the auto companies -- GM. I simply do not understand how some people do not realize that banking is a terrific business when you pay the depositors next to nothing and you loan out prudently. I do not understand why anyone with a checking account doesn't understand that banks make money every time they turn on the lights.

GM, on the other hand, loses money every time you turn on the lights.

It is true that Ken Lewis at Bank of America (BAC - commentary - Cramer's Take) deserves to be under fire. Does anyone doubt that he could have gotten the government to pay him to take the two big acquisitions, Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, if he had just waited a bit like Jamie Dimon did? The reason so many people are calling for Ken Lewis' head is because he overpaid for properties that he might have gotten for free! So did Wells Fargo (WFC - commentary - Cramer's Take), for that matter.

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