Did Obama's Treasury cutoff non-union Delphi workers' pensions?

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Dari

Lifer
Oct 25, 2002
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Emails obtained by The Daily Caller show that the U.S. Treasury Department, led by Timothy Geithner, was the driving force behind terminating the pensions of 20,000 salaried retirees at the Delphi auto parts manufacturing company.

The move, made in 2009 while the Obama administration implemented its auto bailout plan, appears to have been made solely because those retirees were not members of labor unions.

The internal government emails contradict sworn testimony, in federal court and before Congress, given by several Obama administration figures. They also indicate that the administration misled lawmakers and the courts about the sequence of events surrounding the termination of those non-union pensions, and that administration figures violated federal law.

Delphi, a General Motors company, is one of the world’s largest automotive parts manufacturers. Twenty thousand of its workers lost nearly their entire pensions when the government bailed out GM. At the same time, Delphi employees who were members of the United Auto Workers union saw their pensions topped off and made whole.

The White House and Treasury Department have consistently maintained that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) independently made the decision to terminate the 20,000 non-union Delphi workers’ pension plan. The PBGC is a federal government agency that handles private-sector pension benefits issues. Its charter calls for independent representation of pension beneficiaries’ interests.

Former Treasury official Matthew Feldman and former White House auto czar Ron Bloom, both key members of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry during the GM bailout, have testified under oath that the PBGC, not the administration, led the effort to terminate the non-union Delphi workers’ pension plan.

“As a result of the Delphi Corporation bankruptcy, for example, Delphi and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation were forced to terminate Delphi’s pension plans, which means there are Delphi retirees who unfortunately will collect less than their full pension benefits,” Feldman testified on July 11, 2012.

If true heads need to roll and people need to be made whole.
 

werepossum

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Jul 10, 2006
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If true heads need to roll and people need to be made whole.
Agreed - if true. It's entirely consistent with Obama's using bankruptcy to gift the UAW with GM, but that doesn't necessarily make it true.
 

bfdd

Lifer
Feb 3, 2007
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Wow, just fucking wow. And to think there are still those out there that believe the big unions are different than giant corporations. If there's one thing that is certain giant entities are quite predictable and similarly look out and care only about their sole interests while exploiting and shitting on everyone else. They can get away with it too because a giant entity has no body or face, at which point they become "to big to fail".
 

cybrsage

Lifer
Nov 17, 2011
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Big unions are different, they can engage directly in politics AND remain tax free. They are like a religion with a free pass.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
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They were separate pension plans, correct?

And the UAW pensions were part of a larger settlement, while management pensions were not, correct?

And Righties have been screaming bloody murder about the cost of the bailout, correct?

So, uhh, now you're arguing that the bailout should have been larger to cover management pensions, too, or what? Or that the PBGC should have taken over the UAW pensions as well, actually increasing costs for thee taxpayers?

We really don't know anything about the solvency of the management pension plan at all, do we?

No, but the whole thing fits neatly into the Daily Caller's usual biased rant, doesn't it? Or is it more of a beat to fit kinda thing?
 

bfdd

Lifer
Feb 3, 2007
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They were separate pension plans, correct?

And the UAW pensions were part of a larger settlement, while management pensions were not, correct?

And Righties have been screaming bloody murder about the cost of the bailout, correct?

So, uhh, now you're arguing that the bailout should have been larger to cover management pensions, too, or what? Or that the PBGC should have taken over the UAW pensions as well, actually increasing costs for thee taxpayers?

We really don't know anything about the solvency of the management pension plan at all, do we?

No, but the whole thing fits neatly into the Daily Caller's usual biased rant, doesn't it? Or is it more of a beat to fit kinda thing?

lol man you do a great job at totally changing the dialogue here Jhhnn.
"screaming bloody murder about the cost" then go into how it could have cost more. I know how it could have cost less, NO BAIL OUT WHATSOEVER. I don't care WHO did the bail out, all I know is it was initiated by our Federal Government and I disagree with it PERIOD.

I also find you to be far more conservative than I seeing as you're much more amped to keep things the way they are. It's time we start owning up to the words we use to describe others when they so surely fit us. lol @ all the "liberals" on here who are truly "conservative" in their beliefs and those "conservatives" who hold so many "liberal" stances due to their sheer lack of ability to think.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
lol man you do a great job at totally changing the dialogue here Jhhnn.
"screaming bloody murder about the cost" then go into how it could have cost more. I know how it could have cost less, NO BAIL OUT WHATSOEVER. I don't care WHO did the bail out, all I know is it was initiated by our Federal Government and I disagree with it PERIOD.

I also find you to be far more conservative than I seeing as you're much more amped to keep things the way they are. It's time we start owning up to the words we use to describe others when they so surely fit us. lol @ all the "liberals" on here who are truly "conservative" in their beliefs and those "conservatives" who hold so many "liberal" stances due to their sheer lack of ability to think.

So you advocate collapse of the auto industry, correct?

Time was that the different auto makers were vertically integrated & distinct from each other. If one failed, the others picked up the slack.

That's no longer true, and Delphi's products are horizontally integrated across all the auto makers. They make parts for everybody, so without them none of the makers can produce product until they get parts from somewhere. Where would that be?
 

K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
45,897
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I don't care WHO did the bail out, all I know is it was initiated by our Federal Government and I disagree with it PERIOD.

I do not entirely agree with the methods used to do the auto bailout but to let the entire US auto industry founder at a time of extraordinary economic trouble was not a realistic option. Romney's idea that a privately controlled bankruptcy using private DIP financing was a viable option was laughable. What gracious entities were going to dump billions into the dying auto industry during the height of the economic crisis?
 

PokerGuy

Lifer
Jul 2, 2005
13,650
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I think we need to see proof first.

The move, made in 2009 while the Obama administration implemented its auto bailout plan, appears to have been made solely because those retirees were not members of labor unions.

The internal government emails contradict sworn testimony, in federal court and before Congress, given by several Obama administration figures. They also indicate that the administration misled lawmakers and the courts about the sequence of events surrounding the termination of those non-union pensions, and that administration figures violated federal law.

Pretty much par for the course for this admin. I'm sure Holder and his fellow criminals will be eager to fully investigate and punish fellow minions of the dear leader.
 
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