Civil service woes

I'm not someone who instinctively bashes government employees. This article from today's New York Times, however, makes some important points about both sides of the argument over pensions and other benefits paid to workers on the taxpayers' dime:

There’s a class war coming to the world of government pensions.

The haves are retirees who were once state or municipal workers. Their seemingly guaranteed and ever-escalating monthly pension benefits are breaking budgets nationwide.

The have-nots are taxpayers who don’t have generous pensions. Their 401(k)s or individual retirement accounts have taken a real beating in recent years and are not guaranteed. And soon, many of those people will be paying higher taxes or getting fewer state services as their states put more money aside to cover those pension checks.

At stake is at least $1 trillion. That’s trillion, with a “t,” as in titanic and terrifying.

With deep cuts being made in public services across the country, it's hard for me to disagree with the notion that government employees have to share some of the burden. And I liked this point in today's article, offered as advice to retirees with government pensions who might be thinking about suing over potential changes to their benefits:

And if you’re a government retiree or getting close to the end of your career? Consider what it means to be a citizen in a community. And what it means to be civil instead of litigious, coming to the table and making a compromise before politicians shove it down your throat and you feel compelled to challenge them to a courthouse brawl.

We can either realize that we're all in this together, and act accordingly, or fight endless "me first" battles which ultimately no one will win.