Forum Post: Why Cops Should Join OWS
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 10, 2011, 10:19 a.m. EST by jk1234
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Cops have already joined OWS - they're trained to fight crime. Corruption is a CRIME
Obey to the minimum. We are fighting for your middle class status and pensions too.
Why cops should join the OWS -- because if they don't, they will be branded cowards and trators - they will be vililfied - they will be lumped in with the rest of the 99% that aren't really the 99%... Either you are with them or you are against them - the OWS has made that very clear, so man up cops, cave under their pressure and demands - else you will be the next cop who has some nut fk irate OWS mamby pampy pretending like you are brutalizing them by doing your job when it is their own actions that lead to their own arrests.
If all public employees paid into their own 401K and decided for themselves where the money should be invested, you wouldn't have all the problems that the public pensions now face.
In many states - Illinois is one, I believe - the public pension system is a pay-as-you-go system. There is no money set aside today - the state just "guarantees" that when the employees retire, the state will start sending them money. Yeah, right. In Ohio, where there is a real pension fund, there was a similar scam that involved investments in coins. In California, the CALPERS system is way underfunded and project future average annual returns of 8%. Way to high. This is a BIG ticking time bomb.
The public pension system is a mess. It's what happens when you put government in charge. I have worked in private industry all of my life and am solely responsible for contributing my own money to a 401K plan, over which I have full control. I have never gotten any company match. It's all my money and I'm damn careful where I invest it. People need to start taking charge of their own life and be more self-sufficient.
Excessive Police and firefighter pensions are absolutely killing the city I live in. The unions refuse to accept the same modest pay cuts and/or pension reform that all other public employees have accepted as the city tries to address a severe budget shortfall.
The result is layoffs of police and firefighters, or moratoriums on new hires, because the money to fund the pensions is just not there. And anyone who argues in favor of reform of the pensions, or modest pay cuts for the union members, is branded as un-American. They play the "hero" card to the max and engage in scare tactics.
Absolutely agree that these 80's style defined pension plans for public unions need to be converted to 401k's to relieve the stress.
The fundamental problem is that the "negotiation" with the public employee union involves the union on one side and a politician on the other. The politician will always cave to the union, so they can get union support in the next election. The taxpayer is not represented.
If you want a great example of this, lookup the story of Central Falls, RI. A tiny town of 19,000 with $80 million in pension promises to 214 police and firefighters. They are going bankrupt, as will many cities and states in the not to distant future.
And we see the exact scenario playing out in Greece, Italy and all of Western Europe, but for some reason many (here, especially) refuse to see the handwriting on the wall.
Almost all of those big public pension plans are in deep shit. That will be the next big fiancial "crisis." They're all based on ~7% - 8% returns and none have been making anywhere near that. The "accepted" range for funding is about 80% but many are down in the 60% and even 40% range.