It is starting. The right wing Albuquerque Journal and the Governor will now become a tag team on over kill for the state's Public Employee Retirement System. Yes, there are some things that need fixing like the automatic 3% hike in benefits every year.
But, what you will begin to see is an over reaction to a fall in growth in the 12 billion dollars in the pension funds. Of course this is happening because of the incredible greed of a gaggle of bankers and mortgage giants who melted down the economy. These folks will now seize upon the moment to try and destroy the last good retirement system in the state even though they are the ones who set up the current financial difficulties. They will do so in the hopes of keeping more of their profits from being taxed.
When the economy starts healthy growth again, and it appears it is beginning, then those retirement funds will grow their way out of insolvency. It will happen quickly. So the Governor and her 1% backers will seize the moment to once again vilify hard working public employees. The Governor will do so at her own peril. You can only treat your employees like dung for so long. She might be forgetting that many of those employees voted for her two years ago, but hey, just another available scapegoat group and we know the GOP loves to scapegoat.
Yes, I have a retirement from PERA. It is a 20 year cumulation of my contributions and the states. It is an agreement we made when I first entered public service that I would receive this pension at the end of my service. Just the same kind of agreement the Governor has made in her public service. Maybe her 1% backers will make sure she doesn't need to rely on a pension at the end of her career.
But, what you will begin to see is an over reaction to a fall in growth in the 12 billion dollars in the pension funds. Of course this is happening because of the incredible greed of a gaggle of bankers and mortgage giants who melted down the economy. These folks will now seize upon the moment to try and destroy the last good retirement system in the state even though they are the ones who set up the current financial difficulties. They will do so in the hopes of keeping more of their profits from being taxed.
When the economy starts healthy growth again, and it appears it is beginning, then those retirement funds will grow their way out of insolvency. It will happen quickly. So the Governor and her 1% backers will seize the moment to once again vilify hard working public employees. The Governor will do so at her own peril. You can only treat your employees like dung for so long. She might be forgetting that many of those employees voted for her two years ago, but hey, just another available scapegoat group and we know the GOP loves to scapegoat.
Yes, I have a retirement from PERA. It is a 20 year cumulation of my contributions and the states. It is an agreement we made when I first entered public service that I would receive this pension at the end of my service. Just the same kind of agreement the Governor has made in her public service. Maybe her 1% backers will make sure she doesn't need to rely on a pension at the end of her career.
2 comments:
You want to see anger and reaction? Just mess with the retirees' PERA benefits and you will see a ground swell of ire and opposition. And there's nothing wrong with the annual increase as long as it keeps up with inflation.
Here's a modest proposal: for the next election all democratic candidates should agree en masse not to answer the Journal's "questionnaire." It isn't like they are going to get endorsed.
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