I give up.. It wouldn't matter what was said ...we will just agree to disagree agreeably.
The fact is that all of the money going into these plans belongs to the workers because it is part of the compensation of the state workers. The fact is that the state workers negotiate their total compensation, which they then divvy up between cash wages, paid vacations, health insurance and, yes, pensions. Since the Wisconsin government workers collectively bargained for their compensation, all of the compensation they have bargained for is part of their pay and thus only the workers contribute to the pension plan. This is an indisputable fact.
so what Walker is really asking for is a pay cuts . That's fine , but lets at least call it for what it is. and stop perpetuating the myth.
Scoot,
No one is taking a penny of what was paid into thier deffered comp pension plan. What is in that plan, is still there. What the change is about is the go-forward deffered comp ratios. And yes, call it a pay cut. Thier employer is BROKE! In the private sector, workers take pay cuts, freezes, ect all the time. Why should state workers be immune from this?
It cracks me up the whole state is broke argument , who helped exacerbate the "Budget" woes? Whats the first thing Walker did when he came into office . He gave additional tax cuts (less revenue for the state ) to corps. Why ? Job creation? please , The corps said thank you very much and they will claim their profits in other states and their costs in Wisconsin. Nothing but a Quid pro Quo for Koch's , Rupert Murdoch and others. Walker is nothing but a puppet , bought and paid for by big business. and once they are done with him they will toss him under the bus.
Side note: latest Wall Street Journal poll now reporting.
68 percent agree public employees to contribute more of their pay for retirement benefits
63 percent agree public employees should pay more for their health-care benefits
58 percent agree freezing public employees' salaries for one year.
But
just 33 percent say it's acceptable -- and 62 percent say it's unacceptable -- to eliminate these employees' collective-bargaining rights as way to deal with state budget deficits. In addition, 77 percent believe that public employees should have the same collective-bargaining rights
(when it comes to health care, pensions, and other benefits) that union employees who work for private
companies have.