The Koch Wall Street Crusade To Rob Pensions Is Underway

[staggerleem]

25. Well, then, I guess you might find some solace ...

... in the fact that the "pension reform" (aka THEFT!) will initially be implemented in in those states where it will be easiest to do. The politicsusa article that the OP quoted from also had this to say:

"The State Policy Network (SPN), a Koch-funded sister organization of ALEC, boasts itself as a group of “free-market think tanks” that would initially target six different states to eliminate public sector pensions; Kansas was one of those states."

The other 5 states are not named, but you can rely on two things about them:

1) They will be the poor, Southern, DEEP-RED states, where the public can LEAST afford it, and

2) After their pensions are "reformed" away, the fools will STILL VOTE REPUBLICAN!!

So, my point is that the first group of people this happens to will, essentially, have done it to THEMSELVES, by their actions at the ballot box. Also that I sincerely doubt they will be able to draw the straight, direct, unbroken line from their votes to their impoverishment. Those who REFUSE to learn from history ...

The truly sad thing here, which often goes unmentioned in discussions about pensions, is that most people who have pensions are NOT eligible for Social Security benefits. Because they made contributions to pension plans, they were exempted from FICA deductions, i. e., they paid into their pensions INSTEAD of paying into Social Security.