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This was a very bi-partisan bill. It does not pass without a lot of support from both parties......but go ahead and argue which party was only 40% responsible with the other 60%.
We only had just over a day to see the 1.700 page bill, we did not debate it on the floor of the house or Senate. I doubt the people voting for it had the time to actually read it in any detail. But this is the new way in Washington, wait until the last minute then scream "rush, rush, rush, we have no time for debate, we must pass it now."
Someone put this into the bill, I'd be interested to know who.
They made a false promise they couldn't keep. Period.
Right, the pension companies can't keep their promises, but your beef has been that the government allows them to cut benefits. Where would the money come from if government did otherwise?
problem is basic. illegals took the union jobs , millions of them.
Not possible to "take" a job unless the employer offers the opportunity of employment.
General contractor solicits bids and hires the lowest cost sub contractors, small businesses, who in turn hire undocumented workers to meet the bid and make a profit. No reason to pay say a journeyman bricklayer $23-$35/ hr, dependent upon geography, when there is a never ending supply of undocumented workers willing to do the job for $10/hr. In some cases , direct consumer sales, there is no need to complicate things with payroll and withholding income taxes or Worker's Comp insurance. Workers are grateful for OT and no reason to pay 150% for it. Pension contributions are not required.
In the Midwest and NE, it's more likely the undocumented tradesman is from Eastern Europe here on a tourist
visa. Some over stay their visa. Many return home, rinse and repeat.
Municipalities, big corporations and consumers have been benefiting from cheap sub contracted labor for serious decades. This has been going on for more than 50 years.
How come most states, red and blue, reject biometric employee verification?
The retirees can't gamble with their money. They are living on their savings, They can't afford the risk. That is foolishness .
If one is rich, sure, pile their money into a huge portfolio and reap the increases.
I am not talking about the rich, I am talking about the average retiree who has to deal with inflation, no interest, pension cuts, and higher health care costs and insurance costs on a fixed income. Who is watching out for them? I will tell you, NO ONE...
Surely AARP is in Obama's corner . What a laugh. Obama allows the illegals to take jobs, get benefits, and kills industry that had a strong Union base not too long ago.
Can anyone else connect the dots?
I keep forgetting that life was good for everyone before Obama.
Prepare yourself for disappointment in 2016. Regardless of who runs and is elected, the U.S. is not going to suddenly start deporting millions of otherwise law abiding illegals, many of whom have been here for decades.
The few last standing airlines are not going to foot the pension tab for previously failed airlines. Will Congress suddenly agree to the federal government exceeding the statuatory cap on guaranteed minimum pension payments when a pension plan is not funded? Wil income taxes increase to enable this or should the federal debt expand to compensate for the private sector?
Will FRB suddenly jack up the prime interest rate to 10% just so seniors can earn a 7% return on their FDIC insured CD?
Will the US people suddenly take responsibility for themselves and embrace healthier lifestyles to achieve a remarkable decline in preventable disease, Diabetes, Heart Disease and some Cancers and thus reduce the need for protracted healthcare?
It is bad enough that the retirees are getting no interest on their savings, now this.
Odd there wasnt a no vote from the majority,not even a filibuster or some form of obstruction. Me thinks republicans like this bill.
Also odd that a President thats supposedly been giving the entitlement class everything it wants throughout his time in office would all of a sudden be cutting pensions to the elderly.
Not possible to "take" a job unless the employer offers the opportunity of employment.
General contractor solicits bids and hires the lowest cost sub contractors, small businesses, who in turn hire undocumented workers to meet the bid and make a profit. No reason to pay say a journeyman bricklayer $23-$35/ hr, dependent upon geography, when there is a never ending supply of undocumented workers willing to do the job for $10/hr. In some cases , direct consumer sales, there is no need to complicate things with payroll and withholding income taxes or Worker's Comp insurance. Workers are grateful for OT and no reason to pay 150% for it. Pension contributions are not required.
In the Midwest and NE, it's more likely the undocumented tradesman is from Eastern Europe here on a tourist
visa. Some over stay their visa. Many return home, rinse and repeat.
Municipalities, big corporations and consumers have been benefiting from cheap sub contracted labor for serious decades. This has been going on for more than 50 years.
How come most states, red and blue, reject biometric employee verification?
We have had an influx of illegals, and they are not just walking over the border. The Nafta trucks are bringing them in.
The laws were not upheld concerning illegals and the states decided to move on the problems with illegals getting all the jobs. Obama stifled them and would not uphold the law saying it was discrimination. Illegal has no meaning today only for the American people.
If you think there has been no change in the last ten years you are not privy to what is going on around you. Perot was a smart man and he knew what would ensue.
We can't change what has happened to the unions , we can only see the why and the responsibility is on our own government.
The state and federal worker has a pension backed by the tax payer. You bet they will get their hefty pensions and free healthcare. The government will lay that bill on the taxpayer when the time comes and it will be soon enough.
Here in Florida they have a new tax to cover the firemen and their pensions. Every empty lot that is required to have it cut by the city and billed for it, now has to pay a tax to the firemen for a fire tax. As if the cut lots could catch fire . None have and there are thousands of them . A new way to cover the pensions by taxing the people.
I keep forgetting that life was good for everyone before Obama.
Prepare yourself for disappointment in 2016. Regardless of who runs and is elected, the U.S. is not going to suddenly start deporting millions of otherwise law abiding illegals, many of whom have been here for decades.
The few last standing airlines are not going to foot the pension tab for previously failed airlines. Will Congress suddenly agree to the federal government exceeding the statuatory cap on guaranteed minimum pension payments when a pension plan is not funded? Wil income taxes increase to enable this or should the federal debt expand to compensate for the private sector?
Will FRB suddenly jack up the prime interest rate to 10% just so seniors can earn a 7% return on their FDIC insured CD?
Will the US people suddenly take responsibility for themselves and embrace healthier lifestyles to achieve a remarkable decline in preventable disease, Diabetes, Heart Disease and some Cancers and thus reduce the need for protracted healthcare?
Again, I am closer to 65 than 45.
Interest rates have favored the takers and spenders, not the savers.. The fed is robbing money from the elderly.
It is a me generation of borrowing and spending. I know so many people who have owned their homes and instead of paying them off , keep borrowing on the equity and they are not getting any younger. Wait till they retire, The will not be able to afford their mortgage payment. It used to be people wanted to pay off their homes before they get to retirement age. That is out the window with the younger generations today.
Those who sacrificed and saved are not getting anything on their savings. Old people are getting the shaft every way possible. Fortunately I have no mortgage payments . I am old school.
No, they WILL be cut, because those pensions no longer exist. Why? Read on.
No, they were "cut" long ago and don't actually exist AT ALL. All these people's pensions failed already.
Has nothing to do with "liking". It has to do with the fact that the fund for these is way oversubscribed.
Your cut will be ZERO unless your employer's pension failed already.
They failed precisely because profits have declined and the funds have stopped earning.
By law, pension plans can only invest in investment grade securities. There has been ia tendency for institutional investors to rely on the rating assigned by independent credit rating agencies, S&P, Moody's, Fitch, instead of due diligence. How many private and public pension plans invested in AAA rated private label MBS derivitives, substantially backed by non conforming sub prime mortgages? That these securities suddenly became worthless caused significant losses for many private and public pension plans.
That otherwise conservative private and public pension plans were the source of funding sub prime mortgages is beyond ironic.
Some private and public pension plans were subsequently lured by the potential ROI associated with an oil index fund.
Going waaaay back, some might recall that Orange Cty. California got itself into a real pickle. They substantially invested their pension funds into AAA rated Mortgage Pass- thru securities backed by wholesome conforming mortgages. Nothing exotic. The county claims it was not told by investment bankers that the guaranteed monthly payments of principal and interest reduced the remaining principal of their investment.
So they recorded the original principal and reflected the monthly payment as interest income. Guess no one in Orange Cty ever had a mortgage and understood that the outstanding principal balance declines each month commensurate with the monthly P&I payment. The county sued several investment bankers for failure to disclose. These suits were eventually settled without either party accepting responsibility.
Business failures, industry consolidation, technology, decline in Union memberships , longevity and lousy investments are all contributing factors to the situation. And it's certainly not limited to the U.S.
By law, pension plans can only invest in investment grade securities. There has been ia tendency for institutional investors to rely on the rating assigned by independent credit rating agencies, S&P, Moody's, Fitch, instead of due diligence. How many private and public pension plans invested in AAA rated private label MBS derivitives, substantially backed by non conforming sub prime mortgages? That these securities suddenly became worthless caused significant losses for many private and public pension plans.
That otherwise conservative private and public pension plans were the source of funding sub prime mortgages is beyond ironic.
Some private and public pension plans were subsequently lured by the potential ROI associated with an oil index fund.
Going waaaay back, some might recall that Orange Cty. California got itself into a real pickle. They substantially invested their pension funds into AAA rated Mortgage Pass- thru securities backed by wholesome conforming mortgages. Nothing exotic. The county claims it was not told by investment bankers that the guaranteed monthly payments of principal and interest reduced the remaining principal of their investment.
So they recorded the original principal and reflected the monthly payment as interest income. Guess no one in Orange Cty ever had a mortgage and understood that the outstanding principal balance declines each month commensurate with the monthly P&I payment. The county sued several investment bankers for failure to disclose. These suits were eventually settled without either party accepting responsibility.
Business failures, industry consolidation, technology, decline in Union memberships , longevity and lousy investments are all contributing factors to the situation. And it's certainly not limited to the U.S.
Didn't happen. The unions would have crashed in 2009 and lost all the money. It is not because of that fact. The unions invested wisely. They didn't have enough union members to sustain the funding as explained to the union members in letters sent out that their pensions will get cut.
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