Adult children ratting out their retired civil service parents in the media???

[Peregrine Took]

Incredibly, I've heard two separate instances here in Chicago lately regarding adult children spewing forth about their elderly parents and how much money they collect in their pensions - strongly implying its TOO MUCH!! ("Please take it away from them!!")

What could possibly be their motivation to do so?

In the first instance the son of a retired policeman stated that he and his dad often chuckle about how much money the dad gets in his pension check every month. The dad took early retirement and plans to live a long, long life collecting this huge amount of moolah rolling in every month!! Implying "hahahahha, tax payers are such schnooks!" I can't see for the life of me why anyone, or their offspring, would want to crow about getting too much money - if its true at all! Do they want their pension to be cut? Does the kid want the parent to be poor and dependent on THEM?

This morning I heard a woman who SAID she was the daughter of two retired teachers, also decrying the HUGE pension that her elderly mom was drawing.
Am I insane or what is going on here? Is she mad the mom won't share it with her? Needless to say the hosts to whom she was ratting out her mom loved hearing every bit of it as the media loves to screw over public employees - current and retired.

I don't know about the cop's pension but I'm pretty sure the numbers dear daughter rattled off about her poor mom were way, way extravagant. She actually said that they keep giving her mother "more and more money" every year - like they are just sitting around thinking up ways to shower pensioners with money! I smell a rat - especially in an election year (See Pawlenty's comments from yesterday about public employees being "overpaid" and "over benefited.")

I'm beginning to wonder if both of these "kids" weren't some kind of plants to spread these false, inflated stories in the media, further stirring the "us vs them" pot against government workers.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Nobody sane would decry the pensions of hard working police and teachers.

So it's probably Republican plants.

[Liberal In Texas]

2. Link?

This looks more like one of those stories made up by the RWers they send out in emails.

[Peregrine Took]

3. These are things I read in the local rag and heard on the radio.

Do you want a link to Pawlenty's spiel?

http://mnpublius.com/2010/05/pawlenty-public-employees-are-overpaid/

[Daphne08]

4. I've noticed an effort to turn one generation against another

over the past twenty years.

It's disturbing.

[Peregrine Took]

5. Yes, yesterday there was a headline about how "elders" were standing

in the way of young people getting jobs.

[NBachers]

16. Hey- I'm 61 and I'm working

and I work with a guy who's 81 and he works with us every day. I'm not taking anyone's job away. I work hard to keep our company afloat and ensure that it's there to hire more young men and women when they enter the work force.

[Heidi]

17. Hatred for baby boomers is especially prevalent, from what I've experienced.

And although I was born just barely on the edge of that generation, I find it reprehensible when generations turn on one another rather than attempting to learn from one another and solve problems together. :(

[CountAllVotes]

22. amen to that

agree 100% with your post! :thumbsup:

[Brickbat]

6. I know; it's crazy. I read a sappy fictional book once that had a line that's always stuck with me:

One of the greatest gifts a parent can give a child is that parent's independence.

These pensions were BARGAINED FOR, agreed to by ALL SIDES, and in many cases offered by the employer to make up for cuts in health care or wage freezes. If people begrudge anyone that, they can get off their own asses and see what they can negotiate.

And also, fuck Tim Pawlenty.

[Peregrine Took]

8. Great response! Agreed about Pawlenty.

I think he will begin to use this as to pit public employees as the bad guys and he as "David" here to save the country from their greedy clutches.

[Brickbat]

10. Very much so. He has had nothing but contempt for state workers and what the state can do for

people. Hard to believe anyone would work against the Minnesota Miracle, but he's done a damn good job of it.

[NoNothing]

27. It's not quite that simple

The children are going to end up supporting their parents one way or another. Who do you think is going to be paying the taxes to pay out those pension benefits?

[Gormy Cuss]

7. Plants or ungrateful spawn. n/t

[wtmusic]

9. I'm beginning to wonder if 90% of these stories aren't fabricated

although IMO the motives aren't quite so complex. Controversy translates into $$$ for radio/TV.

[JoDog]

11. Also, what "a lot" of money is

varies according to where you live and what your situation is. For instance, where I live and work, I am barely getting by. But if I were to try to live in my tiny, rural hometown on my current salary, I could live extremely well. What seems like a lot may not actually be a lot, depending on what the cost of living is.

[sinkingfeeling]

12. Sure, policemen get 'too much' and teachers have 'huge' pensions. It's relative.

Is a salary of $60,000 too much? Is a $35,000 a year pension?

[NoNothing]

15. You're right, it's relative

You know how much pension most people get?

$0.

Is it really so hard to understand why there's some envy aimed towards those who have from those who haven't?

Not to mention, the disgraceful shambles that most public pension funds are in is going to crush public funding for anything else.

[sinkingfeeling]

20. No, envy isn't hard to understand, but it sure isn't pretty.

[mrbarber]

13. Tea-baggers selling out their own parents. Doesn't suprise me.

There up in arms about healthcare being given to all people-including them-so they obviously have a self-destructive streak.

[Hutzpa]

14. I am NOT buying this story.

:banghead:

[Peregrine Took]

21. What aren't you "buying?"

[CountAllVotes]

18. glad I don't have any adult children

to steal my hefty pension of $72.00 a month away from me! :rofl:

:dem:

[CoffeeCat]

19. They can't take pensions away...

...but they can sure as hell foster rage in the American people--who will
want to take those pensions away.

Why won't Americans realize that they are pitting us against each other--and
that in the end---we end up with nothing and the elite-neocon-Fascist-corporatists
will end up with everything.

If we are divided, distracted and full of hatred--they win. They win it all.

[exboyfil]

25. What do you mean they can't take pensions away

Who can't. Tell that to the workers who are getting less than promised because their pensions became short funded. An article from last year said that half of union pension funds are underfunded.

Remember governments will have to either raise taxes and/or reduce benefits/increase withholdings from current workers to meet retirement promises. For example CALPERS/CALSTRS is underfunded to the tune of $500B ($13,500 for every man, woman, and child in California).

Pensions can and will continue to be taken away (both public and private). No matter what law can be passed - some clever lawyer/accountant is going to figure out a way to pull out money for managers/equity holders prior to making good on promises to retirees. If the pension burden becomes onerous for governments, then they will either default, or if prevented from doing so by the courts, tax their communities into obvilion.

[we can do it]

23. I Know a Young TeaHo Who Doesn't Think Her Grandma "Deserves" Her UAW Pension

she is always leaving work early for one bs reason or another and dumping her unfinished work on others. However she questions why does her grandma need "all that money"
STUPID bitch

[RaleighNCDUer]

24. jealousy.

Those who are looking at a truncated SS payment and uncertain returns from the 401Ks are envious of people who actually have real pensions, because they KNOW their retirement won't be as good as their parents' retirement.

I know for a fact that short of hitting the lottery I will never come close to my parents' retirement - but I don't begrudge them that. I didn't vote for the republicans who shredded the old system in the 80s.

[Hutzpa]

28. Thank you

nothing but jealousy.

Fucking hate mofo like these.

:mad:

[enough]

26. When I started helping my elderly (80+) parents with their bills, taxes and banking,

was when I first got the picture of their finances, medical insurance, etc. (They had both been very secretive about all this for some reason.) At that point I was relieved to see that they were in good shape, thanks to frugal living and pensions from a lifetime as public school teachers. I understood what a great gift their financial and medical independence was to me as their caregiver.

That was also when I began to realize that my generation was not going to have the anything like the same situation in our old age.

[WinkyDink]

29. IOW: DIE SOONER, YOU OLD BAGS. I NEED YOUR $$.