Christie's pension cut overturned.
 

A New Jersey court struck down governor Christie's plan to cut contribution to its public pension system.........the court cannot simply allow the State to walk away from its obligation...

http://america.aljazeera.com/article...sion-cuts.html

The first victory in what may become a long war in the courts.

The courts have been letting the private sector do it for years. Given the choice of raising taxes to pay pensions or the not paying the pensions 100% my money is on the laws changing.



Barney

Typical Republican strategy.

It's what Jeb Bush did as soon as he got to be Governor in Florida.

The State Pension system was in great shape when he came in, but Jeb hired a "consultant" to do a "study" which found it to be "overfunded".

So he cut the amount that the state contributed to the fund way down.

At the same time he gave big tax cuts that benefited the rich.

Low and behold a few years down the road the pension system was then found to be "underfunded" and the Republicans have been using that as an excuse to chip away at benefits. The first step was to make the employees contribute 3%. Step two was to eliminate the 3% COLA for anyone hired after 2011. Then they raised the number of years required for vesting from 6 to 8. All the while putting on a full court press to force new hires into a 401K type system. And now they are looking at more ways to "save" money on the pension system.

Slick.

^^^ not slick but sick

Exactly. Defund, disinvest then point to the failure caused by these actions as unpreventable. "It just doesn't work." Of course things fail when you refuse to fund them. DUH! Your car WILL fail to run if you refuse to put gas in it. It's the same principle. This trick has worked well for the GOP for over three decades, now.

What they gamble on is this;

"Why should they get a pension when I don't?"

(The "they" can be anyone and you can substitute "pension" with a number of things. Overtime pay, paid time off, etc., etc.........)

The real question, of course, should be "Why don't I get ____? You do it for them!"

Ah, but that is a dangerous line of thinking, isn't it?

Dave

of course you are correct. The problem is people like me.

I see a drop dead drunk and his wife collecting well over $200,000 annually as retired teachers and know how hard Ike and I worked and human nature sets in. Why should I pay for such outlandish retirements to people who worked
outrageously fewer hours in a job that was for losers when they took them.

(Sorry, my virtue is not what it should be the last month or so.)

I think you're being unduly hard on teachers, Ed...... and on alcoholics.

John

Now I'm pissed!

Where the Hell is this?

My pension is only 25K a year. :mad:

And my daughter who teaches in Florida won't even do that well if she makes it to retirement because of the cuts the Republicans have made.

I guess they live the high life in New York? I've never met a teacher that makes that kind of money working, let alone retired.

So, tell me, Ed; Is every retired teacher a drunken loser that sucks $200,000/year from the NY taxpayer teat? Why don't you throw in the terms "fag", "secret muslim", Kenyan", "America hating" or something along those lines, for visceral impact?

What, have you gone red-faced teabagger on us now?;)

Dave

A little bit harsh. Just because you choose to work in a different field with a different set of promises if any. No reason to now say one who choose to work with with a promise of a retirement to begrudge them now it is time to pay.

As to the person working fewer hours, don't know many teacher do you?
Plus if the person has a problem effecting their performance would they not have been weeded out before retirement? I know here the spot light is on the teachers and one with any hint of a dependency problem is gone ASAP! They are Union members in the public system if they choose to be.



Barney

Hypocrisy in action.

And since 1984, they have also been contributing into Social Security.
So do they get to double dip?

http://www.senate.gov/reference/comm..._members.shtml

Whatever they get from their pensions and social security, it's chump change compared to the rewards they get via the "revolving door" when they get rewarded with multi-million dollar positions working for the companies that they did favors for while in office.

lol, well to be fair, I like most alcoholics and it's not the teachers fault they were in the right place at the right time.

Still, on a serious note, public employee union benefits have about bankrupt everyone. It's just not necessary to pay 6 figures to people who are retired on the backs of folks making half that. IMHO

Oh Bullsh't.

life is about bumping into stuff as much as anything. Yeah, some folks in town knew what a racket it was and keep it in the family.That is true.

Still, time is change. I have been promised all kinds of cra% in my life that got changed. There is no way to predict nor anticipate most times. Given them a pension, no problem. You pay for it. Thanks.

Just how did you feel when the words promised are hollow? Not good be my guess. I was taught one of a measure of a man was his word. So can that be also said for a society? Another is how they treat others. With compassion or contempt.

There are no free rides, all of us here have benefited to some degree from the tax dollars paid in over the years by others. Some apparent other are so subtle. You drive on public roads, benefit from clean drinking water an educated populace. All of these and many other services we take for granted are for the greater good of our society. They are public because those in the past realized private sector only wanted profits over service. Something we have forgotten now.

So I for one feel that it is pure chicken $hit to go back on ones word for no other reason then to cut taxes for the rich. For they are the very ones who benefited the most from the system setup years ago. They just are too cheap and greedy in wanting others to pay their way.



Barney

Public unions and politicians virtuous? ROTFLMAO. It's a scam not an agreement. No ethics or morals at play here. The got over like fat rats, time to become reasonable.



Your idealism leaves you prey.

I find your mantra admirable. I find it's application, misguided.

BTW, you are off base. These excessive benefits come from stealing from the programs the poor need just to sustain. The rich will never pay for anything.

Noticed the British are following the Republicans.

Firemen went on strike yesterday.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-29846243

If you can figure out a a way to throw the ones drawing six figures under the bus without fucking with my measly 25K I'll be right there with you. However the real villains that are living on our backs are the mega-millionaires and billionaires like Romney, the Koch brothers, the Waltons, etc. You should go after their asses first.