I dont have any problem with somebody negotiating whatever compensation package they can get. Now that being said, I think if the company wrote a check they cant cash, it's thier problem and should not be the burden of the taxpayers.
As for the nonsense about bailouts and how we need to prop up these failing companies; these companies promised too much money to the CEO's and the unions and want the taxpayers to come to their rescue. I say tough nuts. So what if they go out of business? Lets look at this from a free market perspective; GM goes out of business. You know what does not go away? The machinery that makes the parts, the labor that is willing to work, and the market that demands a certain product. If GM goes out of business on paper, all the elements of the business continue to exist for a crew that is better able to finagle a profit. If we let them fail, they would simply liquidate the company and a bunch of small fiscally agile start-ups could pick up the pieces and produce the same cars at prices people would be willing to pay.
The problem is that will not happen because
1: The UAW union has a powerful lobby and will strong-arm the politicians in washington, and
2: the financial sector is tied up in automaker stocks and you guessed it; they also have a powerful lobby.