I went to the store a couple nights ago on a random errand, and my radio is pretty faithfully tuned to 850 KOA at all times. I like the programming, either because it is good humored talk like "The Ride Home," or provides me with my political laugh quotient because of the heavy handed conservative talk show programming. One of those conservative others is one of my all time least favorite talk show hosts, Michael Brown. You might remember Mike as the head of FEMA back during the Bush regime, and he loves to start his show with the "you're doing a great job Brownie" single highlight in his mind of his career at FEMA. Of course, the people of New Orleans might feel a little different, but 'nuf said about that.
So, as his guest, he had the new Colorado Treasurer on, one Walker Stapleton. A good guy I'm sure, but something he said caught my attention and I just had to write about it. He said that (and I'm not quoting verbatim) public sector workers should take on the "risk" of their own retirement instead of counting on pensions. Now, please don't misunderstand me here, I am not saying that pensions are the be all or end all of financial retirement planning, I'm instead challenging the assumption that anyone who invests in retirement should have to take on an inordinate amount of risk. What do I mean by that? Well, let's explore.
First, I do understand the risk he is talking about, people who work in the private sector regularly are expected to invest in their own future. I do this, my friends and some of my family do this, and it is a way to set aside something for our future. However, we are betting our future on the fact that the executives at the companies that are turning a profit and paying out to the market are trustworthy, and will invest in sound and positive directions that will also benefit our private 401K, Roth IRA's, etc. We're hoping that these executives haven't lost touch, and will make revenue and profits the honest way. Well, scratch that, see Citibank, Lehman Brothers, JPMC, more recently HSBC (look up off shore tax shelter if you don't know about that one) as the companies that have taken your dollars and placed it on risky investment portfolios that have made short-term gains, and big bonuses, but pulled down the market with a HUGE adjustment. I estimate that I lost at least 20% (or more, I may be being very generous) of the value of my private 401K, while the C's at these companies are going to be quite comfortable in their retirement based on the bonuses alone that they have been and are now making. Oh, and by the way got a bailout through our tax dollars and by borrowing more debt from foreign markets, we saved their butts. Tell you what, they should have paid the interest on my home loan and credit cards or frozen it and allowed me to pay on original debt until they paid back the debt my tax dollars bailed them out with just for the privilege of using my money. And, yes, that is a rant, I admit it.
But back to Treasurer Stapleton and risk. Both public and private sector employees work hard all their lives so that they can afford to retire at some point in their lives. To hear that retirement is a risk cannot be a good thing for anyone. And until the playing field between those who have way more and those who want but don't or can't have evens out a little, it is a governmental responsibility to assure that those who want and need do not go without. So here is where one of my real pet peeves comes into play, and unfortunately this division is along party lines. I hear all of the time that Republicans are the more God fearing, and that Democrats have lost touch with God and religion. These lines are so severely drawn that is does make me sick at times. So the party that fight for providing for the populace through governmental programs is the one that is less closely associated to religion and wants to do away with God. And the party that is on the side of the almighty has no qualms pulling dollars away from those that have invested time, dollars, and trust into a populace and government to take care of them. Am I crazy? Maybe. I'm also aware that this is a hard road to hoe because we don't have the money on hand to be able to support these programs.
Right now as I type this, I can hear folks on the right of center saying that "allowing big business to make more without overburdening them with taxes" is what will allow us all to have a bigger piece of the pie. Well I haven't seen a company that wouldn't rather pay less tax, but I also haven't seen them reduce their own pay unless they are small companies trying to stay afloat during the great recession and foregoing their own salaries just to keep their businesses afloat and keep their employees paid. That is rant 2, sorry. I just can't agree that repubs are all bad and dems are all good, or vice versa. Another of what I call my laughable talk show hosts, Rush Limbaugh, would say that a middle of the roader like me that wants fiscal responsibility, good governance, and social responsiveness is a fence sitter that can't figure out my own identity, but I disagree. Instead, I feel that those of us who span the middle ground and choose those parts of the discussion that benefit us all are the more responsible to the needs of the majority.
I don't pretend to have the answer. I'd rather see everyone win, even those that need to be taken care of in their advancing years and are totally dependent on the government. We all need to pitch in to solve this, and it is not limited to the US. These are global issues. So how can we all keep in touch with those that need our assistance? Join the conversation, and let me know what you think.
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