NEW YORK (TheStreet) — The liquidation filing of Hostess Brands — the maker of consumer fattening favorites such as Ho Hos and Twinkies – also means that Americans may soon gorge themselves on the company’s massive pension liabilities.
Hostess’ liquidation — just like the recent bankruptcies of well known companies like Friendly Ice Cream and Eddie Bauer — raises the prospect that sophisticated private equity and distressed debt hedge fund investors are using courts to cast off unwanted pension obligations on U.S. taxpayers and put a losing investment back on the track.
Consider that also on Friday, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation disclosed that its U.S. pension plan insurance deficit grew to a record $34 billion this year, the biggest shortfall in the federal agency’s history. PBGC guarantees employee pension plans after a company goes belly up, securing the retirement of roughly 43 million U.S. workers.
While PBGC doesn’t take government money directly – it’s funded by way of insurance premiums and portfolio returns – the agency’s head said on Friday that a growing deficit raises the prospect of taxpayer support.
ouch.
Bend over everyone. It’s not gonna just be the rich paying more taxes…lol….[/quote]
Yep, it’s all the fault of labor. Damned working people trying to make a living should just suck it up and take all the cuts being demanded of them by “the rich” so the capitalists can profit more, and more, and more… The rich don’t have enough wealth!
——- “The gap between the top 1% and everyone else hasn’t been this bad since the Roaring Twenties”
