Of course, they pushed this by saying that the increased benefits would be “free” because stock market valuations always go up, right? 🙁
At the same time, they eliminated pension contributions at most public agencies because they didn’t expect the bubble to burst. Sometimes, you just have to shake your head.
As mentioned in one of my above posts, I’ve been opposed to this increase from day one. I’m the biggest supporter of unions and working people, and advocate for defined benefit pension plans for all full-time workers wherever possible, but there were abuses (not by boots-on-the-ground workers, though, which is why I get ticked off when people start attacking them), and reforms are indeed necessary.
The frustrating this is there are too many people who don’t know anything about how the public sector (and pensions, etc.) operates who are trying to push an agenda that is not designed to save taxpayers money, but to weaken labor and benefit the very few (capitalists, not workers or average taxpayers) at the expense of the many. It’s a shame that Joe Sixpack doesn’t know (or care!) about who is pushing this agenda and why.
