Is Your Pension Secure?

A few minutes ago, I watched a piece on Fox News with Neil Cavuto about how Congress wants to step in and force companies to stop paying upper management pensions when they can’t pay the working class pension.

Congress was partially responsible for creating this mess in the first place when they passed laws forcing corportations to set up two distinct pension packages (1994 I think) – one for management and one for the workers.

Before you go yelling and screaming at corporate America and me, think for a moment. Is this what you want government doing? Do you trust Congress enough to meddle in this issue?

Evidently, most of America does want Congress sticking their noses into private business practices because they are and more and more people are yelling for government intervention into anything and everything we don’t like – high gas prices, high utility bills, etc., etc.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the practices of these companies that are top heavy when it comes to salaries and pensions, is extremely poor, yet we have done nothing about it for years – until we begin losing or getting a reduction in our benefits including pensions. I say we, meaning you and I and I don’t mean calling on Congress to stop it. You and I are the ones who make the decisions of what products to buy, who to work for, what companies to buy stock in. As consumers, we have the power yet fail to use it. We cry to government for help. A free enterprise system without government interference works when we let it. Human nature fights it – our greed, envy and jealousy.
The bottom line for everyone is always the dollar. Not much has ever been said about over-salaried executives until they decided to cut your benefits, pay, pension or all of the above.

Capitalism can be an ugly thing, particularly if you are a jealous and envious kind of person who gets their dander up when someone makes money. It can also be a great thing when you are the one taking the risks and reaping the benefits.

If allowed to run its course, many of these companies would fold before they got to the state they are in, but there is so much government meddling – that we all insisted on – , these companies know for themselves government would bail them out – afterall, we would demand it of them. We have continuously bailed out the airline industry without putting any demands on their business practices. Would you personally loan money to someone you knew was going to squander it because they don’t know how to manage it?

If stock holders could realize what is being done and invest their money in other, better managed companies, this problem could correct itself. But again, the bottom line is the dollar and as long as investors can make their money, they don’t really care – nor do you and I until it’s too late.

So, what do we do? Do we invite or allow Congress to step in and control this issue like they try to control everything or do we allow these practices to run their course?

We are all blaming globalization for the auto industry laying off so many employees. I’m sure it has its effect but seriously how can you compete with foreign car makers – as we have been trying for many years now – when we continue to pay assembly line workers very high wages and overpay the auto executives? We then get angry because someone else enters the market with a product as good quality or better for less money.
Good ole free enterprise and capitalism will “self-level” if allowed to. In other words, the essence of both practices forces good management from good competition. These days when a company gets in trouble, they run to government for a bail-out and we sit back believing that their problems come from outside, non-controllable forces. Have you ever thought it is just lousy management?

The more America moves toward socialization of its workforce, the sooner we will all be wearing the same gray colored uniforms walking around in a daze.

Tom Remington