Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction Message Board

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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction

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To: Sully- who wrote (78328)	3/15/2010 11:38:25 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) of 90947

Barron's on Public Sector Unions' '$2 Trillion Hole' By: Mark Hemingway Commentary Staff Writer 03/15/10 1:47 PM EDT Barron's cover story this week is on how the financial shortfall for public sector unions pension plans is going to reshape America's fiscal landscape: <<< LIKE A CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE, populist rage burns over bloated executive compensation and unrepentant avarice on Wall Street. Deserving as these targets may or may not be, most Americans have ignored at their own peril a far bigger pocket of privilege -- the lush pensions that the 23 million active and retired state and local public employees, from cops and garbage collectors to city managers and teachers, have wangled from taxpayers. Some 80% of these public employees are beneficiaries of defined-benefit plans under which monthly pension payments are guaranteed, no matter how stocks and other volatile assets backing the retirement plans perform. In contrast, most of the taxpayers footing the bill for these public-employee benefits (participants' contributions to these plans are typically modest) have been pushed by their employers into far less munificent defined-contribution plans and suffered the additional indignity of seeing their 401(k) accounts shrivel in the recent bear market in stocks. And defined-contribution plans, unlike public pensions, have no protection against inflation. It's just too bad: Maybe some seniors will have to switch from filet mignon to dog food. >>> Read the whole thing. And Barron's is exactly right that the public sector unions issue is being ignored in favor of other populist targets such as Wall Street which better fit a liberal narrative. Read more at the Washington Examiner: washingtonexaminer.com

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