Political Quotes

“what is at stake here today is the faith of the American people in their economic system and in this Congress. The American dream is work hard, get ahead, give your life to a company, get a secure, decent retirement pension. Well, that dream is being destroyed by corporate executives who are cheating people out of their hard-earned retirement benefits. As the Nation watched enormous corporate bankruptcies unfold at Enron and Global Crossing, and as the people of my district watched Chapter 11 proceedings at LTV Steel, we see the plot thicken around one major theme. There are two sets of rules. Executives get one set of rules and the employees have to play under a different set of rules. Corporate executives get special treatment, including more investment choices, no lockdown restrictions, generous deferred compensation plans that are not required to be disclosed, guaranteed rates of return on pension investments, and a golden parachute of retention bonuses and other benefits when a company goes under. Employees, on the other hand, have barriers to information, fewer options, more restrictions on investment, and no guaranteed returns. The most egregious disparity is that during a bankruptcy, executive pension plans are totally protected from creditors, and executives can count on cashing in their entire package. On the other hand, employee protections are not protected from creditors.”