Both sides seriously out of touch with the working class.

In talks with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Republicans led by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas., agreed to the renewal, but said they wanted to roll back portions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that tightened federal regulation on the financial sector.

The stand-alone bill seemed likely to clear the House, but its fate in the Senate was uncertain.By contrast, disagreement over an emerging proposal relating to multi-employer pension funds was not along party lines.Officials said the talks between Rep. John Kline, R-Min., and George Miller, D-Calif., were designed to preserve benefits of current and future retirees at lower levels than currently exist, but higher than they would be if their pension funds ran out of money.

"We have a plan here that first and foremost works for the members of the unions, the workers in these companies and it works for the companies," said Miller, retiring at year's end after four decades in Congress.

Not everyone agreed.

The AARP, which claims to represent millions of retirement-age Americans, attacked the agreement as a "secret, last-minute closed door deal between a group of companies, unions and Washington politicians to cut the retirement benefits that have been promised to them."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/09/congressional-spending-bill_n_6297970.html?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

Did these pillars of our economy not agree to fund the plans as part of the total compensation agreed to between them and their employees? Where the hell is the money?

I'm just spitballing here, but my guess is in the personal bank accounts of current and past CEOs, and the hoards of cash many of these companies have diverted to offshore shell companies. They can talk about slashing the earned pension money rightnafter they claw back those funds.