DOCUMENTS: OBAMA ADMIN SLASHED 20,000 NON-UNION AUTOWORKER PENSIONS

Newly uncovered internal documents between the Treasury Department and the federal agency in charge of private-sector pension benefits reveal that the Obama Administration was directly involved in the elimination of pension benefits for 20,000 retired salaried workers of GM supplier Delphi Corp., a claim it previously denied.

The revelation, says GOP Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, should make Ohioans and others think twice about buying President Obama’s claim that he saved the American auto industry. 

“You see, the president likes to go around Ohio talking about how he saved the auto industry, how the auto bailout was such a success,” said Ryan to an Ohio audience. “He hasn’t talked to these Ohio Delphi salaried employees. Because this is one of those examples of the government picking winners and losers.”

At issue is whether the federal agency tasked with handling private-sector benefits, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), actively conspired with the Treasury Department to protect unionized employees while slashing the pensions of non-unionized Delphi retirees between 30 and 70 percent, as well as cutting healthcare, life insurance, and other benefits.

The Obama Administration originally pointed the finger at the PBGC, but new internal emails uncovered by the Daily Caller demonstrate clear coordination between the Obama Administration and those it now blames for gutting the pensions of 20,000 non-union employees. Specifically, a July 2009 document titled “Treasury Talking Points re: Delphi” was sent as an attachment to a July 7, 2009, email from PBGC’s Joseph House to Treasury’s Matthew Feldman, Oren Haker and Paul Nathanson.

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading...

Gasparino: GM’s Devil’s Bargain

GM’s devil’s bargain - Still stuck with Uncle Sam

The Obama campaign raves about how it “saved the auto industry” — that is, the government’s bailout mainly of General Motors — and so preserved millions of jobs.

But if it was such a success, why is the bailout losing so much money — and why do current GM managers want nothing to do with Washington as they try to save the company?

The answer: They know that with the lefties in the Obama administration breathing down their necks, their chances of ever restoring GM to its past glory are anywhere from slim to none.

Of course, it’s hard to feel sorry for GM’s management, which news reports and my own sources say has been prodding the administration to sell off its remaining 26.5 percent stake in the company. GM’s bosses invited Uncle Sam in — tough luck for them that he doesn’t want to leave.

For way too long, the Big Three — GM, Ford and Chrysler — kept on cutting generous wage and benefit deals with their unionized workforce as if it was still the 1950s and ’60s, when foreign competition didn’t exist. By 2009, that heyday was long, long past — and the Great Recession brought their highly flawed business model crashing down.

The $17 billion in loans from the Bush administration in its waning days wasn’t enough. GM and Chrysler came hat in hand to the President Obama for a little more hope and change.

An easy solution would have been to let the companies reorganize under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code. They’d have had a good chance to survive; plenty of other companies have restructured under bankruptcy protection and emerged later as viable businesses. American Airlines is doing it right now, and without major disruptions in service, or mass layoffs.

As it turned out, Chrysler and then GM did declare banktuptcy — but the resolution wasn’t the normal court-overseen reorganization. Under Obama, the feds dumped in tens of billions more into the companies and took controlling stakes in an industry that was once a bedrock of free-market capitalism.

In the administration-overseen restructuring, bondholders got hit hard in what many legal experts say was a violation of bankruptcy laws, and dealerships around the nation got slammed

.

But the president’s buddies in the United Auto Workers largely feasted. Sure, the absurd “jobs bank” — Detroit’s version of a “no show job,” where the auto companies basically handed fired workers free money — got shut down. And new hires lost out on the old guaranteed pensions for the market-driven 401-k plan that most of the rest of us rely on for retirement.

Via: New York Post

Continue Reading...

The Delphi Debacle Union members were made whole at the expense of non-union employees in auto bankruptcy

Fred Arndt and his brother Dave came to General Motors straight out of high school.

They spent their entire careers building the engine cooling systems that increase the lifespan of Cadillacs and other vehicles. Dave worked in assembly; Fred, one year younger, qualified for GM University, which propelled him to work as a draftsman and engineer. They worked the line side-by-side. Dave built the parts Fred had designed.

The brothers made their way to Delphi, an auto supplier spun off from GM that builds components—seats, instrument panels, steering and suspension systems—for cars.

After more than 30 years with the company, the brothers retired in their native Michigan. They watched as Delphi’s growing labor costs dragged it into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005. It would not emerge until 2009 when the government stepped in with $50 billion for GM.

And then the Arndt brothers’ paths diverged. Fred, 64, lost his health, dental, and life insurance, along with 70 percent of his pension. Dave lost five percent of his health insurance and some dental coverage.

His pension, however, was made whole.

The difference: union membership. Dave is a member of United Auto Workers—the labor group that financially backs the Democratic Party. Fred was considered management.

“I worked for GM and Delphi because I thought I had security; I worked my buns off to be a ‘company guy,’ and to be treated this way in retirement is incredible,” he said. “I knew there would be a price to pay, but I expected everyone to take a cut—not just the salaried guys.”

When GM separated from Delphi in 1999, Fred travelled far from Michigan. He worked all over Ohio and in company plants in upstate New York. As he neared retirement, he returned to Saginaw, Mich., and commuted 100 miles each day to Delphi headquarters in Troy. He retired a bit earlier than he had expected—the daily drive took its toll. He never had children, so he had plenty of savings to supplement his pension. Now he has been forced to use the money to pay for his home, groceries, and gas.

Via: WFB

Continue Reading...

TARP and GM

In December of 2008, GM approached Congress and asked for a bridge loan to allow them to restructure. While the House passed legislation to accomplish this, it was not passed through the Senate. Days later, the Bush administration initiated a loan through the TARP program which would provide $14 Billion in loans and stock purchases to GM and follow many of the guidelines that were sought in that legislation. This included a restructure plan that would have to be approved by the Obama administration.

In February of 2009 GM presented their plan to the Obama administration. The plan was seen as preferential to union workers by bondholders and many stated their intention to oppose it. In March of 2009 President Obama announced that he was not accepting the viability plan put forth by GM, but that he was authorizing more funds to keep the company afloat. President Obama also initiated programs to provide funds to companies that supply parts to GM and Chrysler.

GM was placed into bankruptcy on June 1, 2009 and the company was supplied with an additional $30.1 Billion dollars, bringing the total loans and stock purchases to $50 Billion. The company was made a private entity at that time.

The bankruptcy restructuring plan agreed upon by the government and GM gave the US government a 60% share in the company and gave the Canadian government a 12% share. The United Auto Workers gave up a health and savings plan worth $20 Billion in exchange for a 17.5% share in the company and over $8 Billion in debt and preferred stock. Bondholders held $27 Billion in stock prior to the collapse and received only a 10% equity share in the new GM company. 

Throughout the bankruptcy process, President Obama stated that he had not desire to run a car company and would not interfere with daily GM business. This is at odds with numerous actions taken before and after the bankruptcy filings.

• Days before GM was placed into bankruptcy, the Obama administration demanded and received the resignation of company CEO Rick Wagoner.
• The Obama administration pushed for the closing of numerous GM dealerships
• The substance of the bankruptcy settlement was heavily tilted to favor unions - a result that many people suggest would not have occurred without political motivations
• The bankruptcy settlement allowed the US government, the Canadian, and the UAW Union to appoint chairs of the board - an action that would directly change the direction of the company for years

The TARP program established specific rules on what could be purchased with the funds. These rules stated that only Preferred Stock or Common stock without voting rights could be purchased. The reason for this was to prevent the government from controlling a company it purchased stock in through TARP funds. President Bush violated those rules when he used the money to provide a loan to GM. President Obama further violated those laws when he purchased stock in the company and used the ownership of that stock as authority to appoint board members. The creation of programs to give funds to companies simply because they depended on GM and Chrysler for business was also not allowed in TARP documents.

Via: The Political Guide

Continue Reading...

DNC TO PROMOTE 'SUCCESS' OF AUTO BAILOUT

The DNC has plenty of good elected official seats still available. 

The (Convention planning) documents also give a glimpse of what parts of Obama’s record will get the most attention in the campaign, with one piece — the auto bailout — rating several mentions in the plan....

President Barack Obama claims the $82 billion auto bailout “created or saved” one million jobs.  But this is the Administration that claimed the $1 trillion so-called “Stimulus” bill “created or saved” jobs - in non-existent Congressional districts.

Chevy Volt

The administation spent $80 billion on “green jobs” - but couldn’t define what a “green job” was.  And when they finally started defining it - counted things like oil industry lobbyist, bus driver and garbage man. Suffice to say, President Obama and his Democrat cohorts have a long history of being...disingenuous.  And having a great deal of difficulty with math. 

We think the auto bailout rates several mentions - though we’re sure ours won’t come up at the Charlotte, North Carolina Democrat Lie-A-Thon.  Behold:

Taxpayers are poised to lose over $42 billion on the $82 billion auto bailout.  President Obama in late 2009 said we would make money on it.

$26.5 billion of the loss was a straight payoff to the Democrat-apparatchik United Auto Workers (UAW) union.

During the bankruptcy process, President Obama illegally paid off the UAW first and in full - before secured bondholders who should have been made whole before anyone else got a dime.  Which was incredibly disruptive and destructive of the entire bond market. 

President Obama illegally carried forward through the bankruptcy the ridiculously exorbitant UAW contracts, a huge contributing factor to GM going under in the first place - and are again, predictably, helping to wreck the bottom line.

Via Breitbart

Continue Reading...

E-MAILS SHOW GEITHNER, TREASURY TERMINATED PENSIONS OF NON-UNION WORKERS

In what may contradict testimony by Obama administration officials under oath and may be a violation of federal law, The Daily Caller obtained emails that show Timothy Geithner’s Treasury Department “was the driving force behind terminating the pensions of 20,000 salaried retirees at the Delphi auto parts manufacturing company,” and the move, according to The Daily Caller, “appears to have been made solely because those retirees were not members of labor unions.”

As The Daily Caller notes, “Under 29 U.S.C. §1342, the PBGC is the only government entity that is legally empowered to initiate termination of a pension or make any official movements toward doing so” and “the White House and Treasury Department have consistently maintained” the PBGC “independently made the decision to terminate the 20,000 non-union Delphi workers’ pension plan.”

These emails contradict sworn testimony by several Obama administration figures and is yet another example of Obama’s administration misleading lawmakers, the courts, and the public -- as they did with Obamacare -- when it came to these pension cuts. 

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading