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Monday, August 9, 2010
Boehner wants GAO to investigate Delphi pension treatment
Press release from the office of U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp.:
Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) and U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today requested the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a non-partisan, independent analysis of the federal financial assistance provided to the General Motors (GM) Corporation and its treatment of certain Delphi retirees.
“Neither GM nor the Automotive Task Force has provided a full explanation about why some Delphi pension obligations will be met by GM while the salaried retirees are not made whole,” Boehner said. “Was this yet another decision by the Obama administration to reward union bosses and liberal special interests? Tens of thousands of affected families, and all American taxpayers, deserve answers.”
“On the surface, the result of the GM bankruptcy proceedings appears to be a union bailout,” said Wicker. “While union pension benefits were left in-tact during these proceedings, other non-union counterparts lost most of their retiree benefits. American taxpayers deserve more openness from the administration regarding how these pension decisions were made and whether union members received preferential treatment.”
To date, over $70 billion in taxpayer funding has been transferred to GM to keep the company afloat. Under the Obama administration, the federal government acquired a 60 percent ownership of GM following the company’s bankruptcy proceedings. Additionally, the United Auto Workers Union received a 17.5 percent ownership in the auto manufacturer. Many are concerned that the federal government, acting through GM, picked winners and losers in the GM bankruptcy proceedings. Pension agreements are altered routinely during bankruptcy proceedings, but in the GM case, certain pension beneficiaries were protected during the process while others were not.
GAO is expected to begin the report in the coming months.
A full copy of the letter sent to the Acting Comptroller General of the United States is below:
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBCG) protects the pensions of more than 44 million private sector workers and retirees in over 29,000 employer-sponsored defined benefit pension plans. When a bankruptcy occurs and an underfunded plan is terminated, PBGC assumes control of plan assets, calculates benefit amounts, and pays recipients a guaranteed benefit. Securing assets and determining benefit amounts can be a long and complicated process, especially in bankruptcy cases involving large companies with multiple plans, foreign assets, and a mix of union and non-union employees.
Over the past decade, several examples of large bankruptcies and plan terminations have occurred across the airline and steel industries, and more recently, the auto industry. One of the largest auto suppliers in the world, the Delphi Corporation, filed for bankruptcy in 2005 and had its pension plans terminated in 2009. The Delphi case was especially complicated, not just because it involved a number of large complex plans, but because of Delphi’s relationship with its parent company, General Motors (GM). During the period leading up to the termination of the Delphi plans, GM was negotiating its own restructuring through the bankruptcy process, with considerable taxpayer assistance and involvement of the U.S. Treasury.
In light of the complexity of the process and the role of GM and the U.S. Treasury in the Delphi case, we are concerned that not all Delphi retirees were treated equitably and that the process lacked transparency. To assess whether Treasury’s concern for the financial viability of GM may have had an impact on decisions regarding Delphi’s pension plans, we request that Government Accountability Office compare the process for terminating the Delphi pension plans with PBGC’s process for terminating other large, complex plans, with a special focus on the following:
- What precipitated PBGC’s decision to terminate the plans and what role did Treasury play in this decision, if any?
- Following termination, how effective was PBGC at securing domestic assets through the bankruptcy process, and at securing foreign assets through the establishment of liens?
- How did PBGC treat collective bargaining agreements in the benefit determination process, and to what extent did such agreements result in disparate treatment of union versus non-union employees?
- Following Delphi’s bankruptcy, did all of Delphi’s unionized retirees that received supplemental retiree pension benefits from GM have pre-existing collective bargaining agreements that stated such benefits would go into effect in the event of a Delphi bankruptcy, and what role did Treasury play in the decision to provide supplemental benefits, if any?
- What information was communicated to employees about the termination of their plans and the reasons for any benefit reductions?
We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter. Sincerely,
Roger F. Wicker, United States Senator
John Boehner, House Republican Leader
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County courts to overhaul indigent defense system
From this story:
Butler County commissioners this morning, Aug. 9, approved an overhaul of how the county’s common pleas court appoints defense attorneys for indigent defendants.
Court officials said the change could save the county $500,000 per year.
Under the plan, a non-profit will be created that will appoint two or three attorneys to each of the common pleas court’s seven judges. For up to $46,000 per year, they will be dedicated to handling all the cases before each judge.
The attorneys will be under contract, not county employees, so they can continue to pick up additional private practice work.
Under the current system, judges approve a pool of several dozen attorneys and go through the list when new cases arise. Those attorneys then bill the county for the hours they work, meaning the county has no control over the total cost.
The change was proposed by Common Pleas Court Administrative Judge Michael Sage with the blessing of the county public defender commission.
Sage said the new system would cost the county about $700,000 per year, while indigent defense this year is on pace to cost the county $1.2 million.
“This is an area where we know we can save significant money,” Sage said, while providing “better representation.”
“Hopefully we’ll get the best of the attorneys in the system, so we’ll increase the representation,” Sage said.
“We’re on board with Judge Sage’s goals,” said Chris Pagan, president of the Butler County Public Defender Commission.
Sage said it would also eliminate attorneys fraudulently claiming hours they never worked, including one instance where a lawyer billed the county for a 26-hour day.
Sage had proposed a similar plan in the past, but it came under fire from the bar association and others because it called for the judges to appoint their defense attorneys. Under this plan, that would be handled by a stand-alone non-profit contracted by the county.
“The devil is in the details,” Pagan said, warning that there may be unforeseen hurdles with such a large change. But he and Sage both said the plan looks like a win-win for the county, for attorneys and for defendants.
“This is exactly what we’ve been looking for,” Commissioner Donald Dixon said, referencing the county’s ailing budget.
It’s unclear how long it will take to get the new system running, but Sage said he’s like to get it going “as quickly as we can.”
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Crime and courts
PACs take another ‘swing’ at Boehner
I’m told this attack ad against U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., will start playing on cable TV in Butler County this week.
Note this is a follow-up to a billboard Blue America put up last week in Hamilton County with claims disputed by Boehner’s office.
The new video came out with this press release:
The lavish golf habit of John Boehner (R-OH), Republican House Leader and would-be Speaker, is the target of a new cable TV ad campaign set to begin next week in his Ohio district. The ad’s narrator intones - in a pitch perfect parody of the Mastercard “Priceless” ads:
Golf rounds: 100 plus. Golf expenses: $83,000. Membership at All Male Club: $75,000. Special interest travel including golf junkets: $159,000. Raising the retirement age to 70 and voting to end unemployment benefits: priceless. For those who want an out of touch pro golfer for a Congressman, there’s John Boehner. For everyone else, there’s Justin Coussoule.
Justin Coussoule, Boehner’s general election opponent, is a businessman, retired Army Captain and graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
According to public records, Boehner’s golf habit has cost him, his PAC, and special interests between $150,000 and $250,000 over the past 10 years - or three to five times the median household income of his constituents ($46,000).
Despite his own lax, golf-friendly work ethic, Boehner believes Ohio and America workers should work harder and longer - and don’t deserve help if they lose their jobs.
In June Boehner told the Pittsburgh Tribune he believes the Social Security retirement age should be raised to 70. Boehner has also repeatedly urged Congress vote down the extension of unemployment benefits to jobless Americans, even in the current tough recession - and despite the fact his own brother lost his job.
Now Boehner is leading House Republicans in opposing aid to states to avoid laying off teachers, police, firefighters and other state employees in a vote to be held next week.
“John Boehner is angry at teachers, cops, and firefighters for interrupting his summer golf schedule,” said Howie Klein, co-founder of Blue America PAC. “After all, his golf game is more important than their jobs.”
Responding to a billboard sponsored by Blue America about his golf habit, Boehner’s office said the Republican golfed only seven at events held by his leadership PAC in 2009.
But Golf Digest, the golfing world’s publication of record, reported in 2005 that Boehner golfs “100 plus” times per year. And Boehner’s trips to St. Andrews in Scotland, Pebble Beach and other golfing meccas are well documented.
“Where did Boehner golf, and how many times did he golf there?” asked Dan Manatt, co-director of Americans for America. “This isn’t Watergate - this is about whether John Boehner is so addicted to golf that he doesn’t earn the salary Ohio’s 8th district pays him for a full day’s work. And it’s about whether his lavish golf lifestyle has made him out of touch with the challenges facing Ohio’s working families. If Golf Digest is wrong, Boehner should set the record straight.”
Boehner’s willingness to engage Blue America and Americans for America on how frequently he golfs thrilled the PACs.
“John Boehner’s press office just hit the issue of his golf habit into the sand trap - and now they’re acting like the golf hack who flails away at the ball, but only digs the ball deeper and deeper in,” said Manatt.
“A debate on the number of times John Boehner plays golf - that’s a debate America needs to have,” added Klein. “Boehner’s staff has a bunker mentality - they say he only golfs seven times a year - but Golf Digest says he golfs 100 plus times. So which is it? Hopefully reporters can ask him and get hard evidence of his answer - at least as hard as the greens at Burning Tree.”
Klein was referring - as does the ad - to the all male Burning Tree Club in Maryland, which bars women from setting foot on the grounds - a policy far more disciminatory than that of clubs such as Augusta National in Georgia, which allows women to play the course as guests.
Boehner has not said if he will resign his membership if he replaces the first ever female Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
The ad is the first in a TV campaign being mounted by Blue America and Americans for America PACs, two progressive political action committees. The ad buy will air on cable stations in Boehner’s 8th Congressional Distict beginning August 9.
The ad also marks the official kickoff of the joint venture between the two PACS to produce and air campaign ads across the country during the fall campaign.
“Boehner has a record of catering to wealthy corporate special interests and ignoring the needs of working families and his own constituents. Whether it’s handing out tobacco lobbyists’ checks on the floor of the House or using shady PAC contributions to help elect other corporate shills like himself, hardworking families in western Ohio deserve much more. That’s why Blue America is so enthusiastic about supporting Justin Coussoule, who is a smart, dedicated, honest and committed West Pointer with a young family and an urge for the kind of change Ohio is craving, rather than the stale, failed formulas that Boehner has been pushing for decades,” said Howie Klein, co-founder of Blue America.
“Americans for America and Blue America are fired up this fall to shine a light on the Republican/Tea Party’s hypocrisy and wrongheadedness - and the remarkable accomplishments of the Obama Administration and this Congress,” said Dan Manatt, co-director of Americans for America.
Blue America is the PAC/consortium comprising of three of the leading progressive blogs in America: Hullabaloo (http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/), DownwithTyranny.com, and CrooksandLiars.com
Americans for America PAC is a political action committee with a singular goal: targeting Republicans who obstruct the Democratic majority agenda. Their motto: “Americans for America PAC: If you’re not with us, you’re un-American.”
The spot was produced by ManattMedia.com.
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Tea Party gearing up for November election
Press release from the West Chester Tea Party:
The West Chester Tea Party will hold its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, August 17th at EnterTRAINment Junction, 7379 Squire Court (off Kingsgate Way just south of Tylersville Rd.) in West Chester. Registration and networking starts at 6:30, the meeting begins at 7:00. There is no charge for attendance. All are welcome.
Preparations for the November election will be the focus of this meeting. Our speaker will be Peter Wolf, West Chester resident and co-founder of the Voices of America, www.thevoicesofamerica.org . The Voices of America are grass-roots, non-partisan individuals interested in enabling like-minded people and groups to educate and mobilize the “Silent Majority”, using proven Precinct Organizing Best Practices, and show them how to have their voices heard. Mr. Wolfâ•˙s presentation will include information on what precinct organizing is and how it will be effective in creating results in the November election.
The West Chester Tea Party will use this presentation and meeting to launch a community-wide get out the vote drive for the November 2010 general elections. Meeting participants will be encouraged to participate in this effort within their precincts.
Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in the Ohio Project and sign the Health Care Freedom amendment. The Ohio Project is a grassroots effort of Ohio citizens to bring a proposed state constitutional amendment to the November 2011 ballot. This amendment will give Ohioanâ•˙s the freedom to choose whether they carry health insurance, negating the federal mandate placed upon them in the Health Care bill. The amendment will also stop any finance penalties for not carrying health insurance. Registered voters will be asked to sign the petition to put the Health Care Freedom Amendment on the November 2011 ballot. Training for Ohioans interested in circulating the petition will also be available. Attendees will also have the opportunity to sign the petition to repeal Ohioâ•˙s Estate Tax.
The West Chester Tea Party is a grassroots, non-partisan organization of private citizens united by our shared values and opposed to wasteful government spending.
We believe in fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free markets. Our mission is to organize like-minded individuals, educate and inform others based on our core values, to secure public policy consistent with those values, and to positively affect the outcome of elections. For more information visit our website www.westchesterteaparty.org.
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