Pension Deform - It's Baaaaaaack

Betcha thought the attempt by the Usurper to destroy Social Security was dead and buried.

Nope, it's been dug up, brushed off and lipsticked and put forward as state government pension deform. And it's being road-tested right here in Kentucky.

The state retirement system - for state and county employees, teachers, police, state troopers, firefighters, etc. - is deep in the hole. Estimates of the deficit range from $8 billion to $40 billion, depending on how you count it. That's pretty much the state Gross Domestic Product. You'd have to either quadruple state taxes or shut down most of state government for a couple of decades to make it up.

So, here's the plan state senate republicans came up with: Privatize!

Starting in July, new state employees would no longer receive the defined-benefit pension that is one of the few reasons to put up with the low pay and constant abuse of state government work. Instead, they would have to contribute their own money into the same type of defined contribution plan that is impoverishing workers throughout the country.

Meanwhile, the senate republicans propose borrowing several hundred million dollars to prop up the system for current employees and retirees.

Anybody care to guess how long that will last?

State Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Miller points out that defined contribution plans are way more expensive than defined benefit plans because of the highway-robbery fees the financial management companies charge for them.

Former Lt. Gov. and gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear, who has represented those same greedy finance companies for the past 20 years, has yet to weigh in on the plan. Gee, I wonder what he'll say?

Everybody loves to hate state employees. But state pension plans are about the last defined-benefit plans left in this country. If they go down, Social Security is next.