Let’s point the accusatory finger in the other direction for a moment.

Social Security (which most public employees who have public pension plans to not participate in) is a much bigger problem than the public pension plans. Why should public employees bail YOUR Social Security system out?

If you feel so strongly about not having publicly-backed retirement systems, put your money where your mouth is and fight against the SS system.

How many Piggs would give up their Social Security in exchange for public employees giving up their retirement plans?

They are essentially the same thing: employers pay a share, employees pay a share, add in some magic investment income and recipients get a defined benefit. The only difference is that public pensions are EARNED as a part of the employees’ compensation packages, they are negotiated for, and employees give up other types of compensation in order to get their pensions — it’s a form of deferred compensation. Social Security is not “earned,” it’s an insurance program, and recipients were not asked to sacrifice one type of compensation in order to get SS.