Quote:
Originally Posted by secondcurve
Sorry Blue Thunder but when a 45 year old retired Massachusetts civil servant doesn't think his pension has anything to do with the Massachusetts tax payer I loose my mind. When too many folks start to view their state/government benefits as a god given rights delivered from heaven we are screwed. This is what Mitt Romney was trying to say when he made his infamous 47% comment. I am willing to pay my fair share and even more but there needs to be shared sacrifice. These are the facts my friend and the sooner we collectively realize them the better off this country will be.
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I know very few, if any, government employees who view their benefits as "god given rights". Those benefits were negotiated in good faith many years ago by both sides, often in lieu of pay raises when cities and towns couldn't afford it. Private industry was booming and paying their employees handsomely with the benefits to boot. The public employee got left behind. Don't hold the public employee responsible today for something that they had nothing to do with 25 years ago.
I have been a firefighter myself for 34 years (disclosure complete). It is not not my primary employment so I won't be receiving a pension from it. I run into burning buildings when everyone else is running out. 99.9% of the people that I know say I'm crazy to do it. Maybe so. Whatever we pay our firefighters and police officers in todays world isn't enough given the dangerous life threatening situations they are put in EVERY day. You are broad brushing it too much for me....
BT