Working Hard And Playing By The Rules

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Other Politics
Posted on Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 09:28:14 AM EST
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Bill Clinton once said:

"The main idea here is still the old idea of the American dream ... that if you work hard and play by the rules, you ought to have a decent life and a chance for your children to have a better one, " he said.

Via Think Progress, Retired steel worker Steve Skvara retorts:

“After 34 years with LTV Steel, I was forced to retire because of a disability. Two years later, LTV filed bankruptcy. I lost a third of my pension, and my family lost their health care. “Every day of my life I sit at the kitchen table across from the woman who devoted 36 years of her life to my family, and I can’t afford to pay for her health care. What’s wrong with America, and what will you do to change it?”
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, in a post-debate analysis, added, “I wonder if that wasn’t a moment that’s gonna change American political history.”

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Working Hard And Playing By The Rules | 25 comments (25 topical)

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I can't imagine hearing his story and not (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by Geekesque on Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 09:43:23 AM EST

being filled with outrage.

Foxes Appointed to Guard Henhouses (5.00 / 2) (#2)
by squeaky on Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 09:59:51 AM EST

MSNBC's Chris Matthews, in a post-debate analysis, added, "I wonder if that wasn't a moment that's gonna change American political history."

Not if creeps like this have any say:

In the weeks following the Sago mine disaster in West Virginia in 2006, the owner of the Utah mine where six workers remained trapped underground Tuesday called state efforts to pass stricter mine safety laws "seriously flawed, knee-jerk" reactions.
"I resent these politicians playing politics with my employees' safety," Robert E. Murray told the Columbus Dispatch in January 2006.
Murray was responding to a proposal in the Ohio legislature that would have created a mining emergency operations center and required workers to wear wireless communications devices.

HuffPo
I am surprised that Bush has not appointed Murray to be the head of mine safety.

There is more than one way to kill a worker. (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by debcoop on Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 01:16:12 PM EST

In tonight's AFL CIO debate the man on crutches who had to retire on disability from LTV Steel, then lost 1/3 of his pension and all his healthcare is the victim of both greedy manufacturing asset scavengers, like the man who bought LTV steel, Wilbur Ross, and the laws and financial mauevers that allowed him to purchase a purposefully bankrupted entity without assuming any of the responsibilities to real stakeholders other than himself.

Below is a link to the history of LTV steel, go down to 2001 and 2002. Please note that LTV went bankrupt in Dec 2001. wilbur Ross bought the physical assets of LTV and not the company itself....purposefully to shed the pension and healthcare obligations of the company itself. This has enriched himm enomously....He specialized in buying distressed assets, not distressed companies...and I think my memory is right he is one of the owners of the Sago mine.

Of course this demonstrates the need for universal healthcare, but the defunding of long earned pension funds seems to be addressed by no one. While it does demonstrate the rapacity is the primary tenet of the Republican party.

http://www.ohiocitizen.org/campaigns/isg/steelchrono.html

Not so clear (1.00 / 0) (#22)
by jimakaPPJ on Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 03:49:54 PM EST

LTV filed for bankruptcy 12/29/2000, not Dec 2001.

The Court issued an assest protection plan 12/7/2001.

There are so many problems with pension plans that it is hard to know where to start, and it is not a problem of either party, despite what you say.

There are basically two types of plans. One is a company funded plan, and the other is an employee funded plan. I would guess the LTV plan the man refers to was a company funded plan. Then there are also company 401K's as well as plain IRA's, annuities, etc.

The questions that always come up here is simple. If the company is bankrupt, then there is no money in the plan, or else the amount is underfunded for what is owed. Either way the pension funds should never be available to the purchasers of any company, bankrupy or solvent.

If the man in question retired because of disability, then I would guess he retired under a Long Term Disability plan. LTD is basically insurance purchased by an individual through the company. The amount paid him would be based on the amount purchased, and the evaluation of his disability. At some point, usually age 65, LTD will drop out and the individual will start his company provided pension. His years of service for benefit calculations normally will stop at the time he went on LTD.

In otherwords, without some details it is impossible to know if the guy made out or was screwed.

And yes, NHC would help.


: Another type of pension plan: both the employee (none / 0) (#23)
by oculus on Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 05:23:16 PM EST

and the employer contribute.

The "rapacious" WL Ross is a Democrat (none / 0) (#7)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 01:31:05 PM EST

Rich Husband Cuts Campaign Support To McCaughey Ross
DISPLAYING ABSTRACT - Lt Gov Betsy McCaughey Ross, who seeks Democratic nomination to challenge Gov George E Pataki of New York,

blah, blah, blah...


: No (none / 0) (#8)
by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 01:39:23 PM EST

Her sup