Its not like they'd go under. They'd file for bankruptcy protection and stop paying pensions. Lots of old people would be SOL - but then again, lots of old people without pensions are already SOL - so I'm not clear on why they should get an exemption (same applies for government workers - why should we pay others out of our tax dollars to have superior retirement benefits than we have?).
What *should* happen with the car companies is to let it play out and let them fail if thats what they have to do. Unlike the banking system, the consequences wouldn't be nearly as dire - you'd have some people without pensions, some unemployed people and some private capital would rape and pillage until the companies resembled something that might actually succeed.
The basic problem is the above solution is *unpopular* amongst the people affected and by people who are too dumb to understand what we're talking about - which is why its basically off the table.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2008 08:15AM by Death_Claw.