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To: ajtj99 who wrote (83602)	8/21/2008 2:01:48 PM
From: benwood	Respond to of 116555

Thanks. That article has a few problem with focus, mixes up a lot of anecdotes with statistics with 'typical' being an operative subjective term. Pension gaps don't widen (or shink) because of how much is pumped into them, as he stated, but rather the difference between what is pumped in versus what is promised in payout. The big thing that business has been able to do which has not yet occurred in the public sector is screw employees out of their benefits via mergers, acquisitions, and bankruptcy. Historically (I believe) pay in the public sector has been less, but job security and benefits higher. As the private sector has responded to the plea to dramatically escalate the top 1/2% of the company's salaries by cutting benefits (and jobs) of the worker bees, it's natural that they would start griping about the difficulty of retaining workers who realize they'd be better off where they won't be shafted. So the pressure is on to lower the compensation of public sector employees in order to make the new reality in the private sector more appealing. That all said... it's clear that some public sector compensation committees have been... how best to say? ... ON DRUGS??? Retiring at > 60% is suspect in my book, but allowing sling-shot maneuvers past 100% with built in COLA escalators and so on all defy math and reality. And in some areas (e.g.many in CA) using the false boom as an excuse to jack up salaries. Or allowing one to switch jobs for two years and double/triple/quintuple the retirement payout. Those have always been true of the elite in private industry (e.g. golden parachutes) but to spread that across the masses with taxpayers on the hook is completely and utterly irresponsible and insane.

To: ajtj99 who wrote (83602)	8/21/2008 7:06:45 PM
From: koan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Right on the money. I waited until I had a government pension and health care before I entered the private sector. Especially health insurance. I watched all my relatives sell off their farm land to pay for health bills as they aged. A lot of older people need joint replacements etc at 25K a pop. And it has been criminal the way corporations can go into bankruptsy and cut people's pensions. The pension money should have been required by law to be set aside. I consider corporations to be engaging in fraud when they spend pensions people earned. And our government should protect them!