Maybe George W. isn't the biggest idiot in the White House after all. Press Secretary Tony Snow went on an incredibly ignorant rant about Ford pensions during a press conference according to a story at Jalopnik.com. Here's what he said:
"One of the things that's really hit Michigan hard, for instance, at Ford, are defined benefit plans that were bankrupting the company...I mean, I know this personally because people very close to me are now having to make the decision that the pensions that have been promised to them are not going to be available and they're going to have to take a cash payout."
Where do you begin in explaining the errors in such a statement? Ford isn't bankrupt. Even if it goes bankrupt, the pension won't necessarily be insolvent. Even if Ford goes bankrupt, the pension is unlikely to be the cause. After all, Ford has been salting away money into the pension fund for decades, and pension obligations should hardly be considered to be a surprise. For workers taking buyouts, it's rarely a pension-driven decision, since in the plans I've seen vested employees keep their accumulated pension rights.
Snow should go back to work at Fox News, where getting the facts wrong isn't just expected, it's part of the job description.
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