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Saturdays are my favorite post days. I get to recommend articles I think deserve reading. In light of the ongoing fight across the country in regards to public employees, I think E.S. Browning's Wall Street Journal article is relevant. Some concessions made by public employees may (probably will) hurt them in the long term. That's a good reason not to give up your bargaining rights.
"Retiring Boomers Find 401(k) Plans Fall Short" February 19, 2011
An excerpt:
"The 401(k) generation is beginning to retire, and it isn't a pretty sight.
The retirement savings plans that many baby boomers thought would see them through old age are falling short in many cases.
The median household headed by a person aged 60 to 62 with a 401(k) account has less than one-quarter of what is needed in that account to maintain its standard of living in retirement, according to data compiled by the Federal Reserve and analyzed by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College for The Wall Street Journal. Even counting Social Security and any pensions or other savings, most 401(k) participants appear to have insufficient savings. Data from other sources also show big gaps between savings and what people need, and the financial crisis has made things worse.
This analysis uses estimates of 401(k) balances from the end of 2010 and of salaries from 2009. It assumes people need 85% of their working income after they retire in order to maintain their standard of living, a common yardstick.
Facing shortfalls, many people are postponing retirement, moving to cheaper housing, buying less-expensive food, cutting back on travel, taking bigger risks with their investments and making other sacrifices they never imagined. ..."
Please read the entire article at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959604576152792748707356.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop-
No matter how you feel about public employees, their pensions still fall short. And remember, it was the Republicans (who voters and non voters put back in power) who authored and pushed legislation (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) to deregulate the financial services industry. It was conservatives (Republicans, corporate/conservative Democrats and Libertarians) whose actions were responsible for the loss of millions of jobs and the destruction of a world economy (and that included millions of dollars lost in pension funds).
If forced to bow to conservatives who have no problem with the inequities in a system that rewards the richest among us (who do very little to stimulate the economy), while the average American barely makes ends meet, public employees will curse the day they yielded to liars and thieves.
Click this link to:
Fact Check on Public Employees' Pensions
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The Ed Show- March 1, 2011
rebelpleb: The Real Story Behind the Battle in Wisconsin by Carl Mumm and Kristine Mattis, Feb. 20, 2011 [Love this post]
Robert Kuttner: Wisconsin's Tunisia Moment by Robert Kuttner, February 20, 2011
ALL YOU GOVERNORS WHO WANT TO PRIVATIZE NEED TO CLICK THIS LINK. EVERYONE ELSE SHOULD CLICK ON IT TO:
Privatization Doesn't Pay! (UE's Information for Workers)
12 Things You Need to Know About the Uprising in Wisconsin | AlterNet by Joshua Holland, February 19, 2011
10 Developments in the Huge Story of Wisconsin's Uprising | | AlterNet by Joshua Holland, February 21, 2011
Exposing the Republicans' 3-Part Strategy to Tear the Middle Class Apart -- Let's Stop Them in Wisconsin | | AlterNet by Robert Reich, February 20, 2011
Budget Cuts Don't Bring Prosperity by David Leonhardt, February 22, 2011Re: Leonhardt's comments on malpractice reform: read "Tort Reform Unlikely to Cut Health Care Costs" | The Washington Independent by Daphne Eviatar, 8/19/2009
Robert Reich: The Shameful Attack on Public Employees January 5, 2011
Walker denies favoring police, fire unions - JSOnline February 13, 2011
****Please also read: AlterNet: Right-Wingers Using Public Employees as 21st-Century Welfare Queens by Joshua Holland,
andScrooge & Marley, Inc. -- The True Conservative Agenda by Thom Hartmann
Undoing the Great Risk Shift, or, Saving Capitalism from Itself, Again September 17, 2004
Madison Protests Hit Largest Numbers On Saturday AP/HuffPo
This is required viewing by everyone:
FRONTLINE: meltdown - financial crisis timeline | PBS
ThinkProgress » FLASHBACK: Abraham Lincoln Wrote Playbook For Wisconsin Dems Who Fled State February 20, 2011
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