Deep Sixing Taxpayer Dollars with Miners’ Pension Bailout?

So this is Sen. Manchin’s (D-West Virginia) solution to the demise of the coal mining industry?

Let’s review:  This administration, run by one of Manchin’s own party and enthusiasctially supported by other prominent Democrats like VP Joe Biden and presidential hopeful and former NY Senator Hillary Clinton, attacked and killed a whole industry with complete disregard for the salt-of-the-earth people who have, for generations, toiled in the mines. 

They gave no thought whatsoever to what would happen to these *human beings* and their families, putting them into what we used to call the bread lines.  West Virginia has been a basketcase ever since:

“West Virginia has a dubious distinction: Less than half of its adult civilians have a job….The troubles that have befallen West Virginia have been well publicized. Notable among them is a diminished demand for coal….it’s a state where many have given up trying to find a job. At 17.6%, West Virginia has the highest percentage of working-age people on disability benefits, above the national average of 10.4%, according to 2012 data.”

Now, it’s more likely that they are on long-term disability and SSI, TANF, WIC, LIHEAP, SNAP, and a whole host of other government programs…see yesterday’s related post about the millions of men with no jobs). Wait, wait, don’t tell me, we’re going to spend tens of billions more to retrain them all to answer customer service calls for Amazon and Apple, right?

And the miners’ unions contributed to their own pensions losses. Unions want the short term gains, shortchanged the pension funding, hoping to socialize their pension losses. (But don’t worry, the union executives make damn sure that they’ll be made whole and it’ll be taxpayer bailouts for the rank and file.) Happening with pension funds all over the country and getting worse by the day.

Now, suddenly, watch as the same people who turned a blind eye when the federal government abused its regulatory authority to deliberately destroy a viable and necessary industry and supported the obliteration of the livelihoods and regional economic and cultural well-being of millions of Americans (not to mention an energy source that we still need and rely on) now start mewling about the poor beleaguered and beggared miners, and accusing anybody who opposes the bailout of being heartless. What a crock.

“Even if the federal government had an obligation to the union, Mr. Manchin’s bill is no more than a Band-Aid. The UMWA chose to negotiate bigger raises for miners instead of asking companies to fund fully the pension plan. The union is far more popular with its members when it brings back larger cash raises and leaves the pension plan unfunded than when it brings smaller raises and a fully funded pension plan. Rather than only rewarding bad behavior, real relief should require firms to reform their pensions.

UMWA knows how to fund a pension plan. Required filings with the Labor Department show that the pension plan for the officers of the UMWA—the president, vice presidents and treasurer—is solvent. Known as the United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Trust Employees Pension Plan, at the end of 2014 the plan was overfunded by $4.8 million. Other mining pension plans are also fully funded, such as those operated by the Hecla Mining Company in Idaho, the Usibelli Coal Mine in Alaska, and the Pinto Valley Mining Corporation in Arizona.”