The State Pensions Issue

[maxx]

This seems to give a good explanation for what has been going on for the past couple decades or more.
http://www.thecenterformichigan.net/...sion-watchdog/

[Det_ard]

Add in state and local retiree medical benefits [[actually the bigger problem) and we're looking at more than a $50 billion shortfall, or more than $5000 per capita just for state/local benefits. At the local, state and federal level these two issues are the biggest ones we face.

It becomes an issue of olds vs. youngs and public employees vs. private employees.

[ghettopalmetto]

It becomes an issue of olds vs. youngs and public employees vs. private employees.

Only because newly-elected GOP governors have made it so. The right-wing is trying to divide workers against each other so they won't notice that the wealthy are taking 'em all to the cleaners.

John Kasich, Governor of Ohio, has yet to produce a credible dollar figure for the amount of cost savings his "necessary" union-busting SB5 will produce. Which should tell you a lot about his motivation.

The fiscal analysis of the law, which was known as Senate Bill 5, was done by officials in Kasich's Department of Administrative Services [[DAS). It claims the state would see $191 million in savings if the provisions of the law were implemented -- a drop in the bucket compared to the $120 billion all-funds budget proposed by Kasich.

Way to go--strip workers of their bargaining rights in order to "solve" 2.4% of the projected $8 billion budget deficit. Does any thinking person believe this horseshit?

For what it's worth--Kasich yesterday handed a check for $56 million to Diebold. Yup, the same ATM and voting machine manufacturing company who promised to "deliver Ohio to George W. Bush".

Most of the savings for local governments envisioned by the Kasich administration -- $989 million -- comes from elimination of step pay and longevity pay. But the state analysis doesn't individually examine the more than 3,200 different collectively bargaining contracts to arrive at the statewide cost-savings figure.

Instead, it assigns a per-employee savings of $3,298 -- a figure based on an analysis of the contracts that state employees have -- and simply multiplies that by 300,000 local government employees to reach $989 million.

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index...._says_sen.html