The Hostess Liquidation: A Curious Cast Of Characters As The

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4/24/13
The Hostess Liquidation: A Curious Cast Of Characters As The Twinkie Tumbles | Zero Hedge
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The Hostess Liquidation: A Curious Cast Of
Characters As The Twinkie Tumbles
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 11/16/2012 11:18 -0400
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the just announced
Hostess liquidation, one that will be largely debated and discussed in
the media, or maybe not at all, is the curious cast of characters and
the peculiar history of this particular bankruptcy. Some may not be
aware that the company's Chapter 11 (or colloquially known as 22)
bankruptcy filing this January, which today became a Chapter 7
liquidation, was the second one in the company's recent history, with
Hostess, previously Interstate Bakeries, emerging from its previous
protracted multi-year bankruptcy in 2009. What is curious is that its
emergence had all the drama of a anti-Mitt Romney PAC funded thriller,
with a PE firm, in this case Ripplewood holdings, injecting $130 million
in order to obtain equity control of Hostess as it was emerging last
time. There were also more hedge funds, investment banks, strategic
buyers, politicians involved in this particular story than one can shake
a deep fried numismatic value Twinkie at. More importantly, however,
as America has been habituated following the last season of the reality
TV show known as the presidential election, if Private Equity then
"bad." Only this time there is a twist: because it wasn't really PE that
was the pure evil in the Obama long-term campaign, it was associating
PE with Republicans, and thus: with jobs outsourcing. And here comes
the Hostess twist: because Tim Collins of Ripplewood, was a
prominent Democrat, a position which allowed him to get involved in
the first bankruptcy process in the first place, due to his proximity with
the Teamsters' long-term heartthrob Dick Gephardt (whose consulting
group just happens to also be an equity owner of Hostess). In other
words, the traditional republican-cum-PE scapegoating strategy here
will be a tough one to pull off since the narrative collapses when
considering that it was a Democrat who rescued the firm, only to see
it implode in a trainwreck that has resulted in the liquidation of a
legendary brand, and 18,500 layoffs.
But it only gets better. Because the full cast of characters involved
here is quite stunning, as David Kaplan summarized so well recently:
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Twinkies Union Issues Ultimatum: We Get Our
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Animosity
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US Tries To Wrest C ontrol Of Hostess Liquidation
As Management Seeks To Pay $1.75 Million In
"Incentive" Bonuses
Goodbye Hostess
Ripplewood is run by Tim Collins, 55, who's been at the
center of other famed PE transactions. Known as a
brilliant capitalist-philanthropist-networker, he's an
eclectic character: a Democrat in an industry of
Republicans; an Adirondack enthusiast dreaded by
pheasant and fish; a board member at the Yale divinity
and business schools; and someone who took a year at 31
to work at a refugee camp in the Sudan. Ripplewood
orchestrated the $1.1 billion turnaround in 2000 of the
Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, which marked the first
time that foreign interests controlled a Japanese bank.
(Collins made the cover of Fortune Asia for it.) The bank
was renamed Shinsei, and in 2004 it had a lucrative initial
public stock offering. Far less fortunately, in 2007
Ripplewood acquired Reader's Digest -- and saw its $275
million investment vanish in Reader's Digest's bankruptcy
filing in 2009. (Collins reportedly had visions of merging
Reader's Digest with the magazine division of Time Warner
(TWX), which owns Fortune.)
With Twinkies Set To Return, Ebay "C ollectible"
Buyers Get Harsh Lesson In US Bankruptcy Law
Will Ripplewood Holdings Outlive Bernie Madoff?
Hostess Mediation Fails, Liquidation To Proceed;
Furious Laid Off Workers Now Turn On Labor
Union
Readers' Digest To File For Bankruptcy
Search
Ripplewood's foray into Hostess was partly enabled by
Collins's connections in the Democratic Party. He wanted
to explore deals with union-involved companies and sought
the help of former congressman Gephardt, who in 2005
founded the Gephardt Group, an Atlanta consulting firm
www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-16/hostess-liquidation-curious-cast-characters-twinkie-tumbles
1/29
4/24/13
that provides "labor advisory services." In his 2004
presidential bid, Gephardt -- whose father was a
Teamsters milk truck driver -- was endorsed by 21 of the
largest U.S. labor unions; in 2003, Collins was one of 19
"founding members" of Gephardt's New York State
leadership committee. (Today, Ripplewood and Hostess
are listed online as major clients of Gephardt's consulting
group, which is also an equity owner of Hostess.) Back
when Hostess was coming out of the first bankruptcy,
Gephardt's credibility with both Ripplewood and the
Teamsters gave them each a little more room to break
bread.
During this first bankruptcy, Hostess was almost sold. In
2007 it warded off a $580 million bid from its biggest
competitor, Bimbo Bakeries USA. Bimbo Bakeries USA is
part of Grupo Bimbo, the Mexican baking giant that owns
such brands as Sara Lee, Entenmann's, Freihofer's, Arnold,
Boboli, Ball Park Buns, and Thomas' English Muffins. Joining
Bimbo in the bid were the union-friendly investment arm
of supermarket titan Ron Burkle and the Teamsters
themselves.
Hostess was able to exit bankruptcy in 2009 for three
reasons. The first was Ripplewood's equity infusion of $130
million in return for control of the company (it currently
owns about two-thirds of the equity). The second reason:
substantial concessions by the two big unions. Annual
labor cost savings to the company were about $110
million; thousands of union members lost their jobs. The
third reason: Lenders agreed to stay in the game rather
than drive Hostess into liquidation and take whatever
pieces were left. The key lenders were Silver Point and
Monarch. Both are hedge funds that specialize in investing
in distressed companies -- whether you call them saviors
or vultures depends on whether you're getting fed or
getting eaten.
Based in Greenwich, Conn., Silver Point was founded in
2002 and has approximately $6.5 billion under
management; its two co-founders are 49-year-old Edward
Mulé and 47-year-old Robert O'Shea, both former Goldman
Sachs (GS) partners. Silver Point helped bail out Krispy
Kreme Doughnuts, Delphi, CIT Group, and various TV
stations. Monarch, based in Manhattan, was created in
2008 as a spinoff from the Quadrangle Group. It
reportedly has more than $3 billion under management;
among its three co-founders are 52-year-old Michael
Weinstock and 48-yearold Andrew Herenstein, both
formerly of Lazard. Monarch has invested in Eddie Bauer
and the Texas Rangers. (In 2010, after Herenstein sent a
letter to baseball teams warning them not to approve a
sale of the Rangers "at a price below fair market value,"
the letter became public, and the Dallas Morning News ran
this ominous blog headline: MONARCH ALTERNATIVE
CAPITAL THREATENS BASEBALL.)
Silver Point and Monarch, along with about 20 other
lenders, owned about $450 million of Hostess secured debt
at the time of the bankruptcy filing in 2004, according to
court records. Remarkably, though -- given that Hostess's
financials are now supposed to be an open book in federal
bankruptcy court -- it's unclear how much the lenders
actually paid for those notes. But it's presumably less than
face value. Opportunistic investors like Silver Point and
Monarch commonly buy distressed debt at a considerable
discount. Their strategy: Invest in fundamentally "good"
companies that have "bad" capital structures brought
about by overborrowing, bankruptcy, or other corporate
stresses.
Neither the specific amount put up by each investor nor
the percentage of the total debt is public record (In re
Hostess Brands, Case No. 12-22052). So it's impossible to
know for sure how much "skin in the game" the creditors
have. But according to sources with knowledge of
Hostess's debt structure, Silver Point owns about 30% of
the debt; Monarch, also about 30%; and the other lenders
combined own the remaining 40%. Clearly, it was Silver
Point and Monarch, along with Ripplewood, that had the
biggest bets going forward.
2/29
4/24/13
Confused yet? Here it is summarized in a schematic:
The rest of the story is your typical post-emergency NewCo gone
horribly wrong with a prominent role for the Snafu here reserved to
Hostess restructuring banker Miller Buckfire for not cutting enough of
the firm's pre-petition debt, with the straw that broke the camel's
back being, what else, unfunded pension liabilities. As was explained
back in July:
The critical issue in the bankruptcy is legacy pensions.
Hostess has roughly $2 billion in unfunded pension liabilities
to its various unions' workers -- the Teamsters but also
the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain
Millers International Union (which has largely chosen not
to contest what Hostess wants to do -- that is, to get out
of much of that obligation). If the bankruptcy court lets
Hostess off the pension hook -- which often happens in
these cases -- it only moves the struggle outside the
courthouse, and the ante goes up. For the Teamsters can
then call a strike -- which its Hostess employees have
already ratified by a 9-to-1 margin. If the court doesn't
grant relief, Hostess can seek liquidation, which would
mean that some creditors get some money, but
equity would be gone for good, as would a lot of jobs.
Either way, each side holds a nuclear warhead with
which to annihilate the company.
Liquidation is what ended up happening, as no compromise was
possible, and the magic money tree, primarily as a result of
equityholders (and creditors) refusing to inject any more cash.
Yet while the balance sheet burden was certainly the
pension liabilities, what precipitated the liquidation was the
income statement, and more accurately, the cash flow
statement, or specifically the lack of cash flow.
as the company tried to reinvent itself in 2009 and 2010,
external currents were running against it. The Great
Recession hurt many consumer brands generally, and the
prices of the commodities that Hostess relied on -- corn,
sugar, flour -- went up, which is the opposite of what's
supposed to happen in a downturn. In addition, the bakery
industry underwent more consolidation when Sara Lee sold
out to Bimbo.
Those fortuities aggravated Hostess's two root problems - a highly leveraged capital structure that had little
margin of safety, and high labor costs. Neither problem
was adequately addressed in the first bankruptcy, and
neither existed to the same degree in major competitors
like Bimbo and Flowers Food (owner of such brands as
Nature's Own and Tastykake). On exiting the first
bankruptcy, Hostess's total debt load was nearly $670
million. That was well above what it went into bankruptcy
with in the first place -- an unusual circumstance that the
company justified on expectations of "growing" into its
capital structure.
3/29
4/24/13
But the company was dead wrong. Its debt sowed the
very seeds of the next bankruptcy. Looking back on the
decision to reinvest in Hostess in the first bankruptcy, one
of the lenders now says, "If you look in the dictionary at
the definition of throwing good money after bad, there
should be a picture of Hostess beside it."
By late 2011, Hostess was getting, well, creamed. Its
sales last year -- $2.5 billion -- were down about 11%
from 2008 and down 28% from 2004. (Twinkies remain
the best individual seller -- 323 million of them in the 52week period ending June 29, give or take a splurt.)
Overall, Hostess lost $341 million in fiscal 2011, 2½ times
the loss of the prior year -- and by early 2012, primarily
because of burgeoning interest obligations, its debt had
grown to about $860 million.
As revenue declined, the company continued to burn cash
-- in the second half of 2011, the rate was $2 million a
week. The liquidity crunch forced Ripplewood in the early
spring of 2011 to pump in $40 million more in return for
more equity as well as debt that was subordinate to that
held by Silver Point and Monarch. In August -- to save a
company teetering on the edge of fiscal calamity and
forced liquidation -- Silver Point, Monarch, and the group
of other lenders put up an additional $30 million to see if a
negotiated turnaround was possible.
They turned to the unions and demanded new
concessions. But the unions, having three years earlier
given up thousands of jobs and millions in benefits, flatly
refused.
The company was going to pieces -- again -- and
Hostess filed for Chapter 11 protection -- again -- in
January of this year. This time, though, the moneymen
were no longer on the same page. As the majority equity
holder, Ripplewood badly wanted to keep Hostess out of
bankruptcy. It pleaded with the lenders to show flexibility,
but they were not so inclined. They lenders held superior
fiscal hands and had less downside if Hostess failed. In the
event of a bankruptcy, given all the assets Hostess
owned, the lenders would still walk away with millions.
There is much more to this story, but the ending is well-known to all,
and it is not a happy one.
End result: a near total loss for everyone involved, except the secured
creditors of course, who will now get pennies on the dollar, or perhaps
even par, for their claims when all is said and done.
Sadly, in many ways Hostess is now indicative of that just as insolvent
larger corporation, the USA, whose insurmountable balance sheet
liabilities will be the eventual catalyst for its collapse, but only once
the Income Statement and the Cash Flow sheet join in. For now, the
Fed provides the flow needed to avoid the day of reckoning, but
everything ends eventually.
In the meantime, what the Hostess story will hopefully teach the
always gullible public, is that nothing is ever black or white, and there
are numerous shades of gray in every story: even one in which an
"evil" PE firm is unable to come to resolution with labor unions, despite
the man in charge of it all being a prominent democrat. Because when
it comes to money other things such alliances, ideology and certainly
politics are always, always, secondary. Sadly, ever more Americans
will be forced to learn this lesson the hard way.
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Dre4dwolf
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:20
|
Union bosses get rich, Union
workers lose their jobs, and America losses the Twinkie,
great way to start a Friday morning America, really makes
me proud to be an American lol
markmotive
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
Twinkies = Too Big to Fail
Dre4dwolf
11:23 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:25 |
I bet Obama is itching
to be known in the history books as "the president
that saved the twinkie", with his genius Twinkie
bailout of 2012.
nope-1004
Fri,
11/16/2012 Something tells
me that there is a
11:32 |
backroom deal to
transfer the assets of Hostess to another company, fire
up the machines, and try again - this time without the
union and this time with terms more suitable for the
suits.
Both are greedy. But the only ones truly in control are
the owners, not the unions, and that is what has always
perplexed me about the union mantra. In a matter of
minutes they can be wiped out, as we see here.
GetZeeGold
Fri,
11/16/2012
- 11:35 |
What....no bailout?
Manthong
Fri,
This is a
travesty.
11/16/2012
- 11:37 |
Twinkies are a
systemically important health food and essential
for the vitality of Chicago.
http://www.bookofjoe.com/2005/04/what_you_look_l.html
Troll Magnet
i'm
Fri,
11/16/2012
- 11:57 |
5/29
4/24/13
genuinely
saddened by this.
LONG LIVE TWINKIES, BITCHEZ!!!!
Fri,
11/16/2012
- 12:20 |
gmrpeabody
Another "GM" deal is in the works....
Fri,
11/16/2012
- 12:49 |
LMAOLORI
I wouldn't doubt that I bet taxpayers
will have to end up paying for their
unfunded pensions either way
The Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation: Who Will Guarantee
This Guarantor?
http://www.american.com/archive/2012/june/thepension-benefit-guarantycorporation-who-will-guarantee-thisguarantor
Fri,
11/16/2012
- 12:07 |
Atlas_shrugging
I'm sure the President will work to get
the parties around the table "to have a
beer" and discuss this...before its over.
redpill
Fri,
11/16/2012
And of
course the
- 11:39 |
union
bosses see this as necessary loss. They would
rather watch these folks languish in
unemployment than let word get out that they
compromised.
Next time you are talking to some douchebag
with a "live better, work union" sticker on his
car, you may want to mention that.
krispkritter
Michelle
wants sole
ownership
Fri,
11/16/2012
- 11:41 |
6/29
4/24/13
of the phrase 'Hostess with the Mostest' and
frowns on saving any company making any foods
with over 80 calories. I expect if they do revive
it they'll make 'O, O's' and 'Bling Bongs' in honor
of the Head Choomster.
redpill
Fri,
11/16/2012
You
have
- 11:54 |
brought
up an important point. What in the world are
the next generation of Obama's Choom Youth
supposed to snack on once they have
achieved 'total absorption' ??
Troll Magnet
Fri,
michelle 11/16/2012
looks
- 11:59 |
like
she'd enjoy some twinkies with her big fat
ass..
idea_hamster
Fri,
Prediction: The 11/16/2012
"Twinkie" name
- 11:36 |
turns out to be
the most valuable piece of the company when it
gets bought at auction by a gay porn website.
hoos bin pharteen
Don't forget
Snowballs!
Fri,
11/16/2012
- 12:01 |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=MeS6DvyLScE
Coldsun
Fri,
11/16/2012
- 12:20 |
Snowballs! I
HATE Snowballs. Not the taste, the
consistency...
Papasmurf
"
Fri,
11/16/2012
- 13:50 |
Snowballs! I
HATE Snowballs. Not the taste, the
consistency..."
I can understand why. . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowballing
Central Bankster
Fri,
7/29
4/24/13
11/16/2012
Haha where are
Bobnoxy and
- 11:37 |
Gully Foyle now?
No doubt they will be
defending this bankruptcy now that they know it's
guys from their team.
Gully Foyle
nope-1004
I worked as a
temp at a CUMMINS
plant in the late 80's.
Fri,
11/16/2012
- 11:44 |
All the regulars were scared of the temps.
There was a rumor CUMMINS closed a plant in
one of the Carolinas and next day opened it with
temps.
Free ride would have been over for quite a few
people.
(Biden 2016 Workin it)
Whoa Dammit
Fri,
"Something tells 11/16/2012
me that there
- 12:24 |
is a backroom
deal to transfer the assets of Hostess to another
company, fire up the machines, and try again "
Given the Silver Point connection, I am betting on
Kripsy Kreme taking over all or part of Hostess. Also
in the past 2 weeks I have seen Krispy Kreme route
trucks (never seen them have route trucks before)
going to the convenience stores in the Atlanta area.
bilejones
Fri,
11/16/2012
The whole
Industrial
- 21:41 |
Baking industry
is operating far below capacity.
If a buyer for the brands can be found, they'd
merely have to use their excess.
gamera9
Fri,
11/16/2012 Better Yet
Backdoor method,
11:51 |
Snap cards are
good for Hostess products only. 47 million strong and
growing
Grinder74
Osama is dead!
Twinkie is alive!
Fri,
11/16/2012 16:59 |
/BUCK FARACK/
Rathmullan
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
14:11 |
Well, what do you
expect with there being rumors of a twinkie
8/29
4/24/13
currency standard.
Stoploss
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:24 |
So, it looks like we are
going to hit 500K in initial claims before Jan 1.
brewing
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:29 |
this is just a start.
more to come, including state and local
governments that can't pay for the bloated pension
plans they've over promised...
dirtbagger
Fri,
11/16/2012 Right on this, be it
local, state,
12:48 |
federal, or private
pensions, everyone is gaming the system trying to
recieve benefits far exceeding contributions. From
what the CEO said on MSNBC, the blame for the Hostess
downfall can be spread pretty evenly between
management and workers, not so much blame to the
investors.
exi1ed0ne
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:33 |
Bah, there are more
then enough temporary and casual staff being
added for the holidays to make up for it. If that
isn't enough they can just use the magical BLS sliderule and
add a brazillian* jobs.
Brazillion - WAY more fun then a bazillion.
Gully Foyle
exi1ed0ne
Fri,
11/16/2012 -
11:47 |
I thought the
"Brazillian " jobs were hairless.
Now you say there would be way more hair?
Wouldn't that be a seventies Merkin?
(Biden 2016 Who funk da funk)
spastic_colon
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
all part of the soros et. Al. 11:26 |
planned obsolescence of America
SeattleBruce
And enter stage left the new world order...
Gully Foyle
spastic_colon
Fri, 11/16/2012 11:40 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 11:49 |
Dude, think reset.
Now take a good look at the Soviet Union.
9/29
4/24/13
That's where we will be in thrity odd years.
(Biden 2016 The Diamond dogs are poachers and they
hide behind trees)
jdelano
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:26 |
Inconceivable. Democrats
poisoned by their own iocane powder.
natty light
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:33 |
Those brands' licenses will
just be aquired by another food company.
gmrpeabody
Nestle's will take them...
jdelano
Fri, 11/16/2012 12:25 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:33 |
Bernanke floods the world
with dollars to target unemployment. Corn goes through
the roof. Hostess implodes, 18,500 layoffs.
Fucking brilliant.
Thulsa Doom
1.21Gigawatts at 88mph,
bitchez!
ebworthen
Fri, 11/16/2012 11:48 |
Fri,
11/16/2012 The
Washington/Wall
12:17 |
Street version
needs 2.42 Jizzawatts at 176 mph.
The Jizz is our savings, IRA's, 401K's, Pensions, any
other assets.
No brakes, and the DeLorean only goes to the Janitor's
closet in Biff's casino.
Central Bankster
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:49 |
Unintended
consequences of central planning on display.
Central Bankster
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:48 |
Unintended
consequences of central planning on display.
repete
Fri, 11/16/2012 So we need unions, vulture 11:46 |
capatilists and hedge funds to make little fucking cakes?
10/29
4/24/13
My grandma used to make little fucking cakes before she went
to church,
gmrpeabody
CLASSIC....
Satan
Fri, 11/16/2012 12:26 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 " Grandma's Little
Fucking Cakes "
12:28 |
Surely a marketing opportunity right there...
graneros
Fri,
11/16/2012 In today's society
your right. They'd
15:01 |
probably sell like
hotca... er "Grandma's Little Fucking Cakes."
Kali
Fri, 11/16/2012 19:16 |
No shit! How fucking
pathetic, we can't manage to bake cakes in this
country without totally fucking it up. Way to go USA.
Bangin7GramRocks
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
12:04 |
The moral of the story is
accept your 34% wage/benefit cut, be happy and
prepare to accept another 34% cut next year. If you
can't produce your poison "snacks" without paying poverty
wages, then maybe it is time to go. I personally won't miss that
shit "food".
Joe Davola
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
I'm thinking the moral is 12:18 |
more along the lines of: if you want an unlimited
benefit in the future, you're gonna have to give up a
lot today.
Never had twinkies. Mom's home baked goods were much
better, luv ya mom!
overmedicatedun...
Fri,
waiting for obuma to 11/16/2012 come to the
12:28 |
rescue? you leftist
union thugs ..hold your breath and die.
augustus caesar
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
12:23 |
Some perspective may be
had on what is involved by imagining an application of the
techniques of the labor union in some other field. If A is
bargaining with B over the sale of his house, and if A were given
the privileges of a modern labor union, he would be able to (1)
to conspire with all other owners of houses not to make any
alternative offers to B, using violence or the threat of violence
if necessary to prevent them, (2) to deprive B himself of
access to any alternative offers, (3) to surround the house of
11/29
4/24/13
B and cut off all deliveries of food (except by parcel post), (4)
to stop all movement from B's house, so that if he were for
instance a doctor he could not sell his services and make a
living, and (5) to institute a boycott of B's business. All of
these privileges, if he were capable of carrying them out, would
no doubt strengthen A's position. But they would not be
regarded by anyone as a part of 'bargaining' .............. unless A
were a labor union.
Ident 7777 economy
+1
walküre
Fri, 11/16/2012 18:25 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
12:44 |
Hostess is a victim of
extreme couponing. I kid you not. No manufacturer can
survive the double and triple coupon bonanza only to
stack some idiot's basement full of junk food and tooth brushes.
The manufacturers and grocery giants basically pay to have
this stuff leave the shelves. It's a business model that cannot
win.
sleepingbeauty
Sat, 11/17/2012
- 03:07 |
But who makes the
coupon??? Oh yeah, the ones that the manufacturer
are responsible for say "manufacturer coupon". I guess their
accountants can't do math as well as a typical house wife.
Can't blame someone else for their incompetence. Actually
strike that, they can blame someon else for their
incompetence but it doesn't make sense.
sgt_doom
Ripplewood.....oh, puuuuhlease
Fri, 11/16/2012 13:40 |
already!!!!
They are long donors and members of "American Friends of
Bilderberg, Inc." -- the American chapter of the Bilderbergers.
Faux crat or R-con --- they all belong to the Bankster Party.
What's in a name? Not their net worth, that's for damn sure!
Fact Checking
In Michelle Alexander’s wonderful writing and talks (link below)
she recounts a moment of skepticism when a young man, whom
she believed to be “legitimate,” explains how he was framed by
a crooked LA cop. Later, she would read the news stories of
how that specific LA policeman was convicted of framing
suspects, or random arrested individuals, thus damning those
innocent individuals forever.
Fact checking is a never ending process; we learn that
something, once presented as fact, turns out to be fiction and
then, upon further historical examination, much of the
surrounding circumstances were also fictionalized.
The first superficial stories the corporate media presented on
CIA Director Petraeus sound somewhat different after more and
more data surfaces.
Jill Kelley’s sizable debt, and her sister’s custody battles, makes
them both highly vulnerable to external pressure.
Add to that the flakey-sounding FBI agent, his shirtless
(topless) emails to Ms. Kelley, while he ardently pursues an
investigation on her behalf. Then, the suggestion by others
that the emails in question to Ms. Kelley weren’t really of a
threatening nature to begin with, and Paula Broadwell’s status
as a reserve officer in the military, yet another point of
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4/24/13
vulnerability.
We know the record of FBI flimsiness where evidence is
concerned: from FBI employees, upon retirement (and safely
receiving their pensions now), who then blasted the FBI’s
handling of DNA evidence in the FBI labs --- to the flimsy and
highly suspect “evidence” presented as fact to identify a
scientist at Ft. Detrick, after his death, as the Anthrax assassin
(said evidence attacked and disputed by highly reputable
scientists).
We’ve seen that whether under Bush or Obama, the FBI still
appears to be illegally running their COINTELPRO operation, a
situation which renders everything originating from the FBI
highly, highly suspect!
When doing an historical analysis of the backgrounds of those
LA police involved with the investigation of the assassination of
Bobby Kennedy back in 1968, we find that almost every single
copper turns out to be dirty --- some were later implicated and
convicted of various crimes (Rampart Division) --- one was
even implicated in torture-murders in South America, while
involved in a CIA international police training program.
In fact, turns out the majority of those police involved in RFK’s
assassination investigation were on the CIA’s payroll through
the aforementioned international police training program!
There was a police chief in Seattle some years back, named
Fitzsimons, who established an unethical record, publicly
damning victims of homicides by suggesting they were involved
with illegal drugs, when it later turned out --- after the
standard police investigation --- that they were simply innocent
homicide victims.
Fitzsimons would later be appointed to the board of the FBI
Academy at Quantico --- a definite continuation line of
unethical possibilities. (Fitzsimons was appointed by the then
Seattle Mayor Norm “there are no gangs in Seattle” Rice.)
An excellent research method to better understand the back
story, the underlying agenda, is to closely follow the travel
records of individuals like Karl Rove and Richard Perle.
The operational fellows usually exhibit interesting travel
itineraries; Rove’s trips to Sweden at the beginning of the
actions taken to extradite Wikileaks’ Julian Assange to Sweden,
Rove’s trip to Crimea prior to problems erupting in Georgia (the
one in Eastern Europe), etc.
It can be difficult as they frequently fly on private jets,
registered out of the British Virgin Islands, but well worth the
effort.
The FBI has incredible power, but little accountability. The
DOJ’s Lanny Breuer and his weasel words to excuse the perfidy
of BP does little to instill confidence in the citizenry; it will be
interesting to see if Breuer seriously pursues TransOcean and
Halliburton for their culpability as well?
[Disclaimer: I am a neutral observer with regard to Gen.
Petraeus, whom I have little regard for and agree with Col.
MacGregor’s assessment in the article link below. Also, I have
no regard for Ms. Broadwell, nor anyone else affiliated with the
Aspen Institute, another faux outfit of the plutocracy, but I do
believe that their adultery is simply the cover story for some
deeper, behind-the-scenes machinations occurring.]
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/14/epitaph-for-a-fourstar/
http://cryptome.org/2012-info/spy-flog/spy-flog.htm
http://www.amazon.com/New-Jim-Crow-MichelleAlexander/dp/1595586431
http://www.ehow.com/how_5067866_track-private-planeflight.html
http://www.thirtythousandfeet.com/track.htm#websites
http://projects.wsj.com/jettracker/
http://www.propublica.org/article/off-the-radar-private-planeshidden-from-public-view-040810
http://flightaware.com/
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http://www.airliners.net/aviationforums/general_aviation/read.main/1357692/
http://www.aeroseek.com/webtrax/
http://www.stratosjets.com/flight-tracker.php
ExpendableOne
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
14:58 |
Read just this one little
book and you'll fully understand how the country is
"run".
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Team-Allies-ControlUnited/dp/0939484358
Ident 7777 economy
Hmmm ... which way sugarrush futures?
Shizzmoney
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:21
|
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:21
Twinkies can survive a nuclear |
holocaust......but they couldn't survive union fail and Wall
Street corporate raiders.
Dre4dwolf
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:29 |
I guess they are going to
have to revise the Twinkie episode of "How its made" to
"How not to make a twinkie", or "How its NOT made" lol
I kinda liked that episode too, my favorite part is the part
where all the twinkies are on the 100% automated assembly line
and the the fat diabetic workers do nothing but stare at them /
make sure none fall off the track.
lol
Papasmurf
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
13:56 |
Automated assembly,
sort of like the I Love Lucy candy factory episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnbNcQlzV-4
Thulsa Doom
Much desired in Zombieland,
too!
The Gooch
How did I know Mittens name
would grace this article?
Fri, 11/16/2012 11:50 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:23
|
14/29
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Central Bankster
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:43 |
Why am I not surprised that
you had difficulty interpreting the article?
The Gooch
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
12:01 |
Is his name not there,
asshole? Even if it is just for comparison.
Central Bankster
Oh come on! its just
a laugh:)
The Gooch
Fair enough.
me asshole.
j0nx
Fri,
11/16/2012 12:11 |
Fri,
11/16/2012
- 12:17 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:24
|
Executives and the board get
rich and the workers accept austerity. No more. Tear all
these mofos down.
jdelano
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
12:00 |
Actually no, I doubt
anybody will walk away from this richer. The expected
liquidation value was no doubt fudged and overstated in
order to prop up the balance sheet... senior debt holders who
made an attempt to save the brand will be lucky to recoup their
investment, breaking even at best. And your workers are in a
word, fucked, because they were so convinced that they
deserved an unending slew of fat checks in retirement (for a life
spent mindlessly injecting cream into tiny cakes) that they shot
themselves in the crotch and killed the company...
JimBowie1958
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
17:40 |
Actually no, I doubt
anybody will walk away from this richer.
Except for the fucking lawyers you mean.
sleepingbeauty
+10000
Sat,
11/17/2012 03:10 |
the not so migh...
You didn't eat that twinkie.
Troll Magnet
yes i did. and you better
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:25
|
Fri, 11/16/2012 12:05 |
15/29
4/24/13
believe i'll be stocking up on that shit this weekend. too
much weed, not enough twinkies in my house.
edifice
Fri, 11/16/2012 Oh, but I did.
12:07 |
Actually, I prefer Nutty Bars.
Dr. Engali
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:27
|
Another reaosn for Moochelle
and Bloomberg to be excited. Now if we can just get rid of
that pesky Hershey's.
DaveyJones
a little harder when you
own a city
lordbyroniv
Snowballs, Chocodiles and
Suzy Q's
Fri, 11/16/2012 12:15 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:30
|
At least America was once a great country. sigh.
Fredo Corleone
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
11:35 |
I can recall as a kid,
always seeming to have a package of either Suzy-Q's or
Yankee Doodles in my lunchbox.
Such were the '70s...tragic, how the Hostess story ends.
Miss Expectations
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
12:43 |
Yodels wrapped in
silver and blue foil. I liked to eat frozen Yankee
Doodles.
Fredo Corleone
Fri,
11/16/2012 I remember them
well -- Miss, you
13:27 |
mention frozen
Yankee Doodles: growing up, we always had a box of
Devil Dogs in the freezer during summertime...
SeattleBruce
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:33
|
Wait - the Democrats
(Republicans) really aren't the party of the working person?
Ident 7777 economy
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
18:06 |
-1 for your being
conflicted; make up your damn mind so we can 'score'
you correctly.
16/29
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Freewheelin Franklin
Creative destruction, bitchez.
natty light
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:33
|
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:33
Spend a little more and buy
local quality baked goods.
adr
|
Fri, 11/16/2012 BUT THEY DON'T HAVE ALL 11:41 |
THAT FANTASTIC SATURATED FAT!!!!
That's like saying don't eat Oreos, just buy the organic ones
from Whole Foods.
What are you, a Nazi???
natty light
Something w/out beef
fat or lard
Dre4dwolf
Fri, 11/16/2012 11:46 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:35
|
I just had a thought, since
twinkies are going extinct, maybe we should all buy a few
dozen boxes and store them, who knows in 50 years they
could be worth something to someone.
Is James Dewar still around? I wana get his signature on a box and
have it authenticated.
Troll Magnet
proof twinkies? goddamn i
hate paying premiums...
Freewheelin Franklin
I'm gonna go buy a case of
Butterscotch Krimpets
Clycntct
Pretty sure that's a
different distress/success.
Fri, 11/16/2012 12:07 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:36
|
Fri, 11/16/2012 12:10 |
Tasty cake. Flowers Food.
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/Georgia-firmbuys-Tas...
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lynnybee
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:37
is this that ol' bankruptcy for |
profit business model that seems to be all the rage the
past many years .. you know, go into a business, gut it,
drive it down & dump the pension responsibilities onto the gov't &
the new owners make out like bandits leaving the employees with
squat & their heads spinning, "what the hell! i ain't got no job & no
pension !" so, what hedge fund stands to profit handsomely ?
jdelano
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
You have no idea what you 12:36 |
are talking about. Destroying a business is never as
profitable as growing one. Even the most debauched
hedge funds and private equity firms know this. Go talk to
someone in PE and let them explain/show you what they
actually do before you paint them as villains. I can't speak for
all firms but the ones I do business with operate almost
diametrically opposite to your characterization. Their M.O. is to
go into an ailing firm and trim the fat---which often means
canning the unproductive guys at the top who are flying around
in private jets and playing golf in addition to renegotiating
unrealistic pensions. The goal is to make the business
healthier, not tear it apart. You want villany, look to
Washinton.
Miss Expectations
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
My experience puts me 13:00 |
in lynnybee's camp. The money men who came into
Revlon (Perelman and MacAndrews Forbes) first order of
business was to sell half the company then raid the pension
plan. They did end up sticking around to "make the
business healthier" but they didn't. I think that the thing is,
well, that the money men/financial guys don't think like the
original business owners (ie Charles Revson). They don't
love the business, their heart isn't in it and all their
decisions are financial. They end up with company that has
no heart.
jdelano
Fri,
You probably have a 11/16/2012 point about some PE 13:30 |
firms being
incompetent/not successful because they don't
understand the heart of the business...that's valid. But
I'd argue that if the business ultimately ends up worse
off it's simply because the PE firm failed, not because
they accomplished their "evil" plan to ruin the company
and exploit its resources, and they won't "get rich" off
it. Take JCP for example...the goal is to reinvent a
dying department store...it doesn't appear to be
working, but if the business fails Ackman won't be
laughing his way to the bank...he'll be disappointed and
slinking away poorer with egg on his face. Really my
point here is that all PE/activist investor men/women
shouldn't be lumped in with the corruption axis of
Washington, the TBTF banks, the Fed, and Union
bosses. A lot of PE folks are pretty decent people
looking to be constructive, not destructive:
Ackman has given to charitable causes such as
the Center for Jewish History to preserve Jewish
genealogy[16] where he spearheaded a successful effort
to retire their $30 million in debt personally contributing
$6.8 million.[17] In a press release, the Ackman family
stated, "We want our children to know, not only their
living relatives, but those representing past generations
for a greater connection to their family and ancestral
origin and heritage."[18] This donation made with that
ofBruce Berkowitz, founder of Fairholme Capital
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Management, and Joseph Steinberg, president
of Leucadia National, were the three largest individual
gifts that the center has ever received.[19]
Ackman's foundation donated $1.1 million to the
Innocence Project in New York City and Centurion
Ministries in Princeton, N.J. The two groups are
dedicated to investigating the cases of people who have
been wrongfully convicted.[17]
[edit]
Diogenes
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
14:03 |
Yeah but gutting a
company is quicker and easier. You can loot as
much money in 6 months as you can earn in 10
years, then on to the next deal.
An awesome business model as long as there are companies
around with equity built up over the last 50 or 100 years
that you can take over and asset strip.
Blankenstein
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
I remember back in the 17:39 |
housing boom times there were articles about
leveraged buyouts where the buyer only had to put
down a very small percentage to get a loan to buy the
company (similar to home buyers at the time). About 15
million down was all you needed to buy a 3 billion dollar
company. The debt was packaged as CDOs and sold off to
investors. (I wonder what happened to those??) Then the
buyer would take huge consulting and managment fees in
the process and then sell off the remains of the company
after they had restructured and increased the debt of the
company. They were not interested in investing in the
company, they wanted to get-rich-quick.
sleepingbeauty
Sat, 11/17/2012
- 03:14 |
I guess it depends
from whose point of view you are assessing the
situation. And how likely the business is ever going to grow
again. Sometimes it is more profitable for TPTB to take the
business down on their terms with their CDS and their
control over the assets. And some businesses no longer
have a viable market, and to re-invent themselves may be
"too hard".
Common_Cents22
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
21:09 |
where is the evidence and
the math that investors pour money into a company and
MAKE money by running it out of business???
ultimate warrior
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:37
|
Im going to stock up on a shit
load of hostess products and sell them in 5 years for gold
and silver.
That's my plan for prosperity.
19/29
4/24/13
Mr. Poon
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
Well, you can stockpile it all 11:50 |
you want, but when trouble comes, you won't be able to
eat . . . umm, wait, never mind, yes, you can. Carry on!
FuzzyDunlop21
Could have easily been
avoided
TrumpXVI
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:38
|
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:38
|
Maybe that History Channel,
"Modern Marvels; Snack Foods" program where Hostess is
featured will become a collector's item?
adr
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:39
|
It's too bad this didn't come
out before the election. No way Obama would have won
with this news. Higher taxes, murdering Americans, pah
doesn't even register.
Now Twinkies, that is a national treasure and a disgrace worthy of
impeachment.
You may take my freedom, but you will never take my cupcake!!!!!!
karzai_luver
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:40
The debt funding die has been |
cast many decades ago by those with mush for brains that
fund and run these "concerns".
Believe it or not ,my little twinkey addled morons, there was and of
course still is a way to run company without loading it with killer
debt that can never and was never intended to be serviced longterm , let alone repaid.
It is black and white to those who put down the creme filled fluff
that passes for analysis these days.
Sorry suckers , you can eat little debbie for all i care
adr
Fri, 11/16/2012 mmm nutter bars.
11:46 |
Hostess had problems because their products were
actually fresh in most cases. Many people don't realize that
Hostess owned the shelves in the stores. If the products didn't
sell within a certain time period the Hostess delivery men took
them out of the store and replaced the Twinkies with new ones.
The costs associated with this became enormous along with the
retiring bakers expecting full pensions.
Everyone likes to knock on Hostess for producing garbage junk
food, but the snacks they make are actually better for you than
many of the other pre-packaged crap. Not that a Twinkie is
good for you.
Thisson
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
13:25 |
I appreciate your point,
but you should also consider that the company that
wants to be responsible and avoid debt still has to
compete with other companies that are willing to take on debt.
Those competitors are able to offer higher wages/benefits for
20/29
4/24/13
employees and are able to purchase other advantages with the
borrowed money. So once the debt genie is out of the bottle,
it's hard to avoid.
forwardho
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:44
|
The systemic problem is more
basic than PE vs union. Pensions are not sustainable in
todays labor market. That ship has sailed. That which cannot be
sustained...
Schmuck Raker
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:45
|
Well, there goes our last
chance at peace in the Middle East.
I'm fresh out of ideas now guys...good luck. Godspeed.
paddy0761
Twinkie Twubble.
KCMLO
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:46
|
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:46
Reposted from other thread:
|
I have a good friend nearing retirement age that was one
hit by this. I don't know much about the company and how they
operated but I did get to see first hand what they did to him:
1. Admittedly he was decently well paid when he was even able to
work, made about $20 an hour loading trucks. However, the union
constatnly blocked him from being able to work full hours.
2. His exact position opened up at a bakery within a mile of his
house, since the union required more senior people to have first
dibs on the job he had to quietly train 3 (THREE!) more senior
employees trying to take the position. Each of the three were
unable to perform the duties of the position. Namely this would be
mental math, inventory, and loading trucks for delivery. That
astonished me.
3. At every step of the way the union was constantly obstructive.
I never once heard him complain about the company, not a single
time, it was always the union.
4. The union even kept them in the dark about these proceedings
and that they were heading over the cliff. His word from the union
as of 48 hours ago "We're still negotiating."
Central Bankster
Thanks for sharing.
Ident 7777 economy
Fri, 11/16/2012 11:52 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 18:10 |
" 4. The union even kept them in the dark about these
proceedings and that they were heading over the cliff. His
word from the union as of 48 hours ago "We're still
negotiating." "
What!??
21/29
4/24/13
Including the overwhelming union membership vote to strike? T
This post does not pass the 'smell' test ...
Mr. Poon
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:47
|
Twinkies? Ho-hos?
Snowballs? Crocodiles? What trash, some people have
terrible taste in food.
For me and my house, it's nothing but the finest in foods: frozen
Ding Dongs all the way.
Stuck on Zero
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:47
|
Ten to one this was a prepackaged bankruptcy so that Hostess could be taken over
without being saddled by unions, debts, and the hangovers
of mismanagement.
Rentenmark
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:50
|
The shelf life, or is it half-life,
of a Twinkie is like 25 years so no need to freeze them.
They can be stock piled with other non-perishables such
as toilet paper. Gotta think that Twinkies and Toilet Paper (T&TP)
will be valuable in the future!
ElvisDog
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:50
|
Well, at least a 0.01% fuckhead like Tim Collins is going to lose a big pile of money on
this one. $670M in debt on $2.5B in revenue and losing
$340M last year. The "grow into the capital structure" plan is a
hoot.
Thisson
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
13:27 |
Sounds a lot like our
politicians: "we've got to grow our way out of our debt"
- impossible!
mess nonster
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:50
|
I think, considering the shelf
life of these products, that their manufacture can be easily
outsourced to China with a little melamine, extra BHT, and sawdust
added to the formula. After all, Hostess products are nothing more
than a drug delivery vehicle. The psychoactive ingredient is GMO
HFCS, and as long as the consumer's blood sugar skyrockets to
mind-munbing (on purpose) levels, who cares what else is in there?
Twinkies will be around, regardless of who makes them, for a long
long time.
Atlantis Consigliore
Ding Dong da Rich is Dead....
http://youtu.be/nrEdYyejlj8
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:51
|
move on Sheeple, Muppets, its a Twinky Economy, you didnt build
22/29
4/24/13
or invest in that Stupid...
US of Muppets.
buzzsaw99
from wiki:
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:53
|
In March 2012, Brian Driscoll resigned from his position as
CEO.[18] Gregory Rayburn, who had been hired and named Chief
Restructuring Officer only nine days earlier, assumed the
leadership position. Fortune reported that unions within the
organization had been unhappy with Driscoll's proposed
compensation package of $1.5 million, plus cash incentives and a
$1.95 million "long term compensation" package. Additionally, the
court had discovered that Hostess executives had received
raises of up to 80% the year prior...
Don't worry about the long string of execs, they got plenty.
Ident 7777 economy
Fri, 11/16/2012 18:15 |
Additionally, the court had discovered that Hostess
executives had received raises of up to 80% the year
prior...
Smarmy peanut-gallery comment: "Don't worry about the long
string of execs, they got plenty."
You don't know how talent is recruited or kept at these
companies, do you?
The sales staff for example require INCENTIVES like 'raises' to
perform ...
I just *know* yiou would stick around without any incentives,
as sharp as you are.
Dolts.
sleepingbeauty
Sat, 11/17/2012
- 03:26 |
Your comment isn't
passing the smell test. "The sales staff for example
require INCENTIVES like 'raises' to perform ..."
If they were performing as you say, then a bankruptcy is
not needed. And if the EXECUTIVES got an 80% raise then
supposedly their skills were commensurate. But I did not
hear anywhere that revenue went up and surprisingly the
company still had to declare bankruptcy.
23/29
4/24/13
Ident 7777 economy
Sat,
11/17/2012 08:15 |
" If they were performing as you say, then a ... "
Bzzzzzt!
Still wroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong!
Market forces (high-wage union contracts) and a
contracting economy can STILL impact your earnings
(WHICH IT DID HERE).
How much WORSE off without a functioning sales staff
is what you SHOULD be asking in regards to loss of highcaliber sales staff ...
Of course, you employ a staff of low-IQ dunces in your
co so there is no comparison I suppose.
bankonzhongguo
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:56
|
The value is the brand and
placement in the stores, not the sugar, hydrogenated oil
and workers that pump it out.
Some cadre of MBA just figured it all out and since they also just
read 'Atlas Shrugged,' well you know the rest.
The unions understand. They are replaceable by those amnestied
Mexican workers.
In ten year it will all be robots.
Maybe after that you can 3D print yourself a Ding Dong.
Can't wait for the BLS to print these numbers. Ho Ho Ho.
Clycntct
Thanks TD for all the info.
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:58
|
I give THANKS to Zero Hedge to keep me in the Know.
mess nonster
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:58
|
Hey this is agood test casehopefuly we'll get to see Hostess disintegrate, and if we
pretend it was GM, we will get to see what the consequenses of a
free-market actually looks like.
Hostess goes under, the brand gets bought out by anothert (nonunion) co, and the product is back on the shelves, just as inedible,
and all's well in the world. Or, we get several Hostess-like products
that fill the void, all competing for the top slot as the most arteryclogging, pancreas-destroying baked toxins on the market.
The unnions get to have a wake-up call that their members still
have to actually work for that paycheck, and the union heirarchy
gets shaken back to the place where they advocate for railings
around the giant twinkie vats so that fewer workers are overcome
by the fumes and fall in to their deaths. They may also advocate
that the batch containing humans is thrown out (or at least sold to
a hog-farm) so that twinkies don't actually become Soilent Green.
24/29
4/24/13
Unions have a place in the economy. That place is not to create a
job that allows a "worker" to collect the private equivalent of food
stamps and welfare.
GeorgeHayduke
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
"Unions have a place in the 12:10 |
economy. That place is not to create a job that allows
a "worker" to collect the private equivalent of food stamps and
welfare."
I agree with that. But Management could also make 8-15 times
more than the average worker in the place instead of 1,000
times more. Not that this is the cause of Hostess's problems,
but usually after the full story is known blame can be spread
around instead of just towards the usual targets. Not all the
time, but usually.
ebworthen
I thought we were in a
"recovery"?
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 12:02
|
Where is Jon Corzine?
moonman
This just in,
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 12:02
|
Another Chocodile has been found wandering around a parking lot
on Long Island
GeorgeHayduke
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 12:05
|
Dang, no more of those
awesome crunch gem donuts and yellow zingers. I hope
someone fills that vacuum.
williambanzai7
Let's run him for President
The Continental
Tyler, you missed out on an
epic title for this article:
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 12:07
|
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 12:07
|
The Hostess Liquidation: A tale of Twinkies and Bimbos.
nick howdy
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 12:10
|
http://news.yahoo.com/bctgm-members-initiate-nationalstrike-hostess-bra...
Hostess Brands is in bankruptcy for the second time in eight years.
Since the first bankruptcy in 2004, BCTGM members across the
country have taken dramatic wage and benefit concessions and
watched as 21 Hostess plants were shut down and thousands of
jobs lost. At the time of the first bankruptcy, Hostess workers
were assured by management that money saved via concessions or
plant closings would help make the company stronger, more vibrant,
25/29
4/24/13
and more competitive.
Instead, helpless Hostess employees watched as money that was
supposed to go towards capital investment, product development,
plant improvement and new equipment went to executive bonuses
and payouts to the hedge funds that own Hostess Brands. They
watched as the company illegally withdrew from all Taft-Hartley
pension plans, saving more than $50 million in the first five months.
The BCTGM learned that the then Hostess CEO was to be awarded
a 300% raise, and at least nine other top executives were to
receive raises ranging between 35% and 80%.
Since the company ceased making contractually obligated
payments to the Hostess workers' pensions in July 2011, it has
pocketed approximately $160 million – money earned by and owed
to its dedicated workforce.
Striking members know that the Wall Street investors currently in
control of the company have no intention of building a world class
wholesale bread and cake company. They will simply take the
money from the workers' severe concessions and the sale of
assets, pay themselves and then liquidate the company.
The company's business plan, when reviewed by a highly-respected
financial analyst retained by the company, was determined to have
little or no chance of succeeding in saving Hostess.
The current CEO, Greg Rayburn, was originally brought on as a
consultant because of his expertise in corporate liquidations. He
has absolutely no experience running a baking company and the
Wall Street investors that own the company have absolutely no
interest of rebuilding the baking business.
"Our members have fought hard for decades through the collective
bargaining process to build a decent standard of living for
themselves and their families. The deplorable actions taken by
Hostess would take our members back to the workplace standards
of the 1950's.
"Our members have now said NO to Hostess and the Wall Street
investors in the only means available to them, the strike. The
BCTGM International Union stands in full and uncompromising
support of our striking members," concludes Hurt.
The BCTGM represents more than 80,000 workers in the baking,
food processing, grain milling and tobacco industries in the United
States and Canada.
Central Bankster
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
18:35 |
You've been corzined! The
pensions just got vaporized like an account at MF Global.
GeorgeHayduke
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
12:16 |
As usual, the predators
paint the vicitms as the cause of the problems. This has
been happening for years and is the reason the US is where it's
at financially. Meanwhile the predators, like Romney, say it's the
47% who just want a handout who are the problem. The sheep
may be finally waking up. We will see. Waking up and doing
something are two different things.
blunderdog
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
I'm sure plenty of folks 12:50 |
would agree with Mittens' perspective that a job is
just another form of handout.
Too bad it wasn't McDonald's...
NEOSERF
At a very high level,
some of us have jobs
that fulfill the basic
Fri,
11/16/2012 13:45 |
26/29
4/24/13
necessities that make living "civil"; electricity
production, gasoline production, food production,
hospital services...From YVSL to McDonalds to Hostess,
the rest of us are involved with elegantly trying to pick
the consumers pocket and sell them things and services
they simply do not need. What are you involved in.
Financial services used to be a valuable service but
somewhere along the road became a pocket picker.
blunderdog
Fri,
11/16/2012
I do monkey
work "fixing"
- 14:45 |
computers for
people who probably should just have Etch-aSketches instead.
I'd never pretend it's *important,* but at least folks
can understand why I get paid.
nick howdy
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
12:27 |
Since they were going to
lose their jobs anyway..Well why not strike..Fuck it. You
know this shit is going to keep happening till there are
no freaking jobs, anything that can be offshored will be
offshored...The way we treated the American native is the
same way we treat the American worker....Once people have
nothing left and nothing left to lose they will start doing things
that folks might call a bit anti-social, and then you'll call them
terrorists and attack them with autonomous kill
machines...Prepare for the new American "terrorist".
GeorgeHayduke
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
13:14 |
Gee nick, you don't
have the usual "tow the corporate (or plantation
owner, or predatory capitalist) line" attitude that so many
posters here seem to have. Expect to get lots of negative
votes and responses of no substance with feeble attempts
at sophomoric humor to your thoughful posts. Don't let them
bug you. Keep posting as what you present provokes
thought (and is likely truth, as in this case), something
many here prefer to avoid in favor of their own beliefs and
biases.
Blankenstein
Fri,
That goes for BOTH 11/16/2012 teams. I see a lot
17:55 |
of partisans who
still believe that team blue isn't part and parcel to the
enriching of the oligarchs. Just check out Obama's
biggest campaign contributers from 2008 and bundlers
for 2012. Bailouts for the banksters and no
prosecutions, but I still see the disciples crying that
their team will save the day for main street. Yes I hope
people will begin to see the facts in favor of their own
beliefs and biases, but it's unlikely they will peel
themselves away from the TV (Thought Vacuum) long
enough.
Thisson
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
13:34 |
What a bunch of
nonsensical propaganda. The company was losing
$300m a year. Even if those 10 execs are getting 2
million/year each, it's still a drop in the bucket compared to the
losses. Now I agree that exec comp is out of control across
the board in the USA, but the problems here are the debt load
and the pension costs. Both of these will be eliminated via
27/29
4/24/13
bankruptcy, the assets will be liquidated, and someone,
somewhere, will use them to bake products (likely not with
union labor). The big losers here are the equity investors and
the union management, which failed to understand that a
company that loses money cannot stay in business, and that a
low-paying job is better than no job.
jdelano
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
well said.
blunderdog
13:35 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
15:03 |
but the problems
here are the debt load and the pension costs.
Er...maybe I'm misreading your point, but if not, why
shouldn't MANAGEMENT be blamed for that? What are they
supposed to be doing if they couldn't address those
problems?
I don't think the guy maintaining the Twinkie-manufacturing
machine is responsible for the company's high-leverage and
debt-load. That's the Execs who did that.
Madcow
start thinking like a sociopath
...
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 12:10
|
why not asset taxes to fund the PBGC?
Omen IV
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 12:24
|
the teaching moment is the
opposite of your conclusion - the focus should be on PE and
leverage not the company nor the union nor the democratic
party
the company and the union - absent the leverage - would pay off
Operating Debts and Pension Obligations on time and without a
problem - the leverage and lack of focus by managment in the
intrinsic business with the revolving door of CEO's and cash flow
always going to latest newly invented capital structure contributes
nothing to the business and drives away serious management
no matter what the unions agree to in concessions - the leverage
players will put up more debt and fees to cover the flexibility
created in the cash flow by the concessions so that there is never
a real business or postive cash flow to cover the inevitable vagaries
of the marketplace - these clowns dont want an operating business
they want a toy.
BIMBO - is the winner - they will get the PP&E for cents on the
dollar - they have been waiting for the clown car to leave the
scene since 2007 and they have good relations with the unions to
make it a real business
this is not a parable about the democratic party nor Gephardt who
is a whore (I would call him a bimbo but that name is trademarked)
but about Vampire Capitalism that doesnt work for the country no
matter who is in power
Thisson
Fri, 11/16/2012 -
13:37 |
I agree that Bimbo is the
winner, but outcomes like this ensure that there is no
"vampire capitalism" as you put it. The PE firms and the
unsecured debt holders are going to take big losses. The union
28/29
4/24/13
should have agreed to the concessions but with a contractual
provision against debt-financing.
Ident 7777 economy
Fri, 11/16/2012 18:17 |
+1 This.
Rick Blaine
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 12:17
|
As Dr. Dre put it so
elegantly...
Ring ding dong...Ring-a-ding ding-ding dong.
...Keep their mother-F-ing heads ringing...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj-Ay6x7Wbg
...bitchez.
DR
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 12:24
|
Just another demonstration of
US decline. This past great country that won WWII and lead
the world on logistic and industrial acumen now days can't
even successful operate a bread baking company.
jtg
Fri, 11/16/2012 Exactly, and far worse is
to come.
bugs_
12:51 |
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 12:24
If you can't get twinkies
consider switching to Gansitos
1
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The Hostess Liquidation: A Curious Cast Of Characters As The

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