A tiny, tiny, tiny minority of public sector employees get these huge pensions; the vast majority don't get anywhere near this. Besides, in some 14 states, they don't get Social Security or get a reduced benefit there.
I get so sick and tired of the lies the media promotes in order to deflect criticism from those who deserve it and who created the economic mess in the first place: Wall Street.
This post from DU:
The private sector began looting pension funds at the same time it began outsourcing jobs and manufacturing years ago to avoid paying fair wages, pensions and taxes. So, it becomes tedious listening to all the blather about rich public retirees being coddled at the expense of down trodden private sector workers. Private sector workers need jobs, decent pensions and benefits, not public employees to scapegoat. Disparities in the amounts of federal pensions for the same GS levels are reflective of the amount the employees contributed from their own wages during their careers. That money is invested with risk in the private sector and can take a hit like any other investment. Some people are luckier than others when they retire, but here are no "golden parachutes".
The 15 richest hedge fund managers in the US averaged incomes of $3 billion each in 2010, only slightly less than the fiscal deficits of all 50 states combined. The 400 wealthiest Americans average incomes of $24 billion and their combined wealth is greater than the bottom 99% of all Americans. Combined, their assets are equivalent to about 7% of the entire GDP of the country. More than a few of that top tier of the 1% should be doing time in federal prisons, and that would be a worthwhile expenditure of public money.
I hate this shit because it is so obvious the media distracts from the real outrage.
A related piece is here.
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