"WHEN FASCISM COMES TO AMERICA IT WILL BE WRAPPED IN THE FLAG
AND CARRYING A CROSS." -SINCLAIR LEWIS

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Bush Signs Gay Rights Law

Seriously:

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign today hailed the passage of a law that protects partners who inherit retirement savings. The Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (WRERA), signed by President Bush today, contains technical corrections to the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA). PPA made it possible for employers to allow any nonspouse beneficiary of an employee’s retirement plan—including an employee’s same-sex partner—to roll inherited retirement benefits directly to an individual retirement account (IRA) and avoid immediate taxation. WRERA requires that all employers provide this rollover opportunity to nonspouse beneficiaries.

“This legislation secures much-needed protection for lesbian and gay couples,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Our community faces unique challenges in preparing for retirement because we are denied Social Security spousal and survivor benefits. Protecting our hard-earned retirement savings is even more crucial to us, and until now, the tax code made it that much harder.”

Before 2007, partners who inherited retirement plan savings typically faced immediate taxation on inherited benefits, unlike different-sex spouses, who could roll savings over to an individual retirement account (IRA) with no tax penalty. Under the PPA, as of January 1, 2007, qualifying plans could permit any nonspouse beneficiary—including a domestic partner, parent or sibling—to roll over inherited retirement benefits paid as a lump sum directly to an IRA. Qualifying plans include defined benefit plans (pensions), 401(k) plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), profit-sharing plans, money purchase plans, 403(b) plans and governmental 457(b) plans.

Unfortunately, this provision of the PPA was subsequently interpreted to be optional for employers, meaning each company had to affirmatively adopt this protection for partners under each qualifying plan. Under the WRERA, all qualifying plans that pay lump sum benefits to nonspouse beneficiaries are required to provide the rollover opportunity as of January 1, 2010.

“This is progress toward eliminating the more than 1,000 inequities that our families face under federal law,” continued Solmonese. “U.S. employers should make the rollover provision available as quickly as possible—before the 2010 deadline—and LGBT workers should ensure their partners and children are designated as beneficiaries.”
Honestly, I never really got the impression that he drank all of that "evil queers" kool-aid constantly being vomited up from the religious right; he's not the kind of guy who hurts his head worrying about all of these societal changing mandates: the man just wants to have a beer and watch sports on TV. The courting of the hard-core religious nuts was just to get elected twice. As with his AIDS prevention in Africa, W ain't all bad, he's just less than intelligent and wholly incurious.

3 comments:

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

If you give a monkey a typewriter eventually he will get lucky and hit a few keys that spell a word or two. George W. had two "monkey moments" in eight years. That's about what you would statistically expect.

Anonymous said...

You know, you'll never be a bastion of moral clarity with posts like this. If you keep it up you could become a demonic conservative ridicule machine like Tbogg, though.

I'm actually a little afraid to go back over to PowerMadVille. Greywolfe is going to kick my ass for some goddamed thing or another.

JBW said...

T101, your metaphor is an apt one, I just believe in giving a monkey his due.

DLB, wasn't that "moral clarity" shit right out of left (far right?) field? He definitely has his moments.

And Greywolfe (did he pick his screen name out at a Renaissance fair?) seems like he's permanently pissed off about something in his life, just like most of Don's merry men. Sites like his are a magnet for wing nuts: they're all kind of funny yet pretty sad at the same time, like when a clown dies.