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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pompsander who wrote (747233)	8/9/2006 1:26:26 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Re: "By spreading out the risk for a longer period the inevitability of facing the music on funding problems is simply deferred. This is always government's favorite solution (e.g., Social Security, debt limits)." It's a mixed bag all right. (I'm just happy that ANY attempt to tackle the fast-growing problem got through Congress AT ALL. It was a very close call, what with the always popular option of 'ignore it and pretend the problem isn't really there'.) "The PBGC premiums have bene greatly increased already (a multiemployer plan now pays $8 bucks a head, up from $2.60) and this will help the PBGC, as will the deferral of the coming crisis thorugh the bookkeeping shenanigans in the new legislation." True. IMO, what would HELP FAR MORE would be to REFORM our bankrupcy laws to give pension obligations a higher priority in claims on assets during bankrupcy reorganizations! That would strike at the heart of the problem by removing the incentive companies have for 'serial bankrupcies' (such as the airlines...), knowing they can 'sky away' from their obligations (usually after a fat series of 'golden parachutes' is organized first, of course....) Companies would have to live within their means... and not make exorbitant promises and obligations to begin with --- counting on the taxpayers to clean up their deliberate mess. The day Congress approaches the bankrupcy rules is the day we'll know they are serious about the pension situation, and the incentives that currently exist in the system for flim-flam.