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.
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It’s amazing how well most of us had this guy figured out (thanks to FR and talk radio).
This guy has turned out to be exactly who we thought he was.
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.Is this situation ripe for a lawsuit - that includes certified paper birth records for Obama?
IANAL, but it certainly appears that civil suits should be filed. This looks like an open-and-shut case.But then, what of all the dealerships arbitrarily shut down, apparently selected by the administration with political malice aforethought.
But of course the ongoing tort of the homogenization of journalism by the Associated Press hurts everyone who refuses to kowtow to the idea that reporters’ criticism and second guessing is superior to performance “in the arena."
I absolutely agree!
They should start today!
btt
My husband’s pension was reduced 30 percent. The amounts vary from 30-70 percent with many factors considered. See my post #4, stating that pensions WERE funded good enough for many years.
We have had a lawsuit going for two years. The retirees (my husband is one) have spent about $2million dollars so far, fighting every step of the way with the Government. They didn’t expect us to persue this, that we would lie down and take it. The last year has been spent just fighting to get documents released to us.
So with a reduced pension, we have to pay for our own healthcare and lawyers. That is what this Administration has done to the ‘nonunion’ workers.
Best of luck to you...
Perhaps the Romney campaign can use your story for stump/adds?
It seems to be a very sharp political point, and getting the word out could only help your case.
(WH - Future quote - ‘Gee, with being so busy cleaning up the mess GWB left us these retirees fell through the cracks of the system we inherited...of course the treasury will write them a check. We care.’)
Thanks for the ping!
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