Earl Blumenauer: “the income security of Americans has been under constant attack by the administration and Congress this year, especially…”

“the income security of Americans has been under constant attack by the administration and Congress this year, especially those families who have not had the good fortune to earn a living that places them in our highest income brackets. The year started with efforts to dismantle Social Security, an efficient program that is the primary source of income for a majority of retirees. Next, a slanted bankruptcy bill that puts no burden of responsibility on unscrupulous lenders and credit card companies and all of it on the families that face hardships from large medical bills, family breakups, and job losses. Congress has been wringing its hands the last couple of months over which programs for America's most vulnerable should be cut so tax cuts can be extended years from now. The latest attack on the security of American families is this pension bill. It is clear that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation must be strengthened and that rules must be put in place to ensure companies adequately fund the promises they make to employees. Instead, the Congressional Budget Office has reported that this bill would actually increase the PBGC's deficit by $9 billion over the next 10 years. The bill also legalizes cash balance plans without protections for long serving employees. It has been reported that without older worker protections over 90 percent of older workers would lose expected pension benefits if a defined benefit plan were converted to a cash balance plan.…”