Public Sector Workers In Alternate Reality
Dec 5, 2013 Political
The public sector union workers thought they had it made. They worked for years and pensions were established so that when they retired they would get a retirement check. There is nothing inherently wrong with that but as with anything government and union, problems have arisen.
During the boom times unions made deals with politicians about how much of YOUR money they should get (notice YOU are not part of the negotiations) and they made some nice deals. In many of these unions the workers pay little (if anything at all) into their retirement and the government contributes a lot to the fund.
This money has been invested in order to grow but when the economy went bad the funds lost lots of money. Couple this with the usual mismanagement associated with unions and government and a problem emerges.
The funds do not have enough in them to meet obligations. As such many governments are trying to reduce benefit payout or are trying to require workers to pay more toward their pensions (Heaven forbid).
The recent ruling in Detroit’s bankruptcy as well as threats in Illinois have many government workers worried. The pension funds are NOT protected from the bankruptcy.
In Illinois strong consideration is being given to reducing benefits to solve the problem.
I can understand why the workers are upset. They worked all those years and their unions negotiated something for them. Now that is being threatened. People plan on living on certain amounts when they retire and when that is taken away or changed it causes problems. While I understand their plight I also know they cared little about the taxpayer when they were supporting (and demanding) the things the unions negotiated for.
I can put it this way. These folks are concerned that they are being shafted of their money.
I as a taxpayer feel the same way because my money pays them and I did not have a seat at the table.
What does make me laugh is how many of these workers and their union reps act as if they are only asking for what the rest of the workers in America get. Really? Many folks in the private sector do not have retirement plans and those that have them do not have ones as generous as those in the public sector.
But, but, public sector workers accept a lower pay for what they do in order to get a better retirement. That is the claim they make:
…For generations, public employees accepted modest wages for the promise of a secure retirement. Bloomberg
The article is focused on teachers and there is a lot of discussion about how they worked hard for years for less money and paid for things out of their pockets and took care of children so I will focus on teachers.
I will not address the lack of quality education and the low performance of children. Just on the claim that they accept less money for a better retirement.
In Illinois, the place the article discusses, the average salary for a teacher starting out is $36,636 and the overall average is $64,509. Information from teacher portal indicates that Illinois has the fourth highest teacher salary in the nation. It is hard to get an hourly wage because teachers are off in the summer and I do not know what the work hours are for them. But, a regular 40 hour a week job would equate to $17.61/hour to start and $31.01/hour as an overall average.
How many private sector jobs start at those rates? Seventy percent of American wage earners are in the lowest three quintiles of workers and the average income for the middle quintile is $34,738 with a lower average for the other two. So the claim that public sector workers accept less in salary to have a better retirement is smoke and mirrors. The teachers have more time off, receive great health benefits, and have a great retirement plan and receive a salary that puts them in the upper fourth quintile. They have it much better than those in the private sector.
[note]Great teachers are worth their weight in gold and they produce well educated children. However, the system is set up to concentrate more on compensation as less on education.[/note]
Plus, you need an act of Congress to fire them. In the private sector the boss can fire you without all the hassle.
By the way, Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago is in the worst shape pension fund wise and his teachers in that city average $74,839/year (2009).
There are problems all the way around. Too many people on welfare, too much taxpayer money spent on great public sector benefits and not enough folks working. Add the corruption that is always involved and money flow becomes a problem.
[note]Perhaps these unions should demand that welfare get cut instead of their pensions…[/note]
These places are having trouble and they are not particularly happy with the Democrats who courted their votes for decades and paid them off because those Dems are suddenly screwing them over.
As for Republicans, Scott Walker turned a deficit into a surplus and union employees were not fired and only took a small hit.
It sucks for these folks but now maybe they know how taxpayers have felt over the years.
After all, it starts out as OUR money…
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: detroit, illinois, public unions, retirement, salary, under funded
Where Will They Go To For More Money?
Feb 7, 2010 Political
I wrote before the last election indicating that there was concern that the government would take control of our retirement accounts and redistribute the money in them as part of a scheme to even the playing field. The Socialists in DC are part of the spread the wealth paradigm and they have no problem forcefully taking that to which they are not entitled. There were hearings on Capitol Hill where this was discussed.
Doug Ross indicates that this might be where the next money influx to the government comes from as they confiscate our retirement (which contains trillions of dollars) and spread it among those who have not saved for retirement.
The [Congressional] testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Ghilarducci proposed that the government eliminate tax breaks for 401(k) and similar retirement accounts, such as IRAs, and confiscate workers’ retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security Administration.
…The current retirement system, Ghilarducci said, “exacerbates income and wealth inequalities” because tax breaks for voluntary retirement accounts are “skewed to the wealthy because it is easier for them to save, and because they receive bigger tax breaks when they do.” [Original Source Carolina Journal]
The government has already pilfered trillions of dollars in Social Security that was paid in over the years and used that money for pet projects and as a slush fund. There is no money left in Social Security and the government does not have the money to meet the obligations of Social Security. It must borrow money to pay the recipients. This would not be the case if they had left the money alone.
Instead, they will come after the money we have saved. It is there because strict rules forbid us from tapping into the retirement money until we actually retire. Congress had no such rules and raped Social Security and now the plan, at least one that was discussed in Congress, is to confiscate our retirement and use it to pay others.
This is a Socialist program and if the government goes through with this there is no doubt in my mind we will have an armed insurrection.
These bastards take enough of our money and spread it around. I will be damned if they are going to take what I have saved for my retirement without a fight.
I am sure many others feel the same way (not the slugs who would benefit from the work of others) and would be willing to fight for what is theirs.
Keep an eye on Congress. It will look for money and will take it any time it wants. The government will rape us any chance it gets so we must remain vigilant.
Buy guns and ammo. You will need them.
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Tags: Congress, lies. socialism, rape, retirement, theft