Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 139

Office of Circumlocution, 401(k) Edition

When a company declares bankruptcy, the 401(k) funds are supposed to be transferred promptly to the account holders. Gretchen Morgenson in The New York Times explores why this didn't happen to the employees of Penn Chemical Company, who for five years were denied access to their funds after its bankruptcy in 2008. In a particularly Dickensian twist, the plan's participants were charged $111,463 in fees for administering the plan during the time it should not have existed. It took the relentless efforts of one tenacious employee, along with a bankruptcy judge and entreaties to the Labor Department and the IRS, to get the money released.
Morgenson concludes:  "Americans increasingly must rely on 401(k) plans to support themselves when they have finished their working lives. You can’t help wondering: Is this any way to run a retirement system?" -- B.B.

Sunday Morning in the Church of Beethoven

When Beethoven invented boogie-woogie: Nearly 200 years ago, in this passage from his final piano sonata, the epic opus no. 111.  And yes, folks, this is how he wrote it, not jazzed up by a modern Jerry Lee Lewis.  Needless to say, since it's Ludwig, nothing like this had ever been written before.  And here's the great Sylvie Guillen dancing to it (which I saw live two years ago).  Our new Beethoven 9th film and book here.  -- G.M.

Paul's Pick

As some may know 1) Paul Krugman makes a music pick at his NYT blog every Friday and 2) he is a big Arcade Fire fan.  So today he admits that he's had trouble (like many others) getting into their latest album but finds it starts to happen when he hears a somewhat stripped down version of a song, as here:

Christie Lied

So says former boyhood friend and top official David Wildstein in letter released this afternoon.  Here's NYT story.  Here's link to letter.  Wildstein states flatly that the governor lied at his famous press conference two weeks ago when he said he did not know about the land closures, and he says he can prove it. UPDATE:  This is huge in the state:  Newark Star-Ledger in new editorial says if today's "bombshell" proves out then Christie must "resign" or be "impeached," as it appears that his big presser may have been nothing but a clown circus of lies.

Not So Simple Simon

You may recall David Simon's much-noted speech "There Are Now Two Americas. My Country Is a Horror Show," in Australia last fall.  Bill Moyers, I'm told, was among those who noted it, and invited Simon on his show this weekend.   But you can watch now.  -- G.M.

Friday Cat Blogging

  Zoe trying lick TV cats.  Can't lick 'em OR join 'em.

"It's Time for the Talk"

Showtime's "Shameless" season premiere Sunday features the young and exceedingly cash-strapped Fiona (played by Emily Rossum) being informed of the happy news that after 90 days on the job, she's eligible to enroll in the company's 401(k) retirement plan. The look of incredulity on her face when she repeats "I deposit part of my salary?" should be familiar to struggling millennials across America, not to mention wage-deficient workers of all ages. Fiona's boss dumps the pie charts and graphs on her desk, instructs her to choose her risk profile and asset allocation, and triumphantly announces, "Easy Peasy!" (See trailer below.)
I'm happy to suggest as supplemental reading for this episode--and a good antidote to happy-talk purveyors of 401(k) pie charts--Helaine Olen's book Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry, now in paperback. I did some research for the book, and can testify that Chapter Four, "The Coming Retirement Train Wreck," proves that Fiona's look of incredulity is justified.  -- B.B.

Shearer's the One

Harry Shearer is spinal tapping into his essence of Nixon in five-part Brit series "Nixon's the One."  Trailer below and big story at The Guardian today.   Of course, I would be re-miss if I didn't mention my Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady book on the epic and notorious 1950 Senate campaign in California between our hero and Helen Douglas. --G.M.

Fools Russian: The Road to Sochi

Just posted: today's 28-minute BBC radio probe of the controversies around the the Sochi Olympics--with my daughter, Jeni Mitchell, as asst. producer.

Robin Lustig heads to Russia to examine the allegations. He speaks to local residents and city officials in Sochi whose lives have been affected. Boris Nemtsov, a prominent opposition leader and native of Sochi claims 'billions' have gone missing, and describes absurdities such as the road so expensive he says it 'could have been paved with gold'. Valery Morozov, a local businessman who says he paid millions in bribes to a government official, discusses how he believes the Russian bureaucracy has systematised corruption.

Another 'Winterreise' Kind of Day

And Schubert's birthday today.