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Posted on 08/08/2012 7:08:29 PM PDT by neverdem
Matthew Boyle of the Daily Caller reports that internal emails show Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was “the driving force” behind terminating the pensions of 20,000 non-union retirees from the Delphi auto parts manufacturing company, as part of the government’s bailout plan for General Motors. Union workers, on the other hand, “saw their pensions topped off and made whole.”
This decision was supposed to be made by the independent Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which is meant to be free of political influence, so it can represent the interests of private-sector pensioners.
Instead, the Daily Caller unearthed a string of emails that show extensive involvement by the Treasury Department and the White House. In one email, PBGC staffer Joseph House told his associates that he had just spoken with Treasury official Matt Feldman, who said he had “made progress discussing our proposal with a number of key folks in Treasury and at [the] White House, but he has not yet wrapped up his coordination. He indicated that there is an 8 AM call tomorrow that he’ll use to close the communication-loop, and he’s confident he’ll have a fully-vetted Treasury view after that call.”
This is problematic not only because of appearances, but because Treasury officials have testified under oath that the PBGC terminated those pensions, not the Administration. It’s tough to read the correspondence between PBGC and Treasury without concluding that Administration officials were running the show.
Especially troubling is a series of emails that show PBGC staffers were actually disinvited from a key early meeting of the Administration’s auto bailout team. The meeting was clearly intended to include a discussion of the pension situation, but Joseph House told other staffers that the Treasury department had “uninvited” them. This is more than merely controversial, because as Boyle notes, “without a PBGC representative in the room, Treasury officials were legally prohibited from making decision about pensions – or even from moving toward them.”
Despite this effort to save money at the expense of non-union employees, the GM bailout remains a titanic loss to the taxpayers, currently standing at roughly $35 billion with the recent dip in stock prices.
My brother-in-law is one of the Delphi retirees that got stiffed by the government. I’m forwarding this article to him.
My husband is one of the salaried retirees. I could give you an earful on the situation. But one REALLY important thing, unmentioned in all the articles, is that the pension was funded better than most pensions out there today. But yet, since it was thrown to the PBGC, monthly pensions are reduced from 30-70 percent. Totally unnecessary.
Why am I not surprised?
Everything this administration touches is corrupted by their presence!
Is this situation ripe for a lawsuit - that includes certified paper birth records for Obama?
I was thinking the same thing. If it turns out he’s not legit he should have to be personally held liable for all these lost pensions and shut down dealerships.
“Dats a nice lookin’ pension ya got dere...”
The GM bailout is like a tapeworm that has the luxury of living in two people at the same time.........GM and the American taxpayer. They are a scientific marvel to behold; a parasite that can multitask hosts.
“I was thinking the same thing. If it turns out he’s not legit he should have to be personally held liable for all these lost pensions and shut down dealerships.”
This is the reason that if he isn’t, we will definitely be dust long, long, before it is “revealed”. It would be a much bigger secret than the alien ship in Area 51. The legal ramifications would be mind-boggling.
Waiting for the NY Times front page expose on this....
any day now ...
yup ...
just like waiting for Godot
Clarification please, somebody. Did these 20,000 get anything? Doesnt the PBGC Guarantee 60% or some such percentage of all pensions?
Maybe CNN will report it. Their ratings are in the tank. Maybe they will try reporting some news now.
That concept would make a great ad for Romney. Show BO smiling and gladhanding at Solyndra, then show the bankrupt empty building. Show him trying to get the olympics, then show the award going elsewhere. Show him touting those electric cars, then show how many were not sold and cars catching on fire. Show him picking winners in sports and the aftermath of when his chosen teams loose. Show him with ACORN then show footage of Acorn members going to jail .... you could go on forever.
Pubbies should hit hard in the “auto states” with ads regarding this fiasco. It isn’t reported by the crappy American press,...therefore, in terms of public consciousness, IT DIDN’T HAPPEN.
All those dealership employees, too, tens of thousands of employees screwed by Obama. If Romney killed Mr. Scoopitus’ wife, then Obama destroyed 100,000 auto industry jobs.
Well, then, let's boggle. I'm tired of this gay Commie clownshow and their MSM fanboys. Let's get after it. Start suing people and indicting people under state securities laws. Feds aren't God.
Rush started in on the BC and docs on Tuesday. Let's hope he keeps it up, Breitbart or no Breitbart.
This was done so the union pensions could be funded at the expense of non-union employees. “Auto states” being mostly union I think ads by the republicans would only rally the unions.
The “auto states” are Ohio and Michigan, where most of Delphi’s operations are. You’re not going to get the UAW votes anyway, but a lot of people in Michigan are NOT very aware of the Delphi situation because all they know is whatever anecdotals they’ve come across. There has been a news blackout on this situation. More cover-up for the Sainted One
I’m a native Michigander with lots of ties to the state, though I no longer live there.
“Doesnt the PBGC Guarantee 60% or some such percentage of all pensions?”
The PBGC guaranteed benefit depends on a variety of factors. These include age, years of service and ownership. There is also a cap on the dollar amount that is indexed for inflation.
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