"Two bills introduced in Congress -- S. 1714 in the Senate and H.R. 2403 in the House -- would bail out the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) pension plan with up to $490 million per year. Such action would set an incredibly dangerous precedent, opening the door to taxpayer bailouts of more than $600 billion in unfunded union pensions, not to mention trillions of dollars in other unfunded public and non-union private pension liabilities across the country. Pension bailouts would encourage employers, unions, and pension fund trustees to promise substantial pension benefits to their employees without setting aside the funds to pay for those benefits."  MORE >>