Stan Geiger

Government Retirees Want More of Your Money

According to reports, Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System members are lobbying legislators for a built-in annual pension COLA of 2 percent. What an abomination.

They always sound so benign, these requests for increases in taxpayer money dedicated to government employees. Hey, it's only 2 percent.

Well, it's not just 2 percent. It's 2 percent per year. It's 2 percent compounded for life.

Recently, a report came out about an OPERS retiree that is pulling down a $147,000 pension---even though he was never paid more than $83,000 for any year he allegedly worked. So let's see what 2 percent per annum does to a $147,000-per-year pension, shall we?

According to my little calculator, this fellow would receive a pay bump of $2,940 in the first year. There are an awful lot of private-sector taxpayers working for a living that would kill for a one-year pay bump that size. This guy would get it for sitting around pulling dingle berries out of his butt crack. Which, by the way, was probably all he did while he was on the state payroll and drawing an annual salary that was more than twice the state's current average wage.

After 5 years, this fellow's $147,000 pension---already ridiculous on its face---would reach $162,299. After 10 years, his pension would climb to $179,192.

Is it hard at all to understand why public pension systems are swimming in red ink?

Meanwhile, I happen to know a pensioner from the private sector quite well. She's me sainted mum. So let's do some compare and contrast.

Mom, way back when she was a youngster, worked for Ma Bell. She quit and did the marriage and kid thing. In the '70s, she returned to AT&T, which was subsequently broken up, which left her working for Southwestern Bell, which later became SBC, which is now AT&T again. Go figure.

Anyway, mom retired in 1987 with 22 years of service. I should probably tell you how small her pension is, but I won't. It's none of your business. And it's certainly not my business to make her business public information.

But I will say that last year mom got a pension bump. In percentage terms, it was barely measurable. And mom tells me last year's increase marked only the second time in the 20 years she's been drawing her pension that it has been upped at all. She pays taxes every year, though. She pays taxes so government retirees can have pensions larger---much larger---than her own.

Note to government retirees: I don't want to hear any whining from you. I don't want to hear whining about rising food costs, or gasoline costs or health care costs from you. Those rising costs hit everyone. And those everyones are already paying more in taxes than they should so the state can carry your dead asses.

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