Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Heritage Foundation: Don't tax the masses to pay lofty wages for the few


This is a very good policy piece from one of my favorite think tanks, The Heritage Foundation.





UAW spokespeople have roundly condemned the estimate of labor costs in
excess of $70 per current worker hour. They assert these figures include the
cost of current retiree pension and health benefits. They have done so, however,
without marshalling evidence to support their case.
The Detroit automakers
explain in their SEC filings that their benefit expenses are for current
workers, not former employees. This is because they follow generally accepted
accounting principles in preparing these estimates. If the figures did include
current retiree benefits, the average hourly amount would be much higher than
they actually report. UAW employees earn far more than most Americans do.
Congress should not tax all Americans to bailout the Detroit automakers in order
to preserve high earnings for a few.

No comments: