“FEDERAL GOVERNMENT insurance agency had to PONY UP $44 MILLION TO BAIL OUT the company’s underfunded pension plan.”
Was the pension fund underfunded prior to Bain’s involvement?
If it were underfunded prior to Bain’s involvement, then Bain had no ethical or legal obligation to inject it’s capital into the company plan.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/06/us-campaign-romney-bailout-idUSTRE8050LL20120106
Reuters reports in “Special report: Romney’s steel skeleton in the Bain closet” that Romney’s Bain Capital took a $44 million government bailout in 2002 from the federal U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp after they determined that Bain had underfunded its steel mill’s pension by $44 million. Workers were denied the severance pay and health insurance they’d been promised, and their pension benefits were cut by as much as $400 a month. Nevertheless, Bain profited on the deal, receiving $12 million on its $8 million initial investment and at least $4.5 million in consulting fees.