Obama: Protect pensions, make retirement secure

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS09/712220330/1001/NEWS

Obama: Protect pensions, make retirement secure

By JASON CLAYWORTH • Register Staff Writer • December 22, 2007


Washington, Ia. - Barack Obama highlighted a plan here Friday to protect pensions, specifically in instances where top executives walk away with fat bonuses while workers lose benefits.

"Protecting basic retirement security in this country should be a central policy of the United States government and it will be when I am president," Obama told 300 people at Washington Junior High School.

Obama's plan would limit the circumstances in which retirement benefits could be cut if the employer faces other financial difficulty. It would also require private companies to disclose their pension fund investments and curb bonuses paid to executives while pensions for the workers they oversee shrink.
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The issue of retirement security, specifically Social Security, has remained an important issue on the campaign trail. Projections show the government retirement system will begin paying out more than it collects in about 10 years.

The government currently collects money for Social Security on earnings up to $97,500 a year.

Obama favors of increasing or eliminating that cap, which he said could bring in more money to prevent benefit cuts for future retirees.

On Friday, Obama highlighted the story of Cedar Rapids resident David Hartgrave, who anticipated a $1,500 monthly pension but discovered it amounted to about $400 a month after the company he worked for filed for bankruptcy about 20 years ago.

Hartgrave appeared last month in ads for Obama on the issue.

"That's just not fair," Obama said Friday. "It's not the America I believe in. It's time to stop cutting back on the safety net of working people while protecting the golden parachutes for the well off."

NT

I back Edwards, but I like hearing Obama speak out on this. Everybody should be aware of today's Bob Herbert column in the NY Times, "Nightmare Before Christmas:"

Christmastime is bonus time on Wall Street, and the Gucci set has been blessed with another record harvest.

Forget the turbulence in the financial markets and the subprime debacle. Forget the dark clouds of a possible recession. Bloomberg News tells us that the top securities firms are handing out nearly $38 billion in seasonal bonuses, the highest total ever.

But there’s a reason to temper the celebration, if only out of respect for an old friend who’s not doing too well. Even as the Wall Streeters are high-fiving and ordering up record shipments of Champagne and caviar, the American dream is on life-support.

I had a conversation the other day with Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. He mentioned a poll of working families that had shown that their belief in that mythical dream that has sustained so many generations for so long is fading faster than sunlight on a December afternoon. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/22/opinion/22herbert.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin