Biden Gave $36 Billion In Taxpayer Funds To Bail Out Teamsters For Mismanaged Pensions

Can Americans be bribed using their own money? This question is being posed by the powers that be. We’ve seen cash giveaways that infuse inflation over the years. “Covid relief.” We have seen ongoing efforts to forgive student loans that are inequitable. We saw December. a $1.7 trillion pork pie omnibus appropriations bill Passed by a Congress that didn’t have the time to read it.

One amazing giveaway was overlooked in all this: $100,000 per beneficiary to the Central States Pension Fund. The fund offers pension benefits to almost all. 360,000 Private-sector workers, retirees, mainly Teamsters Union members. U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas). This is the deal. Noting that it was in December “the largest private pension bailout in American history” That was the only benefit “a tiny minority of workers.” He claimed it was the result of insanity. “allowing those who mismanaged pensions to determine whether their funds qualify for taxpayer assistance with no safeguards.”

The $36 Billion This comes nearly two years after passage of the $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan. That “rescue” was the Biden administration’s Covid spending bonanza. Biden signed the law into law in spring 2021 when the economy was well into recovery. The housing market was in a boom. The stock market was steadily climbing. It was clear that the market was moving up. “rescue” Inflation could result. It was clear that Democrats saw an opportunity to distribute public funds. They did.

We need not doubt the continued influence of the Teamsters on American politics. The $36 billion giveaway is proof of that. It is a message to union bosses. Half of the population is women Board of Directors of the CSPF: “You can watch the pension fund’s health decline for decades. You can make unrealistic promises to employees. You can keep the plan below 75 percent funded. You can depend on a pyramid concept where imaginary new members keep coming in to pay for retired members. None of that matters now. The politicians you own will bail you out with the public’s money. In fact, you can take such largesse that union workers in other multi-employer plans get left with only crumbs. Write yourself a check. And, as a bonus, we won’t ask you to change anything.”

Here, workers from all over the globe are not united. This is a cash grab that benefits one group of around 360,000 (3 percent), of the 11,000,000 participants to the multi-employer plan.

And Covid, schmovid. Even before panic and lockdowns, Congressional Research Service reported the underfunding of multi-employer retirement plans. $650 billion. Insolvency was projected for CSPF by 2025 in 2018, according to projections..

Trillions of Dollars Short

This bailout, to be certain, falls under the mantra “Never let a crisis go to waste.” Both 2017 and 2019 saw massive private pension bailouts Introduction And reintroduced. In the name of fiscal sanity, they were defeated both times by a more conservative Senate. Opponents of bailouts pointed to the fact that the bills did not address the structural issues that led to these pension plans being on the road to insolvency. Proponents saw their chance in 2021 amid the greater Covid-tide spending spree. There are no strings attached.

This is a precedent. The Congressional Budget Office already stated that $86 billion had been tagged by American Rescue Plan to union pension plans. It is not enough. There is a larger devil lurking beneath the surface for taxpayers. America’s public pension systems have been a shambles for many years. They are plagued by risky investments and underfunding. Impossible rates of return projections, poor employee contributions, excessive benefits, and general greed. This is a problem that must be assessed. In the trillions Of dollars.

How much is $36 billion worth of Teamsters’s mere $36 million? It is worth considering, You could also run the state For that money, you could live in Colorado for one year. You could still run the five states of New Hampshire and Vermont, South Dakota and Wyoming with billions left. The $36 billion represents $108 taken from every American man, woman and child to make the Teamsters’ pockets. The White House boasted about it in A press release.

Mob Rule

Three of America’s 10 wealthiest counties are located in America. Our nation’s capital is in the suburbsD.C. has been transformed into a feeding station. The Teamsters union is one of the biggest piggies. The Teamsters union has been a major player in the federal elections. The Teamsters spent Over $9 million was spent on lobbying. More than $10 million was raised in member dues. The campaign coffers are being stuffed Friends of the union Oligarchy.

If the name Central States Pension Fund sounds unpleasant, it’s because it was created by Jimmy Hoffa, President of the Teamsters As a way to enrich himself. He used the funds to pay off his mobster buddies and received kickbacks. The fund was then handed to a mobster friend who was also jailed for accepting kickbacks. Then, the replacement was also arrested for taking kickbacks.

Is it possible for such a tree to bear good fruit? What should you and your family do to preserve the status quo?

Peter Reichard is the executive vice president of Center for Independent Employees. This non-profit legal defense foundation assists workers against union oppression. For more than 20 years, he led nonpartisan, policy research organizations. His work includes numerous award-winning studies about pension reform.