Excerpt: Like Sisyphus, who was condemned to roll a rock up a hill each day only to watch it roll back down again, pension plan sponsors can't seem to make any progress. They poured record amounts of cash into their plans -- an estimated $40 billion in 2004 on top of contributions of more than $70 billion in 2003 -- to comply with federally mandated minimum funding levels, but mediocre stock market returns, persistently low interest rates, and ballooning retiree populations mean plans are in[.]  MORE >>