These 401(k) plans were never meant to be retirement plans. They were a loophole tax shelter for upper management. In 1978, the tax code was changed by big business lobbying to allow the common worker to participate. Nebraska tried 401(k) plans alongside regular pensions for several decades to see the viability of 401(k) plans. Nebraska dropped the 401(k)s and put everybody back on pensions.
The 401(k) plans just don’t work unless you are a day trader and contribute 15 percent to 20 percent of each paycheck, then get lucky with the stock market. Oklahoma has not been paying into the teachers’ pension as promised by contract and now with tough times is far behind in payments. This is, of course, the teachers’ fault and they must be taught a lesson.
The viability here relies on an unspoken presumption that if unions dissolve, public sector workers will vanish and the doors will open to privatization, where new management (friends with money) will correct all the problems with intuitive, intelligent decisions.
Let’s assume Reese is correct: The answer is to rid ourselves of unions, the single entity that allowed our parents and grandparents to become the middle class we all strive to
belong to. Our elected officials cannot negotiate with unions because
they don’t know how to give a little to get a little. Reese and his ilk
want somebody else to do the work that public employees do and they want
taxpayers to pay for it, somebody else to manage those employees and
they want to make a profit doing it, by hiring young, new employees that
earn entry-level wages and won’t dare say anything for fear of losing
their jobs.
Reese
and Republicans that now hold the levers of power don’t understand that
we the people want solutions that work for everybody — not just the
employers, the rich or those in temporary power: a fair wage, safe
working conditions for a fair day’s work and a share in the profit being
made from the sweat of our brows. If there is a problem, come to the
table and talk about it. Before you slash wages, look for waste. Your
employees might even be able to help show you where and how if you would
just ask. Unemployed don’t buy new cars or refrigerators.
—Jim Ammerman
Norman
