At issue is a condition of the federal loans that calls for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to use company stock or the equivalent to pay half, or $10.5 billion, of the cash owed to a union retiree health-care trust.

"It's as if we, as a nation, learned nothing from Enron, essentially risking the health care of retired and active workers in such a cavalier fashion," said Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley who specializes in labor issues. "The great Enron lesson was: Don't put all your eggs in one basket. ... Putting half your eggs in the trust-fund basket is still a high level of risk."

Enron workers lost the lion's share of their retirement savings when the company's once fast-gaining stock became virtually worthless. Enron workers received their matching contributions in Enron stock - then were prohibited from selling it until they were 50 - and many invested their own 401(k) contributions in company shares.

Since Enron's collapse, many corporations have limited the amount of company stock employees can hold in 401(k)s. Legislators and shareholder advocates argued for tougher regulations to protect individual investors.

That is why, Shaiken said, it is shocking that President George W. Bush "apparently bowed to political pressures from the Republican right in the Senate" and called for the retiree health care of so many Americans to be placed in jeopardy.

Shaiken says he believes the new Democratic Congress and President-elect Barack Obama will revisit conditions placed on the UAW, and particularly on the funding of the VEBA (voluntary employee beneficiary association), when they take office next year.

But others say it might not be possible for the automakers to achieve the degree of restructuring cost-cutting required to meet conditions of the federal loans by the end of March without abiding by the terms set by the Bush administration.

The White House agreed to provide as much as $17.4 billion in loans to carry GM and Chrysler through the first three months of 2009. But the automakers must demonstrate viability by March 31 or they will be forced to immediately pay back the loans or file for bankruptcy. As part of the loan agreement, the federal government set targets for restructuring that include union wage concessions, the change in VEBA funding and cutting the company's bond debt by about two-thirds.