Cutting budgets by robbing public pensions is wrong
By Josh Sanger
The Progressive Cynic
December 27, 2013
Public budgets are strained across the United States—from the federal government all the way down to local cities—and something must be done in order to keep the sheets from swinging too far into the red.
Unfortunately, efforts to address budget problems are being steered into cuts for programs that benefit the most vulnerable Americans, while the wealthy remain largely untouched. Instead of increasing taxes on the wealthy and corporations—two groups which have secured the largest economic gains in recent years—corporate tax rates are being cut and dramatic austerity has been suggested to compensate for budget deficits.
Of the suggested austerity measures that have been suggested in recent years, one particularly odious tactic is to raid public-sector pensions in order to cut costs. These potential raids on public sector pensions threaten to decrease the effectiveness of future pensions and even eviscerate benefits for those already retired.
Every American needs to stand up and reject pension cuts to public sector workers, particularly to elderly veterans. Instead of cutting pensions, we must demand that our representatives increase high-income tax revenues as well as to cut wasteful programs (ex. oil/gas/agriculture subsidies). Such alternatives to pension cuts are not only more effective, but are a rejection of the idea that would should fix the budget by throwing middle class public servants overboard and using them as a raft to float a regressive budget.
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