The $1.7 trillion pork spending bill passed in December included a $36B bailout for the badly mismanaged pension funds. It will help a relatively small number of mostly Teamsters (360,000) and some private union funds. The Federalist reports that it’s $100,000 per member.
The funds are mismanaged by a board that is half comprised of Teamsters. Taxpayers get to pay for the mismanagement.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, called the deal out in December, noting it was “the largest private pension bailout in American history” that benefited only “a tiny minority of workers.” He suggested it resulted from the insanity of “allowing those who mismanaged pensions to determine whether their funds qualify for taxpayer assistance with no safeguards.”
What Rep. Brady said about the 36B:
“The largest private pension bailout in American history—that only benefits a tiny minority of workers—comes thanks to Democrats allowing those who mismanaged pensions to determine whether their funds qualify for taxpayer assistance with no safeguards.
“Despite years of bipartisan negotiations and recommendations, Democrats rejected protections for union workers in other underfunded multi-employer plans that are not as politically connected as the Teamsters’ Central States plan.
“Now, American taxpayers are being forced to cover promises that pension trustees never should have been allowed to make.”
Wait Until We Have to Pay the $650 Billion
“The Congressional Research Service reported that that multiemployer pensions were already underfunded by more than $650 billion before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Congressional Budget Office has since estimated that the bailout will cost $84 billion,” Brady said.
It’s $36B now, but wait until they come back for the rest of the $650 billion because management doesn’t need to improve. They have tha taxpayer ATM.
Even Politifact said it’s true.
Biden touted the bailout while flanked by union leaders. This came after he angered rank-and-file over the rail deal.
The Teamsters can promise the world and Joe Biden will dole it out with the bottomless taxpayer purse for votes. The guilty parties never pay. It all comes back to the taxpayer who has to pay.
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