Article

2010-08-23 Economy

Taxpayers may be the hook for nongovernmental pension liabilities of unions

For years another potential multibillion fiscal catastrophe has been brewing, obscured by higher-profile storms created by taxpayer bailouts of Detroit and Wall Street and the looming crash of underfunded public employee pension plans.

For the first time, taxpayers may become responsible for the nongovernmental pension liabilities of union collective bargaining contracts in construction, trucking and other industries in which workers move from one employer to another. Some estimate that these multiemployer pensions are $165 billion short of committed obligations for paying retirees' defined benefits.

It's not a new problem, but it has been under the radar for years as it's worsened. In 2004, the libertarian Cato Institute's Richard A. Ippolito warned that underfunded private-sector pension funds increased the likelihood of a taxpayer bailout.

A bill in Washington would put taxpayers on the hook for multiemployer plan obligations backed by the PBGC, which so far has been financed only by insurance premiums, investment income and pension plan assets. How much tax support will be required is in dispute. We fear the total also will be open to negotiation and union pressure.

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2010-08-23 10:56|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ] Top

#1 That's easy enough - just say "NO". If unions cannot be responsible enough to look after their pension plans, then they don't need to exist. Hold them accountable, and treat them as criminals until proven otherwise. I have no desire to pay someone else's exorbitant pension receipts. The UNION made the promises, so the UNION should make good. If that means some union employees don't get a pay raise, or get a reduced retirement themselves, so be it. The government (I.E. the people - you and I) isn't responsible for the behavior of others. We're also not responsible for their broken promises, or too elaborate promises. Just say NO.

Posted by Old Patriot 2010-08-23 17:14|| 2010-08-23 17:14|| Front Page Top

#2 That's easy enough - just say "NO"

Well, YOU may say no, but Obama and the Democrats are saying "Yes, we can".

Posted by DMFD 2010-08-23 18:01|| 2010-08-23 18:01|| Front Page Top

#3 How about if everyone gets a vote in union elections like the general election then? Something about taxation without representation. Think the union leadership would be open to that? /rhet question

Posted by Procopius2k 2010-08-23 18:48|| 2010-08-23 18:48|| Front Page Top

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