Take a look at
this load. In essence, they're now trying to argue that the taxpayers contribute nothing to these public employee pension plans because the contributions made are actually just a form of deferred compensation. What a shell game. If an employee is making $60,000 per year, what would that figure be with the "deferred compensation" factored in? Now, let's compare
that figure to a person in an equivalent position in the private sector. Houston, we've still got a problem!
I can't get over all the blithe dismissal of this fiscal mess we're in. There's a whole lot of admiring of the emperor's new clothes going on.
Gov. Scott Walker says he wants state workers covered by collective bargaining agreements to “contribute more” to their pension and health insurance plans. Accepting Gov. Walker’ s assertions as fact, and failing to check, creates the impression that somehow the workers are getting something extra, a gift from taxpayers. They are not. Out of every dollar that funds Wisconsin’ s pension and health insurance plans for state workers, 100 cents comes from the state workers.
Via tax.com
How can this be possible?
Simple. The pension plan is the direct result of deferred compensation- money that employees would have been paid as cash salary but choose, instead, to have placed in the state operated pension fund where the money can be professionally invested (at a lower cost of management) for the future.
So you see, there's no problem at all! (/sarc) Of course, for most of us, our "deferred compensation" is from earnings that we contributed to a retirement plan from our actual salary, not our imaginary salary. I see it deducted from the pre-tax dollars on my pay check.
This is a total shell game. Why not give them all a $500 monthly vehicle allowance too? We could just say they actually make $6,000 more per year in salary so it's really their own money and not the taxpayers'.
http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/02/25/the-wisconsin-lie-exposed-taxpayers-actually-contribute-nothing-to-public-employee-pensions/