Lawrence O'Donnell says voting for Obama can save pensions

Pension benefits are in danger for American Airlines employees and Lawrence O'Donnell used it as a teaching moment to stress why citizens should cast a vote this November.

Lawrence O'Donnell used one full segment of his "Last Word" program on Wednesday night to begin counting the ways why it is important for Americans to cast a vote for president. Video posted below.

American Air's parent company (AMR) is in the midst of a bankruptcy proceeding and it has put forth a plan to lay off 13,000 workers and to end all pension plans, instituting a profit sharing program in their place.

The airline's pension plan is underfunded to the tune of an estimated $10 billion and the company seeks to shift the responsibility to protect 130,000 employees' retirement funds to a federal agency.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) is pushing back because it is also having financial difficulties. Director of the PBGC, Josh Guttbaum pointed out that American hasn't demonstrated it searched for ways to make that the solution of last resort.

CNN Money reported on Gottbaum's public comments. "Before American takes such a drastic action as killing the pension plans of 130,000 employees and retirees, it needs to show there is no better alternative. Thus far, they have declined to provide even the most basic information to decide that."

Lawrence O'Donnell championed Mr. Gottbaum's efforts on behalf of the airline's employees, using the agency's efforts as one of many reasons to cast a vote for president.

The MSNBC host pointed out that Bain Capital one of the consulting firms making millions per month to advise American's corporate parent on how to cut up the company to put it back together in a smaller form.

Bain, according to O'Donnell is billing AMR $14 million a month. Its advice presumably helped shape the company's request to unburden itself of the pensions workers believed were safe for retirement.

Bain was the subject of scorn during the recent GOP primaries in New Hampshire and So. Carolina because of Mitt Romney's position at the company. Bain was called out as a firm that specialized in precisely what it is doing with AMR, with Romney defending similar methods he took when he worked there.

Romney called himself a job creator and his critics claimed that new jobs only came if a stripped down company found itself profitable again. Some of those firms finally stopped doing business and Bain's strategies were never guaranteed to work.

When asked if the number of new jobs created was greater than the total of workers fired, the Romney campaign wouldn't confirm or deny it.

O'Donnell's parting thought was that Josh Guttbaum should be a hero to workers everywhere who have pensions they fear will disappear when their employers' financial crises reach the bankruptcy stage. A vote for president will help determine if he remains on the job or not.

Gottbaum was appointed to his position by President Obama. Whoever wins in November will determine whether there is a new director of the PBGC. O'Donnell asked if workers with pensions will feel better with someone in the White House choosing the new director of the PBGC who worked at Bain Capital. The video explains the rest. Image: Wikimedia Commons/David Shankbone

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.