Why is it Mercedes pays high Taxes, employee pensions and builds a nice car; but the Big 3 Auto can't do that?

They have higher union costs. But their main problem now is a triple whammy -- loss of sales due oil prices, loss of sales due to a recession, and the Bush banking crisis which means car buyers can't get money to buy cars and they can't borrow money to tide them over until they can restructure and things pick up a bit.