There's no good way out of this situation. GM has hamstrung itself with contracted benefits to employees who may have retired long ago. Whatever they bargained for long ago - were terms GM was foolish enough to agree to. Either the unions and retirees agree to give something back, or GM uses bankruptcy to off-load the pension programs to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation - which needs that like a hole in the head - and to vitiate the health benefits programs for past and present employees. The shocking thing is that even drastic maneuvers like that may not save GM.
In this man's army - the key criterion to the future of GM is the path that generates the least costs to the taxpayer.
I hope that a way is found to bring GM back from the precipice, but I hope that it isn't by a Chrysler-style bailout of GM.