Money For Votes

[abbey1227]

It's just that simple........again.

Biden blasted for boosting ‘Big Labor’ with $36 billion taxpayer-backed pension bailout
By Jeff Mordock - The Washington Times - Sunday, December 11, 2022

President Biden returned to his “Union Joe” roots last week when he swooped in with a $36 billion bailout for the Teamsters’ ailing pension fund.

The money for the Central States Pension Fund is the largest amount of federal dollars ever used to bail out a pension plan. It comes out of the $86 billion in taxpayer money allocated to faltering pension plans in Mr. Biden‘s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package last year.

Mr. Biden said the payout will ensure 350,000 union workers and retirees can collect benefits through at least 2051. Without the bailout, the fund would have had to cut benefits by as much as 60%, according to the White House.

“Thanks to today’s announcement, tens of thousands of union workers in states like Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, and Missouri, can go to bed tonight knowing the pension they worked so damn hard for is there for them when they need it,” Mr. Biden said.

“Imagine losing half of that pension or more through no fault of your own,” he continued. “You did your part. You paid in. Imagine what it does financially, to your peace of mind. What it does to your dignity because you count on not having anybody to retire.”

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, called it a “blank check with no measures to hold mismanaged plans accountable.”

Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee that advocates against mandatory union participation, said the bailout encourages more irresponsible behavior from union pension managers.

“Once again Biden is paying back his Big Labor allies to the detriment of taxpayers and the 90% of American workers who have chosen not to affiliate with a union,” he said. “Long before COVID, union officials have been mismanaging plans like the Teamsters Central States fund, which makes it especially offensive that the pandemic has been used as the excuse for this bailout.”

Mr. Mix said the payout “virtually guarantees that taxpayers will be asked to pay even more bailout such plans in the future.”

Established in 1955, the Central States Pension Fund provides benefits to union members in the trucking, car haul, warehouse, construction, food processing, dairy and grocery trucking industries.

Mr. Biden recently angered freight railroad unions by signing legislation that blocked a nationwide strike. The deal he imposed on the unions and railroad companies included one day of paid sick leave, a provision that prompted four unions to vote down the agreement.

Mr. Biden didn’t address his spat with the labor unions during a White House ceremony to announce the bailout. He was flanked by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Teamsters workers and retirees.

Mr. Biden heaped praise on unions as the “backbone of America.”

The Central States Pension Fund has $7.4 billion in assets, according to its most recent quarterly financial report. It is spending more than $2 billion per year more than it is taking in from contributions.

Like other strained pension funds, Central States has been plagued with a variety of problems. Rising costs, a weaker stock market, and a drop in the number of active workers participating in the fund have crippled its revenue.

It is not the only pension fund struggling as union membership declines. Other pension plans have warned they will run out of money soon.

A report by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) found that out of roughly 1,400 insured multi-employer pension plans, 124 have reported that they will run out of money within 20 years. Those 124 pension plans represent about 1 million workers.

As plans become insolvent, they apply to the PBGC, a government organization to protect the plans. But the multi-employer program was in bad shape and faced the likelihood of insolvency in 2026 and a “near certainty” of insolvency by 2027 due to the cost of covering pension failures.

In a gift to unions, Biden included the $86 billion bailout fund in his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package last year.

Under the measure, pension plans can apply for federal grant funding, which would be used to pay retirement benefits to workers. Multi-employer plan sponsors can apply for the aid through 2025, and the funds must be invested in investment-grade bonds.

www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/dec/11/biden-blasted-boosting-big-labor-36-billion-taxpay/?fbclid=IwAR03T_LMCQwKPQKfkYqbiNBWqTrw59cPRXHc6tuQ_n_w7HyeCEbAGHg-50Y

[merh]

Dec 12, 2022 14:37:00 GMT abbey1227 said:

It's just that simple........again.

Biden blasted for boosting ‘Big Labor’ with $36 billion taxpayer-backed pension bailout
By Jeff Mordock - The Washington Times - Sunday, December 11, 2022

President Biden returned to his “Union Joe” roots last week when he swooped in with a $36 billion bailout for the Teamsters’ ailing pension fund.

The money for the Central States Pension Fund is the largest amount of federal dollars ever used to bail out a pension plan. It comes out of the $86 billion in taxpayer money allocated to faltering pension plans in Mr. Biden‘s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package last year.

Mr. Biden said the payout will ensure 350,000 union workers and retirees can collect benefits through at least 2051. Without the bailout, the fund would have had to cut benefits by as much as 60%, according to the White House.

“Thanks to today’s announcement, tens of thousands of union workers in states like Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, and Missouri, can go to bed tonight knowing the pension they worked so damn hard for is there for them when they need it,” Mr. Biden said.

“Imagine losing half of that pension or more through no fault of your own,” he continued. “You did your part. You paid in. Imagine what it does financially, to your peace of mind. What it does to your dignity because you count on not having anybody to retire.”

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, called it a “blank check with no measures to hold mismanaged plans accountable.”

Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee that advocates against mandatory union participation, said the bailout encourages more irresponsible behavior from union pension managers.

“Once again Biden is paying back his Big Labor allies to the detriment of taxpayers and the 90% of American workers who have chosen not to affiliate with a union,” he said. “Long before COVID, union officials have been mismanaging plans like the Teamsters Central States fund, which makes it especially offensive that the pandemic has been used as the excuse for this bailout.”

Mr. Mix said the payout “virtually guarantees that taxpayers will be asked to pay even more bailout such plans in the future.”

Established in 1955, the Central States Pension Fund provides benefits to union members in the trucking, car haul, warehouse, construction, food processing, dairy and grocery trucking industries.

Mr. Biden recently angered freight railroad unions by signing legislation that blocked a nationwide strike. The deal he imposed on the unions and railroad companies included one day of paid sick leave, a provision that prompted four unions to vote down the agreement.

Mr. Biden didn’t address his spat with the labor unions during a White House ceremony to announce the bailout. He was flanked by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Teamsters workers and retirees.

Mr. Biden heaped praise on unions as the “backbone of America.”

The Central States Pension Fund has $7.4 billion in assets, according to its most recent quarterly financial report. It is spending more than $2 billion per year more than it is taking in from contributions.

Like other strained pension funds, Central States has been plagued with a variety of problems. Rising costs, a weaker stock market, and a drop in the number of active workers participating in the fund have crippled its revenue.

It is not the only pension fund struggling as union membership declines. Other pension plans have warned they will run out of money soon.

A report by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) found that out of roughly 1,400 insured multi-employer pension plans, 124 have reported that they will run out of money within 20 years. Those 124 pension plans represent about 1 million workers.

As plans become insolvent, they apply to the PBGC, a government organization to protect the plans. But the multi-employer program was in bad shape and faced the likelihood of insolvency in 2026 and a “near certainty” of insolvency by 2027 due to the cost of covering pension failures.

In a gift to unions, Biden included the $86 billion bailout fund in his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package last year.

Under the measure, pension plans can apply for federal grant funding, which would be used to pay retirement benefits to workers. Multi-employer plan sponsors can apply for the aid through 2025, and the funds must be invested in investment-grade bonds.

www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/dec/11/biden-blasted-boosting-big-labor-36-billion-taxpay/?fbclid=IwAR03T_LMCQwKPQKfkYqbiNBWqTrw59cPRXHc6tuQ_n_w7HyeCEbAGHg-50Y

But I thought if one invested that 6% the government takes for Socual Security that people would have more money?!

You mean the stock market isn't reliable?!!!

[permutojoe]

Shocking he’s actually doing something for the working class.

[abbey1227]

Dec 12, 2022 17:12:40 GMT merh said:

Dec 12, 2022 14:37:00 GMT abbey1227 said:

But I thought if one invested that 6% the government takes for Socual Security that people would have more money?!

You mean the stock market isn't reliable?!!!

with the stock market, there's some risk involved.

I guess when you get paid for your votes, there's never a risk as you'll get bailed out by the Govt/tax payers again.

Corruption at it's finest

[merh]

Dec 13, 2022 3:35:50 GMT abbey1227 said:

Dec 12, 2022 17:12:40 GMT merh said:

But I thought if one invested that 6% the government takes for Socual Security that people would have more money?!

You mean the stock market isn't reliable?!!!

with the stock market, there's some risk involved.

I guess when you get paid for your votes, there's never a risk as you'll get bailed out by the Govt/tax payers again.

Corruption at it's finest

Good grief.

Like how Elon had no problem with subsidies for electric vehicles until his company collected all the subsidies a company was allowed to collect. Then he opposed those subsidies because they would be going to other companies?

Like how the 1% get away with paying less than those making less with all the special little give aways for them?

Do oil companies need fricken subsidies?
They aren't making enough off oil?

How about how Sinema trashed Build Back Better because it would have raised taxes on Hedge Funds, her special little constituency?

[merh]

Supreme Court Refuses to Block California’s Ban on Flavored Tobacco
The state’s voters had overwhelmingly supported letting a two-year-old law take effect, and lower courts had refused to put it on hold.
By Adam Liptak
Dec. 12, 2022
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday refused to block a California law banning flavored tobacco, clearing the way for the ban to take effect next week.

As is the court’s practice when it rules on emergency applications, its brief order gave no reasons. There were no noted dissents.

R.J. Reynolds, the maker of Newport menthol cigarettes, had asked the justices to intervene before next Wednesday, when the law is set to go into effect. The company, joined by several smaller ones, argued that a federal law, the Tobacco Control Act of 2009, allows states to regulate tobacco products but prohibits banning them.

“They can raise the minimum purchase age, restrict sales to particular times and locations, and enforce licensing regimes,” lawyers for Reynolds and several smaller companies wrote in an emergency application. “But one thing they cannot do is completely prohibit the sale of those products for failing to meet the state’s or locality’s preferred tobacco product standards.”

State officials responded that the federal law was meant to preserve the longstanding power of state and local authorities to regulate tobacco products and to ban their sale. Before and after the enactment of the federal law, they wrote, state and local authorities have taken action against flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes.

More on Smoking, Vaping and E-Cigarettes
Big Tobacco’s Contradictions: The industry seems to be embracing a healthier future with the rise of e-cigarettes, but it continues to fight laws and regulations aimed at curbing smoking.
The Business of Addiction: McKinsey’s ties to opioid makers are well known, but for decades the consulting giant worked with Big Tobacco and has also advised Juul.
Youth Vaping Settlement: Juul tentatively agreed to pay $438.5 million to settle an investigation by nearly three dozen states over marketing and sales practices that they contend set off the teen vaping crisis.
Ban Suspension: The Food and Drug Administration ordered Juul to stop selling e-cigarettes on the U.S. market, though it later suspended the ban citing “scientific issues” that warrant a review of the decision.
Whether the federal law displaces the state law turns on the interpretation of interlocking and overlapping statutory language in the federal law. The state officials told the justices that “courts have universally rejected the tobacco industry’s arguments that state and local laws restricting or prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products are expressly pre-empted by that act.”

Dig deeper into the moment.
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They added: “Indeed, in the 13 years since Congress enacted” the 2009 law, “no court has agreed with the tobacco industry position that the act pre-empts restrictions and prohibitions on the sale of flavored tobacco products.”

Reynolds also lost on that issue in March in a case concerning a Los Angeles County ordinance similar to the state law. A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, ruled that the 2009 law did not displace the ordinance. Reynolds has asked the Supreme Court to hear that case.

Continue reading the main story
A federal judge considering the company’s separate challenge to the state law ruled in November that she was bound by that precedent and refused to block the law.

The law had been set to go into effect early last year, but it was suspended while voters considered a referendum challenging it. The tobacco industry spent tens of millions of dollars in support of the measure, but 63 percent of the state’s voters approved the law in November.

In their Supreme Court brief, state officials urged the justices not to delay the law any longer. “The unsuccessful referendum campaign has already delayed the implementation” of the law for nearly two years, they wrote, “allowing children and teenagers across the state to be initiated into the deadly habit of tobacco use via flavored tobacco products throughout that period.”

The plaintiffs told the justices that they face “substantial financial losses” from the law, noting that menthol cigarettes make up about a third of the cigarette market.

Allowing a ban on menthol cigarettes, lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote, “could also cause significant negative consequences for communities of color, including African Americans. Because African American smokers in particular disproportionately prefer menthol cigarettes, California’s ban would disproportionately harm them, including by exposing them to negative encounters with law enforcement.”

The argument rankled Valerie Yerger, a University of California, San Francisco, health policy researcher and founding member of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council.

“When we look at the need to protect African Americans from the predatory exploitation of the tobacco industry, we need to look at the fact that a menthol ban will protect them,” Ms. Yerger said. “It will not only add years to people’s lives, but it will increase the quality of their life.”

State officials pointed the justices to a letter in April from the N.A.A.C.P. to the Food and Drug Administration lamenting what the group called the “egregious marketing practices of the tobacco industry” and the fact that “African Americans suffer disproportionately from being addicted to cigarettes and the effects of long-term tobacco use.”

Continue reading the main story
Last week, the Justice Department announced an agreement for 200,000 retailers to display eye-catching signs in their stores about the dangers of cigarette smoking. The order goes into effect in July and gives retailers three months to post the signs. The agreement settles the terms of a 1999 racketeering lawsuit filed by the U.S. government against tobacco companies, including Reynolds.

Also last week, a federal court judge in Texas sided with tobacco companies, blocking an F.D.A. order to place large graphic warnings about the harms of cigarettes on individual packages.

Christina Jewett contributed reporting.

[abbey1227]

Dec 13, 2022 11:31:21 GMT merh said:

Dec 13, 2022 3:35:50 GMT abbey1227 said:

with the stock market, there's some risk involved.

I guess when you get paid for your votes, there's never a risk as you'll get bailed out by the Govt/tax payers again.

Corruption at it's finest

Good grief.

Like how Elon had no problem with subsidies for electric vehicles until his company collected all the subsidies a company was allowed to collect. Then he opposed those subsidies because they would be going to other companies?

Like how the 1% get away with paying less than those making less with all the special little give aways for them?

Do oil companies need fricken subsidies?
They aren't making enough off oil?

How about how Sinema trashed Build Back Better because it would have raised taxes on Hedge Funds, her special little constituency?

YES! Just like that. Elon actually made me aware of just how lucrative getting into bed with the Govt can be.

Yet somehow the Top 1%, top 5% and top 10% still somehow pay the vast majority of taxes? While the bottom 50% are sinkholes of tax dollars?

Do away with all Govt subsidies, then we can talk.

I can not believe you and yours are still promoting this narrative that the economy is better.

[abbey1227]

Dec 13, 2022 12:31:17 GMT merh said:

Supreme Court Refuses to Block California’s Ban on Flavored Tobacco
The state’s voters had overwhelmingly supported letting a two-year-old law take effect, and lower courts had refused to put it on hold.

so people in your state just lost another right/freedom?       

[merh]

Dec 13, 2022 12:32:56 GMT abbey1227 said:

Dec 13, 2022 12:31:17 GMT merh said:

so people in your state just lost another right/freedom?       

But the Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade.
And Thomas wanted to look at Obergefell.

So it must not be important.

I don't smoke so it's just one less smell wafting into my window

[abbey1227]

Dec 14, 2022 2:30:24 GMT merh said:

Dec 13, 2022 12:32:56 GMT abbey1227 said:

so people in your state just lost another right/freedom?       

But the Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade.
And Thomas wanted to look at Obergefell.

So it must not be important.

I don't smoke so it's just one less smell wafting into my window

And I don't have a womb. Guess we're looking at it the same way, huh?  

[abbey1227]

Here's a little bit of both..........

[merh]

Dec 14, 2022 6:44:04 GMT abbey1227 said:

Dec 14, 2022 2:30:24 GMT merh said:

But the Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade.
And Thomas wanted to look at Obergefell.

So it must not be important.

I don't smoke so it's just one less smell wafting into my window

And I don't have a womb. Guess we're looking at it the same way, huh?  

Aborted fetuses are coming in your bedroom window?

[merh]

Dec 14, 2022 6:44:24 GMT abbey1227 said:

Here's a little bit of both..........

We were seeing 1000 people die each day there for awhile, weren't we?

Do you honestly believe that many were voting?

Not to mention Donnie lost by what, 6 MILLION votes?

Popular vote Biden-81,283,501
                      Trump-74,223,975
Sorry. 
7,059,526 votes.

BUT EVERY ONE OF THISE DEAD PEOPLE VOTED FOR BIDEN!!!!!

And there's a demon portal over the White House!!!!

[Prometheus]

Dec 13, 2022 12:31:52 GMT abbey1227 said:

Dec 13, 2022 11:31:21 GMT merh said:

Good grief.

Like how Elon had no problem with subsidies for electric vehicles until his company collected all the subsidies a company was allowed to collect. Then he opposed those subsidies because they would be going to other companies?

Like how the 1% get away with paying less than those making less with all the special little give aways for them?

Do oil companies need fricken subsidies?
They aren't making enough off oil?

How about how Sinema trashed Build Back Better because it would have raised taxes on Hedge Funds, her special little constituency?

YES! Just like that. Elon actually made me aware of just how lucrative getting into bed with the Govt can be.

Yet somehow the Top 1%, top 5% and top 10% still somehow pay the vast majority of taxes? While the bottom 50% are sinkholes of tax dollars?

Do away with all Govt subsidies, then we can talk.

I can not believe you and yours are still promoting this narrative that the economy is better.

Paying the most still doesn't mean paying what you owe.

As long as you support billionaires skipping out on their taxes, I never want to hear you mention the words "national debt" a-fucking-gain.

It's nice that you try to sound magnanimous with the "do away with all subsidies" bullshit - as if you're talking about big business - when in reality, what you're talking about are the subsidies given to the poor - mostly working poor - who haven't measured up to your standards: working 3 jobs, white, own their own home and have a dash of savings... the ones who just on the edge of poverty. The ones who are over the edge are a lost cause....

All of our wonderful freedoms

All of our wonderful capitalism

Our growing number of homeless, jobless, sick, and dying

'Merica! Fuck Yeah!

[abbey1227]

Dec 14, 2022 20:49:11 GMT merh said:

Dec 14, 2022 6:44:04 GMT abbey1227 said:

And I don't have a womb. Guess we're looking at it the same way, huh?  

Aborted fetuses are coming in your bedroom window?

Not yet........but it's not something I personally do.......so why not support it's banning?    Screw other peoples' right to choose, right?

[abbey1227]

Dec 14, 2022 20:55:58 GMT merh said:

We were seeing 1000 people die each day there for awhile, weren't we?

Do you honestly believe that many were voting?

Not to mention Donnie lost by what, 6 MILLION votes?

Popular vote Biden-81,283,501
                      Trump-74,223,975
Sorry. 
7,059,526 votes.

BUT EVERY ONE OF THISE DEAD PEOPLE VOTED FOR BIDEN!!!!!

And there's a demon portal over the White House!!!!

You're a very devoted believer

[merh]

Dec 15, 2022 1:49:08 GMT abbey1227 said:

Dec 14, 2022 20:55:58 GMT merh said:

We were seeing 1000 people die each day there for awhile, weren't we?

Do you honestly believe that many were voting?

Not to mention Donnie lost by what, 6 MILLION votes?

Popular vote Biden-81,283,501
                      Trump-74,223,975
Sorry. 
7,059,526 votes.

BUT EVERY ONE OF THISE DEAD PEOPLE VOTED FOR BIDEN!!!!!

And there's a demon portal over the White House!!!!

You're a very devoted believer

So only way your side can lose is the other side cheated?

Not a chance polls can be wrong?

[merh]

Dec 13, 2022 12:31:52 GMT abbey1227 said:

Dec 13, 2022 11:31:21 GMT merh said:

Good grief.

Like how Elon had no problem with subsidies for electric vehicles until his company collected all the subsidies a company was allowed to collect. Then he opposed those subsidies because they would be going to other companies?

Like how the 1% get away with paying less than those making less with all the special little give aways for them?

Do oil companies need fricken subsidies?
They aren't making enough off oil?

How about how Sinema trashed Build Back Better because it would have raised taxes on Hedge Funds, her special little constituency?

YES! Just like that. Elon actually made me aware of just how lucrative getting into bed with the Govt can be.

Yet somehow the Top 1%, top 5% and top 10% still somehow pay the vast majority of taxes? While the bottom 50% are sinkholes of tax dollars?

Do away with all Govt subsidies, then we can talk.

I can not believe you and yours are still promoting this narrative that the economy is better.

10% of $1 billion is $100,000,000

10% of $80,000 is $8000.

So it takes 12,500 not rich to equal one billionaire's tax bill.

So, yeah.
Why is there any question when 

.The world's total net wealth has hit $431 trillion, nearly half a quadrillion dollars, and over a quarter of it is controlled by millionaires.

That $431 trillion figure includes "the sum of financial wealth and real assets, net of liabilities," explains Anna Zakrzewski, author of a new report from Boston Consulting Group.

High net worth individuals (HNWIs), or people worth over $1 million, own a quarter of the total, approximately $126 trillion, according to the Global Wealth Report, which was published on Thursday.

So the rest of us just aren't worth enough to pay more in.

Pretty obvious, dude

[abbey1227]

Dec 15, 2022 9:45:34 GMT merh said:

Dec 15, 2022 1:49:08 GMT abbey1227 said:

You're a very devoted believer

So only way your side can lose is the other side cheated?

Not a chance polls can be wrong?

I just do not see Sleepy Joe EVER pulling in more votes than Obama did

[abbey1227]

Dec 15, 2022 10:03:02 GMT merh said:

High net worth individuals (HNWIs), or people worth over $1 million, own a quarter of the total, approximately $126 trillion, according to the Global Wealth Report, which was published on Thursday.

So the rest of us just aren't worth enough to pay more in.

Pretty obvious, dude

You see it that way........... I see it as TOO MANY with no skin in the game expecting handouts at every turn.

They don't appreciate those handouts either because they've been taught it's all 'free' money.

Similar to how our Govt officials raise $Trillions......and STILL overspend each and every year. It's not REAL to them, mostly because it ain't their money.