What's happening to pensions in this country?
In case you missed it, Mark Sumner had an excellent post on pensions Sunday:
Sun Oct 23, 2011 at 08:00 AM PDT
First they came for your pensions...
by Mark SumnerFollow for Daily Kos
The reason that the right is so intent on attacking the pension plans of government workers is not because those benefits are unreasonable, or because they represent an excessive reward for a lifetime of work. Benefits given to government workers are attacked because corporate America has already sold the nation on the idea that giving people a safe and secure retirement can't be done. Government workers are in the way of the story. They have to be crushed to show that expecting a bare modicum of respect and fair treatment is unreasonable.
DailyShow had Ellen Schultz on recently talking about her definitive book out on what she calls the "Retirement Heist" which is part of 1% punking of the middle class over the last thirty years, and its still ongoing.
Stewart said it made him mad enough to take a bleep on a police car. Its really is sickening how the 1% have managed to keep this deception quiet over the years, all the while getting up to 6 billion in executive pensions in some companies...
They have taken out life insurance policies on workers and used this money to fund executive pensions. Sorry for the lack of transcript, but you really should if at all possible watch Stewart's reaction on this interview. What has been done to pensions and executive compensation is some of the most egregious immoral activity of the 1%.
Now they are coming after government workers' pensions, pitting incoming workers against vested retirees. This is mostly Republican work, but now it seems a big state Dem is joining in.
Jerry Brown and The 'Retirement Heist' on State Workers
In California, progressives could even see during the campaign that were not getting the same old Jerry Brown from days of old. But now.....
Across the country we celebrated his win over Big Money Meg, but don't think we ever would have guessed that a Democrat would get out in front and lead to 'reform' state pensions as a big priority.
Gov. Jerry Brown risks backlash on pension plan
The governor's proposed retirement system overhaul sets the stage for battles with fellow Democrats and his biggest supporters, public employee unions.
WTF? As the article points out that there are similar fail moves ongoing in other states.
Brown is following in the footsteps of governors across the country who have tried to restructure pensions and create less generous plans for new hires. But only four states have added elements of a 401(k) plan or raised retirement ages, according to Ron Snell, a senior fellow the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Jerry Brown and Ricky Perry
Brown is doing what that *sshole Republican Governor Rick Perry and Republican legislative leaders in Texas are trying to do, increase unemployment by making state employees work longer, increase employee contributions, dramatically raid the pension funds and include 401K aspects. Fail.
Progressives should join the fight against pension 'reform' sell outs compromises, makes our party seem too much like the Republicans.
Brown briefed labor leaders on his plan Wednesday afternoon, and already they are preparing for a fight.
"The governor has indicated that labor will not like many of his proposals," Dave Low, chairman of the union coalition Californians for Retirement Security, said in a prepared statement. "He is right."
Low said many of Brown's proposals would circumvent collective bargaining, a cause Brown championed when he was governor before, from 1975 to 1983.
Similarly, Yvonne Walker, president of the 95,000-member SEIU Local 1000, said, "If the governor tried to do this exclusively through the Legislature, we would fight it."
Read more: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/...
Disclosure: I don't live in California, but his actions in regards to pensions smell too much like Wisconsin and Texas Governors to me.
Recall not the way?
The idea of a recall effort as part of the push back on this fail plan popped into my mind after reading about efforts to recall Oakland's Mayor and Wisconsin efforts to recall the Gov
Have read that recall process is what got CA teh fail Gov Big Abs...
I agree that recall might not be the way.
This attack on pensions is another example of our Dem Party leaderships' third way style triangulating fail imo.
We need to get rid of that approach, stat. We should start 'occupying' the daily life of those who would destroy or 'reform' our pensions and safety net.