Milky's all things American thread

[Cold Pizza]

And it will get worse....lucky I'm lazy.

By ED LEEFELDT MONEYWATCH July 20, 2017
Another blow for heartland workers: Slashed pensions

February was a bad month for Larry Burruel and thousands of other retired Ohio iron workers. His monthly take-home pension was cut by more than half from $3,700 to $1,600.

Things have been rough in the Rust Belt, but this was a particularly powerful punch in the pocketbook for Burruel, who started in the trade at 19 and worked 36 years before opting for early retirement to make way for younger workers. Unfortunately, this sagging industry doesn't have enough younger workers to pay for retirees like Burruel, whose pension plan is in what the U.S. Treasury Department calls "critical and declining status."

Burruel and the 400,000 members of his Central States Pension Fund are the canaries in the coal mine as far as pension cutbacks go. At least 50 Midwestern pension plans -- mostly the kind jointly administered by trustees for a labor union and a group of employers -- are in this decrepit condition. Several plan sponsors have already applied to the Treasury Department to cut back retirees' allotments.

This cross-section of America includes more than a million former truck drivers, office and factory employees, bricklayers and construction workers who are threatened with cutbacks that could last the rest of their lives.

The Central States Pension Fund was the first to actually be approved for this triage under a 2014 law known as the Multiemployer Pension Fund Reform Act. Many pension advocates call it unfair.

"It was run through Congress in the dead of night, and President Obama -- who was supposed to be for the working class -- signed it," complained Burruel. The fund is overseen by attorney Kenneth Feinberg, known for dividing up huge settlements in cases such as the 9/11 terrorist attack and the BP (BP) oil spill in the Gulf.

However, it's not clear what would be fair. The hammer is falling on the private pension funds that are running out of cash. And those shortfalls have many reasons. "The stock market crash had a huge effect," said Outreach Director Joellen Leavelle of the Pension Rights Center. "Some plans lost billions." It was a loss from which they never recovered.

When people such as Burruel retired, fewer workers in fewer jobs were available to contribute to the pension plan. That created a lopsided and unsustainable equation. Low interest rates made matters worse. The area economy was yet another factor.

Although things improved economically on both coasts, the Ohio region where Larry and his fellow workers lived remained depressed. When companies there failed, they couldn't continue to pay pension benefits and, in some instances, declared bankruptcy.

This placed a burden on other failing companies' pension plans and ultimately the U.S. government's Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which picks up a portion of a bankrupt company's pension liability. But the PBGC is limited to payments of slightly more than $1,000 a month in cases of multiemployer funds. And since the PBGC itself is on the verge of bankruptcy, private pensioners like Burruel might endure even bigger cuts if the situation persists.

For now, both healthy public pension funds and private pension funds aren't at risk. But for those who are affected, it hurts a lot, said Pat Overstreet of Hinckley, Ohio. She and her former iron worker husband refinanced their home to pay for their daughter's brain tumor treatment. But since his pension has been cut from $2,500 to $930, they may lose their house, she said.

Pensioners like Burruel and Overstreet said they were used to receiving that monthly letter saying their pension plan was "critical." But then came the more ominous letter reporting the plan was "critical and declining." That was the tip-off. And the final letter said the plan sponsor had applied for retiree cuts.

For the iron workers, that meant battling to save what they could -- not only against attorney Feinberg, but against part of their own membership -- the disabled and those over the age of 80.

Burruel believes his nearly 60 percent monthly payment cut is unfair and that it should be 20 percent across the board. But, inevitably, certain groups are favored over others, one reason the former union leadership was voted out, he said.

This type of dissension will likely spill into union halls across the Midwest as more and more plans are slashed. "We are pitted against each other," said Overstreet. "Those who worked the hardest and made the most are going to get hit the worst."

Some would argue that these union workers should have contributed to IRAs because these investments can't be touched. But that wasn't the way these union workers thought. "When my husband got raises, everything went into the pension," said Overstreet. And you looked out for your fellow worker, including the younger guy who was going to take your place and help you in your retirement.

"They encouraged me to retire early," said Burruel. "Now I'd like to get at least a part-time job, but my knee and hip replacements make that impossible."

Unfortunately, this is only a glimpse into the future awaiting at least a million pensioners in the Rust Belt and elsewhere. The New York State Conference of Teamsters applied for cutbacks then withdrew its application, but it plans to reapply, said pension rights advocate Leavelle. In the meantime, several states' public pension funds are running dry, including Illinois, New Jersey and Connecticut.

"This is going to hit everyone," predicted Overstreet, "public employees, too."

Another blow for heartland workers: Slashed pensions - CBS News

[Cold Pizza]

We don't know details at this point and it doesn't necessarily mean WS is involved but it sounds like more corruption.


Wasserman Schultz’s IT Aide Arrested At Airport After Transferring $300k To Pakistan From House Office

LUKE ROSIAK
Investigative Reporter
5:41 PM 07/25/2017

Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s right-hand information technology (IT) aide was arrested attempting to leave the country just a few hours after The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group revealed that he is the target of an FBI investigation.

The employees had wired $283,000 from the Congressional Federal Credit Union in a House office building to two individuals in Pakistan.

Wasserman Schultz's IT Aide Arrested | The Daily Caller

Also, from The Hill:
http://thehill.com/homenews/news/343...-fraud-charges

[birding]

Names like Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are synonymous with the 2008 global financial crisis.


But you've probably never heard of the Abacus Federal Savings Bank, which was - astoundingly - the only one in the United States to face criminal fraud charges in the wake of the collapse.


The surprisingly captivating documentary Abacus: Small Enough to Jail explains what unfolded when investigators came knocking on the door of the tiny, family-run bank based in New York's Chinatown.


One rogue employee led them there; what followed was a months-long criminal trial which consumed the lives of the Sung family - dad Thomas, mum Hwei Lin and their daughters, two of whom are involved in running Abacus.


Acclaimed documentary maker Steve James directs, and it initially feels like he is on a hiding to nothing, trying to make a film about court, finance, banks and government prosecutors. There seems to be no good guy, nobody to root for.
But by exploring the vibrant community which motivated Thomas Sung to found the bank, the story takes on another dimension. It's not just about the money-go-round. Abacus serves a thriving immigrant population - but it's one with a history of being marginalised and turned into an easy target.




Why did the big banks get away with paying fines to make their wrongdoing go away, while defendants from Abacus - with its comparatively tiny percentage of loan default rates - got paraded before the cameras like a "Stalinist-looking chain gang", as one journalist put it?


The film clearly sympathises with Abacus, but neither side gets off lightly. Claims and counterclaims are made and answered in frank interviews with people from both sides of the case - and even a couple of jurors.


There's a little bit of jargon to wade through but this is overall a pleasantly engaging watch.


Four stars.


* Abacus: Small Enough to Jail is playing at the 2017 New Zealand International Film Festival.

The unlikely scapegoats of the global financial crisis

[birding]

Conservative lawyers in the US have slammed a court ruling that will allow a 12-year-old girl who had been raped to have an abortion.


Lawyers Win Johnson and Lorie Mullins said the girl was not mature enough to make the decision. Mr Johnson said the girl was too young to make a "life of death" decision to "murder her own child".


A court granted the girl a waiver for the law that requires parental consent for an abortion in Alabama, Slate reports. The girl had been raped by an unnamed adult relative, and said she did not want to have the baby because she was scared.



The girl didn't have a good enough relationship with her mother and did not know her father.


Ms Mullins said the girl had already been victimised and was now going to be "the perpetrator of this newest violence".


"If I could actually speak to this child, the only thing I could say to her is you've been robbed of your childhood. Don't rob yourself of your future."


US lawyers want to force 12yo rape victim to have baby

[Cold Pizza]

Hurricane Harvey is a comin'. He gonna be kickin' ass.

Harvey expected to make landfall as a major hurricane - ABC News

[Klondyke]

Names like Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are synonymous with the 2008 global financial crisis.

I watched the Congressional hearing with them, they took an oath as usually. And as usually nothing wrong doing was found...

(Important to show to people that even the biggest guys can be questioned by the elected deputies on behalf of the people. However, never found accountable)

[Cold Pizza]

Dat Hurricaine Harvey. He comin'. Heeee comin' yer way!

Hurricane Harvey Is Now A Category 3 | The Daily Caller

[harrybarracuda]

Yes alright CP we get the fucking point, there's a hurricane.