Public Sector Obscenity

The current administration's zeal for stimulus spending and adding trillions of dollars of debt isn't only about "getting our economy moving again."  The real reason the administration is swelling the ranks of federal and public employees at taxpayers' expense, most of whom are unionized, is to increase the numbers of Americans who, for financial self-interest, will always vote for Democratic Party candidates.

In an article in The New York Times, Padded Pensions Add to New York Fiscal Woes, it's reported that:

"According to pension data collected by The New York Times from the city and state, about 3,700 retired public workers in New York are now getting pensions of more than $100,000 a year, exempt from state and local taxes. The data belie official reports that the average state pension is a modest $18,000, or $38,000 for retired police officers and firefighters. (The average is low, in part, because it includes people who worked in government only part time, or just a few years, as well as surviving spouses getting partial benefits.)

"The New York State constitution bars public employers from slowing the rate at which workers build up their pensions over the course of their careers. That degree of protection contrasts sharply with the private sector, where companies can generally change the rate at which workers build their benefits at any time. Furthermore, as companies have reduced pensions substantially over the last two decades, states and cities have embellished theirs with sweeteners like inflation adjustments and lower retirement ages that appealed to unions and their members, who vote."