S.E.C. Inquires Into Pension Accounting

We all knew it was coming. We all knew that the big corporate giants could and likely were playing games with their pension fund funding obligations to manage earnings. But we couldn't prove it without the power of the subpoena to investigate. In 1995, Congress, along with the accountants (read Arthur Anderson), the underwriters (read Citicorp), the high tech giants (read Seagate, 3Com and Sun Microsystems---who are they?) and the big corporations (read Enron, Worldcom and Disney) took away your power as an individual or member of a class to issue subpoena's to investigate suspected fraudulent activity. The act was called the "Private Securities Litigation Reform Act"----its funny how the word "reform" is used by these guys anytime they want to take your rights away. Well, at last the government is getting around to uncovering the truth we all knew was there----years later, and billions of dollars lost too late. Read this from the New York Times:

The New York Times > Business > S.E.C. Inquires Into Pension Accounting at Ford and G.M.

October 20, 2004
S.E.C. Inquires Into Pension Accounting at Ford and G.M.
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH and STEPHEN LABATON

The General Motors Corporation and the Ford Motor Company said yesterday that the federal government had asked them to provide information about how they account for their pension funds and retiree medical benefits, suggesting that a new inquiry into an area of accounting that has long troubled both investors and pension-rights advocates will cast a broad net.
The two automakers joined the Delphi Corporation, which disclosed on Monday that the Securities and Exchange Commission had requested similar information. The commission is seeking e-mail messages and other documents that pertain to the actuarial assumptions that the companies have used since the year 2000 to calculate their pension values and other obligations to retirees.
All three companies said they were cooperating with the S.E.C., and said that they thought they had properly accounted for their pension funds and benefits.
An official of the S.E.C. confirmed that the commission had not found any violations of securities law at the companies. He said the commission wanted to examine the records to see if there was any connection between the application of pension accounting standards and effor