McConnell Says He Favors Allowing States to Declare Bankruptcy

[LiberalArkie]

(Bloomberg) -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he favors allowing states struggling with high public employee pension costs amid the burdens of the pandemic response to declare bankruptcy rather than giving them a federal bailout.


“I would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route,” he said Wednesday in a response to a question on the syndicated Hugh Hewitt radio show. “It’s saved some cities, and there’s no good reason for it not to be available.”

The host cited California, Illinois and Connecticut as states that had given too much to public employee unions, and McConnell said he was reluctant to take on more debt for any rescue.

“You raised yourself the important issue of what states have done, many of them have done to themselves with their pension programs,” he said. “There’s not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations.”

More

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mcconnell-says-he-favors-allowing-states-to-declare-bankruptcy/ar-BB1336bq

[essaynnc]

1. well then...

Tit for Tat. Let's let all corporations having a tough time declare bankruptcy too! Don't bail them out, they obviously have miss-managed their businesses!

[underpants]

2. Pensions. Social Security

President Dwight Eisenhower, Republican, uttered these words on November 8, 1954:

“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.”



https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/social-insecurity/

[Caliman73]

9. Eisenhower underestimated their greed.

Either that or he overestimated the stupidity of the American People. I suppose he did not foresee the conglomeration of media undertaken by those "few" and "stupid" people. One of the architects of the right wing media movement was his own Vice President, Nixon, who despised a free press and wanted the conservative point of view promoted by media.

We have a not small portion of the population who accept or even promote that giving tax money away to the richest people is okay, while providing income and retirement security to people who have worked for 40 years, is a horrible thing. That is because that "negligible" number of people bought up all the media and promoted the message for the last 40 years.

[Moostache]

3. Pensions? Hell no... Profits? Of course, he will...

Simple fucking bullshit philosophy with McTurtle and all the best of them - if it makes or costs me (or my pay master) money, then Hell NO! If it lines our pockets or makes our dollars daddy happy, then OF COURSE if MUST be done...

[jimfields33]

7. Pensions have nothing to do with this

States need replacement money from loss sales taxes. Mcconnell is an idiot.

[Moostache]

14. His target is the state pension funds in bankruptcy...

The same as the steel mills that went under and fucked my father out of 66% of his pension benefits as part of the settlement...

McConnell and the GOP are HOPING to force bankruptcy on the states for that reason among many...

[RKP5637]

4. The US is going to devour itself with these R assholes we have trying to

run the country. All they give a damn about is $$$$$'s and power for themselves ... and the hell with the citizens and the country. No doubt some see coronavirus as a great tool to cull the herd.

[rzemanfl]

5. Fuck you Mitch, you turtle necked piece of shit. n/t

[Guilded Lilly]

6. Only rich Republicans should be allowed to eternally "borrow"...

from future generations, right, you miserable soulless wretch?

Go to Hell, Mitch. Go directly to Hell. Do not pass GO do not collect $200.

[Fullduplexxx]

8. But tax cuts well there's plenty of mo eye for that

[liberalmuse]

10. The states need to withhold federal taxes from the federal government, then.

WTF are they doing with it? If they won't help, we will need those tax dollars to help ourselves. This is unacceptable.

[Captain Zero]

21. California & Connecticut's taxes are sent to red states

Like Alabama and Mississippi.

[jalan48]

11. Breaking the social contract and rebuilding with a more corporate model is the plan. And if

the corporate model starts to fail the good citizens will prop it up with their tax dollars.

[gratuitous]

12. Great idea, Mitch

After a career of public service, during which workers gave their labor for 30 or 40 years at reduced salary because of the promise of a pension after doing all that work, let's whisk that pension away from those workers. After all, they're the suckers for thinking that taxophobic Republicans would actually fund those pensions when it was so much more advantageous to chisel the pension fund in favor of their wealthy bankrollers. Sadly, a lot of Democrats joined the Republicans in this decades-in-the-making scheme. Now that the bill is coming due and those retirees are looking to enjoy the deferred earnings in their so-called golden years, whoops! Spent it all. Declare bankruptcy, and fuck you, workers.

Is there a concomitant effort to allow businesses to declare bankruptcy rather than honor stock purchase agreements and deferred compensation for executives? If not, why not?

[roamer65]

13. Ok...let's pull all the pensions for Congress critters.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

18. Whoa whoa

Wait just a minute! /s

[crickets]

19. There ya go. nt

[0rganism]

15. yep, while we're at it let's put our state parks into receivership

plenty of assets we can liquidate and give to various banks as part of a structured settlement, on the way back to pumping the stock markets

nice plan, Mitch. sounds like Putin's dream.

[WhiskeyWulf]

16. Not surprising . . .

. . . since he's had no issue with the moral bankruptcy of his party.

[Grins]

17. States can declare bankruptcy but not those with crushing student debt.

Hard to be anymore Republican than that!!!!!

[Bayard]

20. Why bother?

If the whole country declares bankruptcy?