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Former General Motors chairman and CEO Richard Wagoner was entitled to receive $23 million in retirement benefits as recently as last year, but after driving the company into bankruptcy and costing taxpayers billions, it's been decided that $23 million was too much.

Now Wagoner will be getting just $8.6 million over the first five years of his retirement, a benefits cut the company said is consistent with what other workers are taking.

But wait a minute: How many other GM workers are getting $8.6 million? Not many, but I guess the argument GM is making is that it's consistent on a percentage basis. But how many of GM's workers were as directly responsible for the company's downfall as Mr. Wagoner?

Richard Wagoner's retirement package has gone from hilariously excessive to ridiculously excessive. In that sense, there's no principled distinction between Wagoner taking $23 million and taking $8.6 million. If he had any character or desire to salvage what's left of his legacy -- and prevent his children from having to bear the name of an infamous villain -- he would have turned down all retirement benefits and directed that they be used for the benefit of the company's lower-level workers.

Then, Mr. Wagoner could say that the price of his character was at least $8.6 million. But for now, this retirement package will do nothing but buy him some nice foreign cars and cement his place in the annals of infamous executives.

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