skeeter
Socamr – thanks for your comments.
“Because Skeeter doesn’t get a particular benefit, no one should get it.”
Please re-read my post. I said that state/local government employees should not get a DB plan because 89% (more now) of taxpayers don’t get a DB plan. Whether Skeeter gets a benefit or not is irrelevant because Skeeter is only one person.
Regarding contracts – I should have been more clear. Of course the government has a legal and ethical obligation to honor a contract. The legal and ethical way to handle this would be exactly how Boeing handled the exact same thing a few months ago. You freeze the DB plan – any benefits already earned are retained. Then going forward employees no longer accrue *new* DB benefits but keep the benefits they have already earned. Thank you for raising this valuable point and giving me the chance to clarify. You are correct, of course, on this matter.