Excerpt: In today's economy, it's tough to view the retiree health benefits issue as purely a question of greedy corporations skipping out on their responsibilities. Many of the employers pulling out of the retiree health care game are themselves struggling to stay afloat. Think about the automakers, or some of the employers mentioned in ... House testimony -- such as the Tribune Co., which saw Chicago Tribune go bankrupt this week, and Sears, whose profits are 62 percent lower than they were a year ago. Times really are tough for everybody -- even corporations -- and putting more pressure on employers to pay out health benefits probably isn't the way to go. A better option would be to address the core issue: U.S. health care costs too much.

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