[jjone20]

I'm not an expert in computating health care costs, but I believe I know a fair amount about entitlement culture. To me, that is the core issue. What was once a benefit has now become an entitlement, and how dare anyone question an entitlement. While the UAW fairly negotiated retirement and health care plans, no one, on either side, factored the ultimate cost of those benefits. Once in contract law, those plans become entitlements and are therefore sacrosanct. just as SS or Medicare, they become "the cost of doing business". G.M., Ford, and Chrysler are the U.S. in microcosm - the "promises" cannot be kept without bankrupting the parent corporation. A bailout only prolongs the agony.