To the Point
Disappearing Pension Plans
In the past, Americans worked most of their adult life for one company. In retirement their earned pension repays that loyalty by taking care of retirees through old age. Today, the cold reality is that many of those pension agreements aren't worth the paper they're written on. Changes in bankruptcy laws have made it easier for companies from airlines to automakers to shed pension obligations, robbing employees of the power to sue a company to enforce retirement promises. Some bankruptcy legal experts foresee the day when literally every business in America will try to dodge pension plans. Coupled with escalating healthcare costs, will the loss of retirement pensions turn millions of retirees toward poverty instead of security? Diana Nyad guest hosts.Making News: Hussein Trial Reconvenes and Postpones for a WeekToday, Saddam Hussein's trial for alleged crimes against humanity was postponed for another week. Two of the defense lawyers for the former Iraqi leader have been assassinated and a plot to kill the judge has been revealed. Howard LaFranchi, who covers foreign affairs for the Christian Science Monitor, has an update on the volatile climate that permeates the trial.Reporter's Notebook: Climate Talks to Be Most Significant since KyotoWhen the Kyoto Agreement went into effect last February, the US was sole country that refused to ratify the protocol. Today in Montreal, the United Nations convenes a 10-day climate change conference where greenhouse emissions will again be center stage. But the Bush Administration is refusing to follow international guidelines, insisting they'll set their own emissions standards. Martin Mittelstaedt covers the environment for Canada's Globe and Mail.
By Warren Olney • • 1h 0m ListenIn the past, Americans worked most of their adult life for one company. In retirement their earned pension repays that loyalty by taking care of retirees through old age. Today, the cold reality is that many of those pension agreements aren't worth the paper they're written on. Changes in bankruptcy laws have made it easier for companies from airlines to automakers to shed pension obligations, robbing employees of the power to sue a company to enforce retirement promises. Some bankruptcy legal experts foresee the day when literally every business in America will try to dodge pension plans. Coupled with escalating healthcare costs, will the loss of retirement pensions turn millions of retirees toward poverty instead of security? Diana Nyad guest hosts.
Hussein Trial Reconvenes and Postpones for a Week
Today, Saddam Hussein's trial for alleged crimes against humanity was postponed for another week. Two of the defense lawyers for the former Iraqi leader have been assassinated and a plot to kill the judge has been revealed. Howard LaFranchi, who covers foreign affairs for the Christian Science Monitor, has an update on the volatile climate that permeates the trial.
Climate Talks to Be Most Significant since Kyoto
When the Kyoto Agreement went into effect last February, the US was sole country that refused to ratify the protocol. Today in Montreal, the United Nations convenes a 10-day climate change conference where greenhouse emissions will again be center stage. But the Bush Administration is refusing to follow international guidelines, insisting they'll set their own emissions standards. Martin Mittelstaedt covers the environment for Canada's Globe and Mail.
Diana Nyad,
2002 inductee into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, is a business sports columnist for
Marketplace, senior sports correspondent for
Fox News, and has hosted her own show on
CNBC. She's also the
author of three books.
Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC)
United Nations Convention on Climate Change
Mittelstaedt-s article on rise of Canadian greenhouse gasses