[Congressman Billybob]

As I point out in my latest book, second link below, it is not just the pension funds that invested in Enron, Global Crossing and the like that are in trouble. "When one giant falls, the other giants stagger and bleed." ALL pension plans are in trouble, just some worse than others, because of current corporate disasters and their effect on the stock markets in general.

If there is a pension plan meltdown now, it will make the Savings & Loan Crisis in the 1980s look like a day at the beach. That disaster cost $175 billion to fix, then. In current dollars, that would be $352 billion, or 48 WorldComs at one time. And a pension plan collapse would be much larger than the S&L crisis.

We discussed the risk to pension plans, the S&L bad example, and the risk to Social Security, in this book. Have a look and see if you like what you find.

Congressman Billybob

Click for latest column: "Memo to CBS about Bill Clinton."

Click for latest book: "to Restore Trust in America"

[aShepard]

." ALL pension plans are in trouble, just some worse than others, because of current corporate disasters and their effect on the stock markets in general.

The old line steel industry is saddled with huge underfunded pension plan problems, and that's the reason that the industry can't consolidate and prosper - no-one wants to take on the acquired company's unfunded pension liability.

I don't know why Bush didn't require the new found money coming from foreign steel tariffs be earmarked to funding the steel industries liabilities, so the industry could heal itself, and eventually get rid of the tarriff.