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îl!l' ^portÎanh (©bserüer
December5, 2012
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New Prices
Effective
May 1,2010
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A s m a ll d is ta n c e /tr a v e l c h a rg e
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CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
{Includes: I sm all H allway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
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Area/Oriental Rugs:
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Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool):
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Heavily Soiled Area:
Additional $10.00 each area
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UPHOLSTERY
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Sofa: $69.00
Loveseat: $49.00
Sectional: $109-$139
Chair or Recliner:
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Throw Pillows (With
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Beware of the Spin by Wealthy CEOs
Slashed benefit
programs hurt
workers
by
S cott K linger
While America's
CEOs are fretting
about
the
g o vernm ent's so-
called "fiscal cliff,"
millions of American
workers face a financial disaster
that gets much less media atten
tion. There's a half-trillion-dollar
deficit in the nation's worker re
tirement benefits.
The Great Recession, which
decim ated retirem ent assets,
played a big role in building this
lesser-known cliff. But many
corporations could have avoided
the problem by shoring up these
funds during the boom years.
Instead, they siphoned pension
assets for other profit-boosting
purposes. When the pension defi
cits started to balloon, many cor
porations responded by slashing
back their benefit programs.
As a result, Americans today
are more reliant on government-
funded Social Security and Medi
care programs than at any other
time in the last 60 years.
What's even more out
rageous is that the very
same CEOs who have con
tributed to rampant retire
ment insecurity are now
calling for cuts to these
earned-benefit programs
for senior citizens.
Nearly 100 CEOs have banded
together to convince the Ameri
can public that Social Security
and Medicare lie at the root of
America's fiscal challenges. Their
"Fix the Debt" campaign features
plain-spoken Americans in their
ads and sounds moderate because
they call for both spending cuts
and revenue increases.
But the real objectives of the
campaign include massive new
corporate tax cuts and reduced
spending on Social Security and
Medicare, which would likely in
volve raising the retirement age.
American workers, at present,
cannot collect Social Security and
Medicare until age 66, the highest
retirement age among rich coun
tries. In 2020, the Social Security
retirement age will rise to 67,
assuring that American workers
will be toiling longer than any
other industrialized country for
years to come. In contrast, Japa
nese and Chinese workers can
collect their equivalent of Social
Security starting at age 60.
The Fix the Debt campaign's
CEO supporters need not worry
about Social Security because
they're members of the "I've Got
Mine Club."
Fifty-four of the CEOs leading
Fix the Debt directly benefit from
lavish executive retirement pro
grams. Their collective pension
assets total $649 million, which
comes to more than $12 million
per CEO. That's enough to gamer
a $65,000 retirement check each
month starting at age 65 that will
continue for as long as they live,
according to a new report by the
Institute for Policy Studies, which
I co-authored. In contrast, the
average retiree receives ju st
$1,237 from Social Security each
month.
Yet, the firms headed by Fix the
Debt CEOs owe their U.S. pension
funds more than $100 billion, ac
cording to the institute’s study.
U.S. law requires corporations to
keep their pension debts to man
ageable levels, but this pressure
has often resulted in benefit cuts.
General Electric, which has a
staggering $22 billion pension
deficit, shut down its pension
fund last year, saying it had be
come a "drag on earnings" (at a
whopping cost of 13 cents per
share, according to their esti
mates). Like many other firms,
GE has shifted new employees to
a less costly 401 (k) plan, putting
the risk for poor stock market
performance onto employees.
Beware of wealthy CEOs who
are lecturing the rest of us about
tightening our belts. American
workers would be far better off if
CEOs worried more about fixing
their own companies' pension
debts.
Scott Klinger is an associate
fellow at the Institute fo r Policy
Studies.