Updated May 24, 2010
There seems to be many differences of opinion on the $165 billion bailout for Union Pensions now being proposed in Congress. The level of debt racking up against the private sector to keep the public sector comfortable and secure is a sham. It is no better a ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff and Social Security / Medicare / Healthcare / GM or any of the other numerous shenanigans happening in Washington D.C. If you are paying attention…research the candidates and make certain that you hold them accountable to fiscal responsibility. It is more important than anything else in the news, today.
I have posted ‘3’ different articles about bailouts now being discussed in Congress. Each article has their own unique perspective. You be the judge about who is correct.
Yours in Truth ;-) Shelly
By Erik Berte - FOXBusiness 
Taxpayers could be on the hook for another $165 billion if a bill to bail out private union pension funds makes it through Congress.
A Democratic senator is introducing legislation for a bailout of troubled union pension funds. If passed, the bill could put another $165 billion in liabilities on the shoulders of American taxpayers.
The bill, which would put the Pension Benefit
Guarantee Corporation behind struggling pensions for union workers, is being introduced by Senator Bob Casey, (D-Pa.), who says it will save jobs and help people.As FOX Business Network’s Gerri Willis reported Monday, these pensions are in bad shape; as of 2006, well before the market dropped and recession began, only 6% of these funds were doing well.
Although right now taxpayers could possibly be on the hook for $165 billion, the liability could essentially be unlimited because these pensions have to be paid out until the workers die.
It’s hard to say at the moment what the chances are that the bill will pass. A hearing is scheduled Thursday, which will give the public a sense of where political leaders sit on the topic, said Willis.
Just last week President Obama said there would be no more bailouts.
Here’s Another $23B Bailout You May Have Missed
Joe Weisenthal | May 15, 2010, 7:53 AM |
It didn't get much attention, but this week The White House announced its support for a bailout of one of the President's most important constituent groups: public school teachers (teachers unions, basically).
A post on The White House blog (via ABC News) late Wednesday evening announced that it was time for "bold action" to save teachers' jobs.
Specifically, Arne Duncan, Obama's education secretary wrote the following to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid:
We applaud Chairmen Harkin, Miller and Obey for crafting legislation in direct response to these challenges. S. 3206, the Keep Our Educators Working Act, H.R. 2847, the Jobs for Main Street Act, and H.R. 4812, the Local Jobs for America Act, each call for $23 billion in emergency support to preserve education jobs modeled after the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) established in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This funding would keep teachers in the classroom while helping to sustain meaningful and necessary reforms in public education across the country.
We urge Congress to include this funding in the supplemental appropriations bills soon to be considered. We also urge Congress to include $2 billion in support to localities for police and firefighters to ensure that our communities remain safe, as well as $1 billion in funds for the Child Care and Development Block Grant to preserve early childhood education jobs and ensure that our youngest children do not lose the supports and services critical to their learning and overall well-being.
Of course, this kind of thing counteracts exactly the type of "absolutely terrible" budget cuts we're seeing in places like California, and it's these regular transfers of federal money to local governments that have prevented a "Greece" from happening yet.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/keep-our-educators-working-act-2010-5#ixzz0ozPrroaj
Fox's "$165 billion" "union bailout" is neither
May 25, 2010 1:00 am ET — 18 Comments
Fox News and Fox Business personalities have claimed that a bill dealing with union-administered pension funds is a "$165 billion bailout for unions." In fact, the bill is not a "bailout for unions," and its sponsor reportedly said it would cost the federal government $8 billion to $10 billion.
Cavuto, Willis falsely claim bill is a "union bailout" that rewards unions' "bad behavior"
Cavuto: Bill is a "big union bailout." On the May 24 edition of Fox News' Your World, host Neil Cavuto called the Create Jobs and Save Benefits Act of 2010 -- recently proposed by Sen. Bob Casey -- a "big union bailout." Fox Business' Gerri Willis claimed, "Let me tell you, this is the SEIU, the AFL-CIO ... government workers, it's also Teamsters, and these are pensions that are falling apart." When Cavuto asked, "So what do they want to do now? Do they want the PBGC to take over these?" Willis responded, "They want the PBGC, Pension Guaranty Benefit Corporation, to take them over if they have to and be the backstop against losing money."
Cavuto, Tatge falsely claim PBGC would take over obligations of existing employers. On his Fox Business program, Cavuto said that the bill "calls for the Pension Guaranty Benefit Corporation to take over the pension obligations of employers who have either underfunded their plans or who simply withdrawn too much money from those plans." On the same show, Forbes magazine's Mark Tatge said, "So the companies were supposed to pay premiums into this -- there's no tax dollars in this fund -- and the companies for many years have not paid in, or they have paid in at such a low rate that it does not cover the liabilities that are out there. ... You should send businesses a bill for this. Businesses should be billed."
Cavuto, Willis baselessly suggest bill put forward in response to union mismanagement of pension funds. From the May 24 Your World.
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