Teamsters Look To Obama For Pension Bailout

They never had this problem when Jimmy Hoffa was in charge….

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Central States Teamsters Union, the infamous Chicago branch once called “the mobs bank” for its funding of mob activity and loan sharking has a little problem. Their member’s pensions are missing over 40% of its value. In fact nearly a half a million workers are looking at an average 41.6% shortfall in their pension.

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But, Dem Bob Casey from Pennsylvania has a plan to save the day! He has proposed a $165 billion bailout to fund the mismanaged Union pensions. In addition to covering the pension shortfall of Unions nationwide, Casey’s bill would also repay Teamster loyalty to Democrat politicians (Obama specifically) by increasing their annual pension payouts by near $7,000.00 a year.

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While Casey has embarked on a campaign to try and convince the press that his proposal shouldn’t technically be called a bailout, the $165 billion price tag is only an “early estimate.” Conservative estimates suggest that 86% of all union pensions nationwide are in trouble. In fact, if Casey’s proposal passes, the Pension Benefit Guarantee agency would be on the hook to subsidize or even fund outright the pensions of the over 15 million Union members in the US, for the entirety of their lives. Of course this is all on tax payer’s dime.

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I certainly appreciate that discovering your pension has been raped or is missing would be horrific. I also understand that people contribute to a pension believing that their retirement will be protected. But surely the American people can not be expected to support millions more people from retirement to death simply because the unions have long out lived their usefulness and defrauded workers.

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Instead of bailing out the unions…again. The time has come to end the union’s strangle hold on businesses, employees, and communities. I am sorry for those whose pensions may be worth less or even worthless. But millions of non-unionized Americans are facing their own retirement Armageddon thanks to the Obama administration. We can’t afford to support those who have spent years (even decades) being paid at an artificially high rate thanks to the incestuous relationship between government and the unions.

Obama & Mexico Tag Team Arizona

Media outlets report that the Arizona law is straining the recently friendly relationship between Mexican President Filipe Calderon and Obama. This is pretty unlikely. Mexico is receiving an incredible $1.6 billion in cash and prizes from the US under the Merida Initiative which funds the training and equipping of the Mexican military and police forces.

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However, since an estimated 90% of all police and military personnel in the US/Mexico border region (and over 60% in the rest of Mexico) failed basic security and background checks, the US is directly funding the crime and non-existent border security that is devastating Arizona and other border states.

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Mexican journalist Carlos Loret has reported that over 50% of the Mexican economy is funded by drug money. An estimated $40 billion flows annually from the US into Mexico via drug sales and crime proceeds. Illegal immigrants also send an additional estimated $17 billion annually back to Mexico from revenue generated by illegal employment.

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This certainly doesn’t make halting the drug trafficking and related crime an attractive prospect for Calderon. As long as the crime, drug, and illegal immigration situation persists and affects the US, Congress will continue to send millions of dollars.

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What does all this mean to Arizona and other border states? Mexico exists on the drug trade, American economy, and Congressional handouts. It is in their best interest to maintain the status quo and keep illegals flowing into the US and cash flowing out. The Obama administration wants not only to continue the flow of illegals into the country, but to give them they ability to vote. His position on Mexico is clear, he dreams of a borderless North America, complete with millions of new Democrat voters eager to be supported by a socialist government.

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There are a lot of people who support strong anti-immigration measures, but feel that the federal government should both make and enforce the laws. In an ideal world, that would be the case. But clearly, it is currently impossible to depend on the federal government to do its job, and states are forced to protect themselves from economic ruin and protect their citizens from catastrophic levels of crime.

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I certainly appreciate that allowing a neighboring country to disintegrate into corruption and chaos is dangerous for our own safety. But when you live in a neighborhood that is turning bad, you shore up your own house, build fences and security systems, and make certain that your own family is safe. THEN you work to tackle the problem. You don’t swing the doors open and invite the criminal element into your home and hope that they will change their ways.

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Arizona has done the only thing that they could. They waited for the federal government to do its job (begged the federal government to do its job) and when failed, they stepped up to protect themselves. Other states should….and I believe will….follow Arizona’s lead.