Increasingly and with an alarming rate, pension plans are being blamed for the downfall of state budgets, which is not the whole truth. State pension plans invested heavily in the fraudulent subprime mortgages because of the high credit ratings those worthless bonds were given, and lost money as a result. In September 2010 an AP business article reported--“in 2008 Pennsylvania state employees retirement fund had investment losses of nearly 29%.”
The nationwide bank bail out and massive tax reductions on corporations are the drivers behind pension plan defaults. States don’t have the money like they used to, and rather than blame bank giveaways and corporations paying zero in taxes, they blame the people. Besides, it‘s easier to convince the masses it‘s public pensions driving the deficit, than to convince them it‘s the corporate/ bank people who created the country’s massive debts.
Interviewed on the NewsHour, Independent Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, stated, “this year, ExxonMobil, the most profitable corporation in the history of the world, is not paying a nickel in federal income taxes, despite having made $19 billion last year. In 2005, one-quarter of large corporations in America making a trillion in revenue didn't pay a nickel in taxes.” ”The deficit primarily has been caused by two wars unfunded, huge tax breaks to people who don't need it, an insurance-company-written Medicare Part D prescription drug program, and the bailout of Wall Street.”
The modern day double speak convinces us that we all need to share in the pain of debt reduction to take our focus off the real culprits; the bankers, the war machines, the insurance and pharmaceutical corporations who have caused this economic depression.
The great unwashed masses are expected to share the pain, just not jet setters like John Boehner. From the Washington Spectator “…(Boehner) maintains especially tight ties with a circle of lobbyists and aids representing some of the nation’s biggest businesses including Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, R. J. Reynolds, MillerCoors and UPS,” the (NY) Times reported.” “They have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaigns, provided him with rides on their corporate jets, socialized with him at luxury golf resorts and water-front bashes…” The voters share the pain while the jet setters keep the gain.
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