Ohio senators confront devastation of pension crisis

Freightmaster1

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https://www.ohio.com/akron/news/local/ohio-senators-confront-devastation-of-pension-crisis


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Senator Sherrod Brown D-Ohio and Senator Rob Portman R-Ohio
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(From the article)
Brown says the Butch Lewis Act that he proposed is the solution. The bill would create a low-interest, 30-year federal loan to troubled pension plans, with no cuts to retiree benefits, but it is stalled in the Senate and unlikely to garner enough bipartisan support.


(Later in the article)
Portman worries that a government bill asking taxpayers to solve this dilemma would not go over well because “99 percent” of those taxpayers aren’t in the protected pension plans to begin with.[/i]
 
But yet....they made low interest loans to Wall St that cause this mess to begin with....SMH.
I was against bailing out corporations via TARP, so naturally, I’m also against Bailouts, period- even though I would greatly benefit from my Teamster Pension being fully funded. The job of the Federal Government, under our Constitution, is Defense, and making the various States play nice together. Nowhere does the Constitution tell Congress to become a Safety Net for Corporations, Entities, Unions, Companies, or People.
 
I was against bailing out corporations via TARP, so naturally, I’m also against Bailouts, period- even though I would greatly benefit from my Teamster Pension being fully funded. The job of the Federal Government, under our Constitution, is Defense, and making the various States play nice together. Nowhere does the Constitution tell Congress to become a Safety Net for Corporations, Entities, Unions, Companies, or People.
And if that is the case, why did that same Government step into the Unions Business and coerce “ The Consent Decree “ that allowed Government Appointed Fiduciaries to influence our Trustees into “Bailing Out” the collapsing Housing Market? If I remember correctly, the main talking point in the Government’s decision to investigate the Union was (allegedly) shady real estate transactions partially funded from loans from our Pension Fund. Why then, if this is so, did it become okay to invest in (read “Bail Out) a Bursting Bubble in 08’? The Fund should be made whole from this mismanagement, not withstanding the silence on this topic in the GAO report. Let’s call it Restructuring the Unfunded Liability rather than a Bailout
 
And if that is the case, why did that same Government step into the Unions Business and coerce “ The Consent Decree “ that allowed Government Appointed Fiduciaries to influence our Trustees into “Bailing Out” the collapsing Housing Market? If I remember correctly, the main talking point in the Government’s decision to investigate the Union was (allegedly) shady real estate transactions partially funded from loans from our Pension Fund. Why then, if this is so, did it become okay to invest in (read “Bail Out) a Bursting Bubble in 08’? The Fund should be made whole from this mismanagement, not withstanding the silence on this topic in the GAO report. Let’s call it Restructuring the Unfunded Liability rather than a Bailout

Read The Consent Decree. Trustees could have ordered the Manager to follow what Trustees wanted to invest in if they believed the Manager was wrong. In spite of the Decree, Trustees had Oversight.

I'm against all bailouts by our Federal Government.Taxpayers then, now, or ever, imo, should never be the safety net of others. Not for TARP, not for what you see as transgressions. In the end, tho- it's not what I think that matters. Its not what you think that matters, it's only what Congressmen think. Senator Brown wrote the bill, and thinks it can't get the votes. Senator Portman supports the bill, and sees it will be an extremely hard sell because it only helps 1% of the population (His words say 99% don't benefit) . Spending begins in the House. This Bill has in the range of 150 supporting Representatives, and needs 218 to pass there. In the Senate, it Should need 60 out of 100. The rules could lower that to 51, or 50 plus the VP, but don't expect that to happen. This is about reality, not emotion. Presently, the votes aren't there.

Per the Constitution, Senators are supposed to be instructed how to vote by their State Legislatures, not the population. Instead, since the 17th Amendment made voting for Senators a popularity contest, they no longer follow the rules of the Constitution, and vote Party over Constitution. There are 31 states with Republican Legislatures, yet Democrats vote 100% enmasse. That is ignoring our US Constitution.....
 
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