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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsxlnt ?: When did Mitt know that we'd pick up the tab for Bain's pensions?
.......................Bain Capital's profit model depended in part on the ability to, after sucking all of the good "juice" from a company, declare bankruptcy and thus void all of the companies contracts -- including its pension obligations.
This is about as cruel as it gets in commerce. And the questions to ask Mitt Romney are: When did he know that this was what he could do through Bain Capital, and when did he decide to do it?
Think about it: you have workers who put in 40 years or more working for a company, whose plans for retirement are bound up in the expectation of its honoring its commitments, and then you pull the rug out from underneath them. This is so ugly, in fact, then when it happens the government will in some cases take over a portion of that pension obligation.
That, of course, means that an unscrupulous -- not "corrupt," but merely unscrupulous -- businessman can bankrupt a company and void its pension obligations, secure in the knowledge that the workers won't really bear the full brunt of its actions. Instead, the financial pain will be spread out among the public. In similar circumstances, ones where criminal law does apply, we have another name for this sort of action: "insurance fraud." But a big corporation can get away with things in a bankruptcy court that an individual can't get away with in normal life.
More:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/12/1054048/-When-did-Mitt-know-that-wed-pick-up-the-tab-for-Bains-pensions?via=siderec
SalviaBlue
(2,916 posts)Hey Mitt, how much in government bail outs did you take exactly?
blm
(113,061 posts).
.
pa28
(6,145 posts)Bain stripped the remaining equity out of these companies and left taxpayers to socialize the losses.
Romney's pension raiding begs for scrutiny from his opponents but since it's the "right kind" of socialism establishment Republicans have declared his business ethics off limits during the primary. They might regret that decision during the general election.
pansypoo53219
(20,977 posts)my grandpa lost his when some corporate raider destroyed louis allis in milwaukee. i guess there is still some legal shit about it.
blm
(113,061 posts).
Quantess
(27,630 posts)Hmmm....
warrior1
(12,325 posts)my bad.
LiberalFighter
(50,928 posts)it must also cost the taxpayers to administer what is left as well as other costs associated with lower pension income.
How much would it had cost the taxpayers if GM and Chrysler had been forced to go bankrupt and the PGBC had taken over the pension plans?
blm
(113,061 posts).
LiberalFighter
(50,928 posts)There is so much that escapes the grasp of everyone.
DCKit
(18,541 posts)blm
(113,061 posts).