[quote=harvey (aka pri_dk)]A small percentage of the population is devastating our schools and services because they once negotiated extraordinarily high compensation and now refuse to allow the economy to impact them in the same way it has everyone else…[/quote]
pri, your post intimates that govm’t workers, deferred govm’t retirees and current govm’t retirees actually had a choice in whether the “economy” impacted them … or not. Don’t you think gov’t workers who bought property at the height of the “boom” might be underwater now or have lost their homes to a SS, a deed-in-lieu or foreclosure?
How about their individual “457 plans?” Don’t you think some of these workers have taken a beating on them since first funding them? I know when I went “all cash” last fall, my 457 funds had the same value as they did in 2000 after a very bumpy ride!
What about the thousands of “govm’t retirees” who have had healthplan-premium credits taken away from their pension pkg because they were never guaranteed in the first place? Do you think it is “cheap” or “easy” for them to procure a medical policy on the open market at the age of 57? If YOU were a 57 yo govm’t “retiree” or “deferred retiree,” would YOU pay $800-$1100 month for your former employer’s plan (for yourself only) or pay the premium out of your pension?
What about those current gov’t workers who opted IN an “enhanced benefit plan” offered by their local-govm’t employer within the last ten years? They now have 14-27% of their biweekly pay deducted to fund the plan (plus mandatory deductions for now “watered-down” benefits). If they are footing the bill for medical/dental benefits for a family of four on their paycheck, their “deductions” could now very well exceed 50% of their pay (after taxes)! How MUCH is ENOUGH??
Gov workers and gov retirees pay the same income and property taxes, DMV fees, licensing fees, utility bills, grocery bills (in the absence of mil commissary privileges) as private-sector workers do.
EVERYONE is impacted by the current state of the economy, NOT just “private sector” workers.
