Critics say bill weakens pensions

[Judi Lynn]

March 19, 2006, 12:32AM
Critics say bill weakens pensions
Analysis finds it lets employers underfund private system by billions


By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
New York Times

With a strong directive from the Bush administration, Congress set out two years ago to fashion legislation that would protect America's private pension system, tightening the rules to make sure companies set aside enough money to make good on their promises.

Then the political horse-trading began, with lawmakers, companies and lobbyists weighing in on the particulars of the Bush administration's blueprint.

In the end, lawmakers modified many of the proposed rules, allowing companies more time to cover pension shortfalls, to make more forgiving estimates about how much they will owe workers in the future and even sometimes to assume that their workers will die younger than the rest of the population.

On top of those changes, companies also persuaded lawmakers to add dozens of specific measures, from a multibillion-dollar escape clause for the nation's airlines to a special exemption for the makers of Smithfield Farms hams.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3733217.html

[maddezmom]

1. duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2175406