The liquidation filing ofHostess Brands -- the maker of consumer fattening favorites such as Ho Ho's and Twinkies - also means that Americans may soon gorge themselves on the company's massive pension liabilities.

Hostess' liquidation -- just like the recent bankruptcies of well known companies like Friendly Ice Cream and Eddie Bauer -- raises the prospect that sophisticated private equity and distressed debt hedge fund investors are using courts to cast off unwanted pension obligations on U.S. taxpayers and put a losing investment back on the track.