(h/t TPM Election Central)
Part of Obama's continuing focus on the working class this week, another ad in Iowa:
The ad features David Hartgrave of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a former longtime employee of Farmstead Foods, standing before the shuttered factory where he worked, describing how executives misused company funds and left him with a dramatically reduced pension. The message is clear.
Here's Hartgrave:
I worked here for 33 years, I did everything that they asked me to do. The executives decided to take $19 million out of our pension fund. Didn't return it. I thought I was going to be getting $1,500 a month, I only got $379.
Here's Obama:
I'm telling the CEOs, it hurts America when they cash out and leave workers high and dry. It's an outrage, and you've got to have someone in the White House who believes it's an outrage.
The Obama campaign did a great job putting a relatively unsexy topic into a compelling 30-second spot. They highlighted a local factory closure, told the story of someone screwed by the system succinctly, and made the case for reform.
They couldn't squeeze the details of the fix into the ad, but they do a good job laying out the problem in an easy to understand way.
It's about time we ended the way corporations have shamelessly been allowed to break promises to workers. Any employee who has worked three decades with the understanding that they would be granted a generous pension shouldn't have to be left with nothing. Workers who have dedicated their entire lives to a company shouldn't be left in the cold because corporations can shrug off their obligations during bankruptcy trials.
Obama has proposed three straight-forward, specific solutions:
1. Amending bankruptcy law:
He will amend bankruptcy laws to keep companies from filing for Chapter 11 in order to avoid obligations to their workers.
Corporations shouldn't be able to dodge their responsibilities so easily.
2. Forcing companies to properly fund pension plans:
A less obvious but equally devious way corporations have dodged making good on their promises is by neglecting to make full payments into the pension fund each year. These corporations make clear that they never have any intention of making good on their promises.
In the Senate, Obama voted for new rules to force companies to properly fund their pension plans so taxpayers don't end up footing the bill.
3. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation:
And if the private sector does totally fail these workers, and neither of the above fixes can force corporations to stand up to their responsibilities, then the federal government should ensure that especially those who have worked hard and earned their retirement do not end up destitute.
He has also voted to shore up funding of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal agency that guarantees retirees receive at least some of their pension monies if their companies go out of business.
This ad is a compelling way for Obama to introduce himself to older and retired voters in Iowa. It highlights his efforts to address a systematic problem and uses local examples.