The Republican party is beginning a “war” on the “safety net” that Democrats have created nationally since the 1930s, and is also reaching into the states, as for example, Florida, to destroy gains made by state employees in a state famous for low pay!
Nationally, the Republican plan, enunciated by Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan and others, is to gain the majority in Congress and work to privatize Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, along with repealing the Health Care reform legislation just signed into law by President Obama.
In Florida, the dominant Republican majority in both houses of the state legislature is setting out, as we speak, to destroy the Florida Retirement System as we know it, by dramatically changing the system for pensions for teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other state workers.
In many cases, the pensions will be cut by one third to one half for future recipients, and the method by which state employees have built up pension credits will be retroactively negated. Thus, work already completed in past years will be put under a new, much more stingy, pension crediting, and include the need to work more years to be eligible, and sick leave and overtime work in the past and the future will no longer be counted.
This is an outrage, and will be occurring in a similar fashion in other states, and is a harbinger of what is going to happen nationally IF the Republicans regain control of the Congress.
Having done tremendous damage for the 12 years they held the Congress from 1994-2006, and now doing the same in Florida and other states, is there anyone in their right mind who would support the Republican goal of retaking power in the nation’s capital?
More than ever, the Democrats in state governments and nationally must fight “tooth and nail” for every legislative seat and every governorship to prevent further destruction of the “American dream”!