Cuomo Urges Broad Limits to N.Y. Public Pensions

[defendandprotect]

Cuomo Urges Broad Limits to N.Y. Public Pensions

By DANNY HAKIM and THOMAS KAPLAN
Published: June 8, 2011

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, joining a parade of officials from across the country who are seeking to rein in spending by limiting public employees’ pensions, proposed Wednesday to broadly limit retirement benefits for new city and state workers in New York.

Mr. Cuomo said New York State and New York City simply could no longer afford to offer new employees the generous benefits their predecessors received.

Among the most significant changes the governor proposes is to raise the minimum retirement age to 65 from 62 for state workers, and to 65 from 57 for teachers.

“The numbers speak for themselves — the pension system as we know it is unsustainable,” the governor said in a statement. “This bill institutes common-sense reforms to bring government benefits more in line with the private sector while still serving our employees and protecting our retirees.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/nyregion/cuomo-proposes-tough-limits-on-pensions.html?src=mv&ref=nyregion


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And while this BS and union busting continues on ....

Was listening to Thom Hartmann -- only could catch a few minute of it -- but he was talking

about what we are spending in Afghanistan --

Just take this one fact --

We're buying gas from KBR at $1,000 per gallon -- !!!

Hartmann was speculating that our helicopters probably use that up in one minute!!


Let's also look at the profits of corporations which could not even exist without labor --

and without our government's permission to destroy and pollute our environment!


PLUS the game-playing that has been going on for decades where the regulators began to agree

that pension plans were over-funded and corporations could begin to pay less into them --

speculation is that often the regulators were intimidated by corporate power and no real

back up.

When will enough be enough?

[Citizen Worker]

1. Andrew Cuomo, just another typical democrat!

[Ramulux]

2. Can someone please explain how public employees..

have anything to do with New York's deficit? I just dont get what their argument is. Are they just unaware of the whole economic multiplier concept? Do they think that these pensions dont get spent when people finally get them? How are pensions in any way the problem?

[TheWraith]

3. Their reasoning is that public employees constitute a large cost for NYS.

And there's been a lot of grumbling about pension padding, particularly in the State Police. My current State Senator was, before he got elected, making $42,000 a year on a pension for a few years as a state trooper, in addition to his $101,000 a year for being on the state parole board a few hours a month.

[ejpoeta]

4. they must be the problem. i remember when patterson was asked if he was going to give himself a

paycut and ask all the state assembly and senate to take a paycut since they wanted to cut all state workers salaries and they said it would not mean anything and it would have no affect on the budget. but take shit away from everyday workers and that of course always helps the bottom line. and i don't care if it wouldn't have done a damn thing for the state's budget... it could have only helped by $10k. It would have been SOME kind of sacrifice by the people asking everyone else to do all the sacrificing.

This excuse about double dipping..... We had a sheriff in buffalo i think doing that. but the fact is, I would say there may be a handful of cases like that. I don't think we can use that as an excuse to screw people over who did their job and worked their asses off and earned their pension and now their employer is trying to squeeze them. Yep. take it from the little guy. No wonder regular folks get pissed. We get taxed through the teeth and then taxed some more and then this crap.

Now mind you, it is my fellow new yorkers who are doing this. Who want this. because they get us kicking and beating each other. I do not work for NYS. I am a stay at home mom. But I believe that if you are promised something by an employer, you should be given what you were promised. My dad worked for Kodak and was promised a pension with healthcare. And they kept squeezing that insurance. His girlfriend's sister.... she had the same deal.... I can't remember if she is old enough for medicare yet, but she either has already lost her Kodak insurance and pension or will be losing it completely. Goodbye promise.

So much for promises. I guess it's ok for them to just say oh well... we've decided that even though we promised this to you, we are just not going to do it anymore. But oh, they are just raising the age. Really? That's just a foot in the door. They'll keep finding ways to squeeze the money out of it and into rich folks pockets. Why can't you save your own damned money anyway. The rich people can. They've got lots of it sitting making babies in the bank. Because they are smart and know how to invest.

[eilen]

5. Promises should be kept and they have to stop

screwing over the younger generations. Saying that, I feel that so long as you decide to keep working in a state job, you put off receiving the pension. You want to retire and pull an additional salary afterwards, go to the private sector.

In addition I believe that the states should also be able to tax all dividends (non-earned income) as earned income. Of course, those states without an income tax will likely just raise sales and usage taxes on the poor.

[ejpoeta]

6. i don't think you should be able to double dip. but i don't think it is pervasive as they

try to make it out to be. i think if you are working, like say the guy who became the sheriff or something... then you stop collecting a pension while you are the sheriff. and if there is a pension for that then it is a consecutive thing and not concurrent.

[eilen]

7. Our county sheriff

is currently double dipping. He started right AFTER the election--never mentioning that he would do this. (I live in NYS).