by Mary Williams Walsh
Monday, June 21, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
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Many states are acknowledging this year that they have promised pensions they cannot afford and are cutting once-sacrosanct benefits, to appease taxpayers and attack budget deficits.
Illinois raised its retirement age to 67, the highest of any state, and capped public pensions at $106,800 a year. Arizona, New York, Missouri and Mississippi will make people work more years to earn pensions. Virginia is requiring employees to pay into the state pension fund for the first time. New Jersey will not give anyone pension credit unless they work at least 32 hours a week.
"We can't afford to deny reality or delay action any longer," said Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois, adding that his state's pension cuts, enacted in March, will save some $300 million in the first year alone.
But there is a catch: Nearly all of the cuts so far apply only to workers not yet hired. Though heralded as breakthrough reforms by state officials, the cuts phase in so slowly they are unlikely to save the weakest funds and keep them from running out of money. Some new rules may even hasten the demise of the funds they were meant to protect..."
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Comment: Greece is everywhere. We've finally come to the point where the welfare state must end. This is a story that could be foreseen decades ago. And now it is also clear that we are only taking the very first small steps in a long journey of cuts, be it pensions, schools, health care, you name it. For too long too many have succumbed to the status of sheeples. They have rendered to debt, the modern form of slavery. The pied pipers continue blowing their seductive tunes but in the end reality, in this case a bitter reality, will take over.
Many states are acknowledging this year that they have promised pensions they cannot afford and are cutting once-sacrosanct benefits, to appease taxpayers and attack budget deficits.
Illinois raised its retirement age to 67, the highest of any state, and capped public pensions at $106,800 a year. Arizona, New York, Missouri and Mississippi will make people work more years to earn pensions. Virginia is requiring employees to pay into the state pension fund for the first time. New Jersey will not give anyone pension credit unless they work at least 32 hours a week.
"We can't afford to deny reality or delay action any longer," said Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois, adding that his state's pension cuts, enacted in March, will save some $300 million in the first year alone.
But there is a catch: Nearly all of the cuts so far apply only to workers not yet hired. Though heralded as breakthrough reforms by state officials, the cuts phase in so slowly they are unlikely to save the weakest funds and keep them from running out of money. Some new rules may even hasten the demise of the funds they were meant to protect..."
Full text
Comment: Greece is everywhere. We've finally come to the point where the welfare state must end. This is a story that could be foreseen decades ago. And now it is also clear that we are only taking the very first small steps in a long journey of cuts, be it pensions, schools, health care, you name it. For too long too many have succumbed to the status of sheeples. They have rendered to debt, the modern form of slavery. The pied pipers continue blowing their seductive tunes but in the end reality, in this case a bitter reality, will take over.
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