Scare tactic used by coal industry supporters to end health and pension benefits earned by those who worked for years in coal mines...
THE HUMAN COST OF OBAMA'S WAR ON COAL
The Patriot Coal Company bankruptcy hearing this week in St. Louis highlights the immense human and economic costs of the war on coal - the progressive campaign to bankrupt the coal industry. The outcome of the bankruptcy proceedings will have a huge impact on the remaining coal companies, workers and retirees.
Patriot Coal is seeking to avoid paying an estimated $2.2 billion in medical and pension benefits to its retired union workers. If it succeeds, its financial liability will be passed on to other coal companies as part of a collective bargining agreement with the United Coal Workers of America (UCWA), which has multi-employer pension and health plans for retirees. These benefit costs could threaten the viability of the remaining coal companies, which are already under financial pressure from President Obama's regulatory onslaught.
-The Daily Caller, 05/03/13
"war on coal"..."progressives"..."Obama's war on coal"..."President Obama's regulatory onslaught" - all words used to stir the emotions of those who aren't effected by the coal industry's determination to end benefits for retirees who spent years in the coal mines - Pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) is never mentioned.
"...the empty desks of 20 children marked absent today, and forever"
-Poet Richard Blanco at President Obama's Inauguration, 01/21/13
