In his Business column in today’s Wall Street Journal [subscription required] Alan Murray reports:

American taxpayers should keep a close eye on the health-care hot potato being tossed aside by DaimlerChrysler AG. Some day, it could end up in their laps.

Daimler’s plan to give control of its Chrysler subsidiary to Cerberus Capital Management is motivated in no small part by its desire to offload the $18 billion in health benefits Chrysler eventually will owe to United Auto Worker retirees.

That’s a big reason why the German company was willing to agree to spend $650 million to make the deal happen.

Yes, it’s you and me that will get to pay for Daimler’s incompetence and ineptitude. Oh, Murray also says Barack Obama is promising to pickup a portion of healthcare costs for all automakers. Another great Democratic strategy – don’t actually fix the problem, just get the government to pay for it. I’m shocked! Shocked, I say.