Friday, July 03, 2009
'Just tell them to keep paying'
The very cornerstones of the constitution, contractual law and even civilization are at stake in the pension disputes, public unions argue. ...
This is my favorite line from a union lawyer arguing why penions can't be changed: "These people have been paying into the retirement system for years, based on the rules of the game." ... I have a feeling they won't be telling private-sector workers the same thing when they change the Social Security eligibility rules in a few years. I also don't recall public union bosses and lawyers going to legal bat for private workers when they had their 401(k) plans stripped or eliminated by corporations. But, of course, we have a three-tier economic class system now: Those who work in finance, those who work in the public sector and the rest of us who are basically told, in Claribel Ventura fashion, to shut up and just keep paying. ...
The depressing thing is the public unions may well prevail. Our less-than-impartial court system is overseen by judges who have their own public-pension and other obvious conflicts of interest. But I doubt we'll see any of them recuse themselves from cases. ... Here's one thing I'd like to know: If a lawmaker slips in an "egregious" pension clause in the dead of night and it isn't detected for years (as is often the case), does that mean it's forever considered part of a contract? Once in, never out? Isn't that what public unions are arguing? ...
Howie's growing fan base isn't going to like this: "You’re Deval Patrick, and you just don’t get it." ... Deval's recent mumblings about more taxes -- right after signing $1 billion in tax hikes in the middle of a recession -- just proves that he's more of a progressive than he is a reformer. He really wants that money.
The very cornerstones of the constitution, contractual law and even civilization are at stake in the pension disputes, public unions argue. ...
This is my favorite line from a union lawyer arguing why penions can't be changed: "These people have been paying into the retirement system for years, based on the rules of the game." ... I have a feeling they won't be telling private-sector workers the same thing when they change the Social Security eligibility rules in a few years. I also don't recall public union bosses and lawyers going to legal bat for private workers when they had their 401(k) plans stripped or eliminated by corporations. But, of course, we have a three-tier economic class system now: Those who work in finance, those who work in the public sector and the rest of us who are basically told, in Claribel Ventura fashion, to shut up and just keep paying. ...
The depressing thing is the public unions may well prevail. Our less-than-impartial court system is overseen by judges who have their own public-pension and other obvious conflicts of interest. But I doubt we'll see any of them recuse themselves from cases. ... Here's one thing I'd like to know: If a lawmaker slips in an "egregious" pension clause in the dead of night and it isn't detected for years (as is often the case), does that mean it's forever considered part of a contract? Once in, never out? Isn't that what public unions are arguing? ...
Howie's growing fan base isn't going to like this: "You’re Deval Patrick, and you just don’t get it." ... Deval's recent mumblings about more taxes -- right after signing $1 billion in tax hikes in the middle of a recession -- just proves that he's more of a progressive than he is a reformer. He really wants that money.
