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> Pensions represent more than their economic value. They carry a powerful moral recognition: workers deserve financial stability and the freedom it brings thro

> Pensions represent more than their economic value. They carry a powerful moral recognition: workers deserve financial stability and the freedom it brings throughout their lives. Municipal and state employees contribute to their pensions with every paycheck, and employer contributions supplement their savings. I don’t know how it came to be that politicians could promise impossible things to public employees in exchange for power, and when it turned out to indeed be impossible, somehow the taxpayer foots the bill. I’m under no obligation to carry forward an unsustainable promise. It should have never been promised in the first place. The taxpayer, who gets NONE of this, is not the one who should pay the bill.

Spooky23 5y ago
The taxpayer benefits by paying tomorrow for a sandwich today. Government employees trade lower cash compensation for stability and more secure benefits. I’m sure you get upset when you read about some big company charging billions for some mismanaged project. That’s generally the alternative. You may not feel an obligation for your government to follow the law and responsibly manage its obligation to pay some 70 year old former librarian her modest pension. Hopefully your understanding about government not meeting obligations holds when you can’t get to work because a highway bridge is closed due to deferred maintenance, or your parents don’t get adequate care because your state health department fails to effectively regulate nursing facilities.
- mbg721 5y ago
  Those failures are all going to happen anyway, because the underlying promises were always unsustainable. The question is whether or not we're happy declaring today's 70-year-old public officials the winners and today's kids the losers.
cortesoft 5y ago
The voters elected people who made that promise. Of course taxpayers are on the hook for promises made by politicians. The taxpayer DID get something for this. They got public employees who took less money up front in return for a good pension. This saved the taxpayers money in the short term. Under your argument, is the government not required to keep ANY promise? “The government should never have promised to pay back these treasury bills. Taxpayers don’t get anything from redeeming them, we shouldn’t pay off any of the government debt!”

Spooky23 5y ago

The taxpayer benefits by paying tomorrow for a sandwich today. Government employees trade lower cash compensation for stability and more secure benefits. I’m sure you get upset when you read about some big company charging billions for some mismanaged project. That’s generally the alternative. You may not feel an obligation for your government to follow the law and responsibly manage its obligation to pay some 70 year old former librarian her modest pension. Hopefully your understanding about government not meeting obligations holds when you can’t get to work because a highway bridge is closed due to deferred maintenance, or your parents don’t get adequate care because your state health department fails to effectively regulate nursing facilities.

mbg721 5y ago
Those failures are all going to happen anyway, because the underlying promises were always unsustainable. The question is whether or not we're happy declaring today's 70-year-old public officials the winners and today's kids the losers.

cortesoft 5y ago

The voters elected people who made that promise. Of course taxpayers are on the hook for promises made by politicians. The taxpayer DID get something for this. They got public employees who took less money up front in return for a good pension. This saved the taxpayers money in the short term. Under your argument, is the government not required to keep ANY promise? “The government should never have promised to pay back these treasury bills. Taxpayers don’t get anything from redeeming them, we shouldn’t pay off any of the government debt!”