All the pension funds going broke ??

[kentuck]

I heard some guest on C-SPAN this morning talking about the pension funds of some airlines going broke but being guaranteed by the US government? One guy was supposed to receive $110,000 per year in pension and we are supposed to guarantee it?? At the same time we are telling people that we cannot afford $10,000 per year for Social Security for average retirees? Why do they deserve more than the Social Security guarantee? Just curious?

[tmooses]

1. They have a pension negotiated in their union contract. It is

bargained for everytime the contract comes up for negotiation. I don't know about the $110,000 figure-I would check your sources on that. The companies like United are defaulting on a contract they made with their employess and being bailed out by the government (aka taxpayers) for their incompetence while their execs are being rewarded for running their company into the ground.

[madrchsod]

2. they`ll get about half of that

110,000 figure. so there goes the house, cars,and all the othercomforts of a solid middle class retirement. nice isn`t it,you work all your life and end up with half of what you expect...welcome to the new america

[DemoTex]

4. They will get the PBGC max: $28,000 per year.

Unionized airline employees bargained for those good pensions. To get them, they gave up other items on the table (wages, benefits, work rules, etc.). The CEOs and CFOs and BK courts are stealing from those airline employees. It is part of the pirate-ization plan. A few billion here, a few billion there, and pretty soon the middle class disappears. Been there, done that. My airline pension was terminated on 3/31/2003. According to the Washington Post, my CEO (Dave Siegel, US Airways) took home $10-million that year.

[havocmom]

3. Funds invested in the stock market. Stock market not preforming well

There's an answer in there. Also explains insurance rates.

The GOP has been raiding the Social Security Trust fund to justify tax cuts for fat cats "See, we have too much money, have to give it back". Wall Street is a pyramid collapsing under its own weight cuz US companies, for the most part, are not concerned with products/services, but rather with selling stocks. Policies are for the short term, quarterly reports, so they can get a decent rating for their stock. That means to hell with product quality & lets cut labor costs more.

The US worker is making less, paying more taxes than the fat cats, spending more at the pump and everywhere else. Finding no $$ left over for investing and having already been burned by the likes of ENRON, the pool of small investors is about dry. Wall Street is begging to get its talons into the Social Security payroll taxes. The vampires are looking for forced transfusions.

The system is collapsing. Capitalism is failing for the exact same reason Communism failed. It has not been operating as advertised. It has been perverted by greedy bastards to the point that it does not work. The ruling class will squash the working class and struggle to stay on the top of the heap that has ALWAYS rested on the shoulders of decent people just working to get by.

Eat the rich.