Fareed Zakaria omits key truths in his recent piece, “Why We Need Pension Reform,” and lets politicians and Wall Street off the hook.
First, the unprecedented number of pension-slashing plans in the states come as politicians — who receive world-class benefits themselves — have teamed up with Wall Street to scapegoat America’s firefighters, police officers, teachers and nurses in hopes of filling budget shortfalls. Our politicians repeatedly broke promises, failed to adequately contribute to pension plans and raided those funds for other purposes. It was that same fiscal ineptitude, coupled with Wall Street greed, that drove our economy off the cliff in the first place.
Our teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters and other public workers — many of whom do not receive Social Security — put their life savings into the public pension system. Along the way, they have made numerous concessions to their retirement security and public pensions and continue to do so. No one is more interested in the long-term health of pension plans than the public employees who rely on them.
The public deserves a thoughtful, fact-based debate; and we respectfully expected more from Mr. Zakaria.
—Mr. Jordan Marks, Executive Director of the National Public Pension Coalition, Washington D.C.