Don't Fuck with Our Pensions

Over the last thirty years, in the wake of a settling conservatism that has creeped up on the populace like a silent fart, more and more of what working people have counted on to support them in their older age, including Social Security and pensions, have been actively attacked by the onslaught of right wing demagogues. Pensions in particular have become the new focus of concern in light of the Bush Administrations failed attempts to dismantle Social Security.

At one point in our history Big Business and Corporate America had an empathy for the American Worker and worked with them to forge a mutual alliance, beneficial to both. Employees supported their company and traditionally stayed with one employer for most of their lives. For being a loyal employee, companies rewarded them with health insurance, benefits and a decent pension. When employees retired they had the money to live their twilight years in relative comfort and felt safe that in the event of a medical emergency their pension and health benefits they earned would support them through difficult times.

Those days seem to have disappeared quicker than the hubcaps of a Cadillac in South Central L.A.

Across the country there is a systematic attack on non-government pensions by corporations. Workers have lost their sense of security and are fearful that their twilight years are going to be spent poor and destitute and on government assistance. Everyone is aware of the Enron, Global Crossing and Tyco scandal's, which destroyed the dreams of thousands of working men and women. The greedy bastards running these companies weren't content with their bloated salaries and bonuses. They wanted to raid the piggy bank to, at the expense of working people. Well known corporations including: IBM, United Airlines and Verizon Communication, have either terminated their pension plans or frozen them and now this hacking away at worker stability is spreading into other areas.

Destroying pensions in the private sector wasn't enough, however, now they are coming after the pensions of local and state governments.

There is one goal and one goal only in trying to do away with pensions plans on the government level; the weakening of the public sector and the unions that support them. The check that is needed to prevent Christian and Family "value" based Republican dogma from bubbling up like vile water all over the country. In the case of large pensions, such as PERS, hard line Republicans also want to weaken their ability to influence corporate behavior. PERS does not invest in companies that have a history of worker abuse, sanction sweatshops, are resistant to decent, union wages or demonstrate other anti-worker attitudes and behaviors. Hard line Republicans detest any time of corporate regulations and policies, even those which may affect workers in an adverse way. Their way of thinking has and always will be the bottom line. Workers for them are nothing but a bunch of numbers on a spread sheet program, throwaway fodder to be used and discarded at will.

Grover Norquist, the Nazi leader of the Pro-Bush group Americans for Tax Reform was quoted as saying in regards to pensions influencing corporate behavior, "We want to take that power and destroy it." Sorry fuck head, that ain't gonna happen. People are waking up and they don't like what they are seeing.

The Bush Administration and hard line Republicans nationally are working hard to privatize the entire system believing that it will save them money. This is a fallacy. In California, which has the largest pension in the country, PERS, 75% of the fund growth has come from investments, 12% is contributed by employees and 13% by the state. Tax payers contribute less than 15% In a state with a population of several million, the average tax payer is maybe contributing $2.50 a year to the pension. And honestly, even if it was more, they are supporting a system that supports the people who provide the services they use every day. It's like the assessment fee I pay every month. My fee pays for the pool, the upkeep of the grounds, painting, etc. Without it, the pool would be dirty, the grounds would be overgrown and the buildings would look old and dated.

The only people that will benefit from privatizing pensions are the Wall Street Fat Cats who would be taking in millions of dollars annually administering pension funds and for that matter Social Security. A large portion of which will go towards lining the pockets of the smug, smiling slime buckets who would be lining up in droves at the White House.

In the last six years the people of the U.S. have been frightened into believing a lot of nonsense, a lot adulterated bullshit, to sway them to believe and act a certain way. I can't think of an administration in recent memory who used fear as effectively as the Bush Administration to break and flaunt laws and manipulate the populace into believing such things as Social Security is crumbling and that government pensions suck up the nations tax dollars.

Here are some myths about worker government pensions:

Myth 1: Public employees receive lavish pensions.
Fact: The national average for public - pensions benefits is $18,500. It should be noted that police officers, firemen, teachers, employees working in corrections and the mental health system are constantly in danger. Anything can happen on the job and they deserve to be rewarded for their years of state service. When I retire I don't want to be on government assistance, I want to be able to live independently. That can only happen with a pension program in place.

Myth 2: States and Localities can't afford pension costs, which are rising fast.
Fact: The vast majority of pension benefits are covered by employee contributions and investment earning. Pensions are actually cheaper for tax payers the 401(k)s, which opponents of public employees are pushing.

Myth 3: Everyone gets Social Security, so why do employees need a pension?
Fact: Many state workers, including myself, don't have money that goes toward social security. We get safety retirement. Safety retirement is for those classifications who work in dangerous occupations. Since my Social Security money can't grow, I need another source of funding to retire. It's my primary income after I retire.

Myth 4: It is better to offer 401(k) style plans and give workers control of their retirement.
Fact: The truth is that the vast majority of people are clueless about how to manage their accounts. A pension should be something to be counted on, not a bet on a roulette wheel.

Myth 5: 401(k) plans get a bigger return and are a better deal then pensions.
Fact: Just yesterday the L.A. Times had an article on 401(k) plan and how much money participants are losing out to administrative fees. One person interviewed estimated that he is losing almost $450.00 a year in fees. I'm looking forward to seeing the changes that will come out regarding 401(k) plans after the fallout from the series clears up. 401(k)'s are profit making machines for brokerage houses. In government, pensions are funded to support the worker. Stability and earnings are stressed as they relate to this support.

The fight to preserve pensions is critical for our society. There are 6 million retired state and local workers who rely on them and 14 million more who are counting on them when they retire so they can live their twilight years comfortably, without worry. Public pension plans hold retirement assets worth $1.5 Trillion dollars. Don't be fooled by the manipulative ploys of hard liners. They don't care about you. They are about them. Hold the line and keep Bush Administration, hard line Republicans and Corporate America out of your pocket books.

Doing Your Own Home Repair

I finally am realizing that sometimes it just does not make any sense to take the personal responsibility of fixing something in your own house. In this day and age, with an ever increasing amount of bills filling the mail box, a mortgage and the other expenses that are part of living the American Dream, it seems to make sense to do things yourself. But, sometimes time itself is a more precious commodity than they money your saving.

Take for instance last weekend. After seeing a friend's beautiful garage floor; perfect paint and show room speckles and comparing it to my twice painted, peeling, faded, They Call Me Earl, like garage, I knew I had to stop ignoring the garage and meet the challenge of fixing it up head on.

First, I checked out how much it would cost to have the garage done by someone else. According to the information I got at the local Home Depot, the cost would be around $600 - $700. I figured that I would save about $500 or so, doing it myself. Of course I underestimated how hard it is to paint a garage floor, which needs to be stripped.

I spent two full days stripping the garage. I thought it would just be a matter of moving the scraper over the old paint and watching the paint peel back like dead, sun burned skin. Assuming that was my first mistake. Actually, after the stripper I applied didn't work, I was forced to resort to Acetone and strip the floor one small square at a time. It took two full days. On one, I worked from 7:00 a.m. to almost 7:00 p.m. My spine was barely able to snap back into position when I stood up to streach. If my wife hadn't of given me a massage before I went to bed, I honestly believe I would have woken up permanently bent in half.

After stripping I had to go over the entire garage again and get the stubborn spots. This was followed by rinsing out the garage with a hose, going thru the garage a second time, sweeping, using a blower and washing it out one more time.

Now, I was ready to paint.

The garage had to be prepped first. This took about an hour. It took another our and a half to cut and then paint. The helpful knucklehead at the Home Depot said that I would only need one kit to do the job, but 1/2 hour before Home Depot closed, and I was looking at an empty paint can and a half completed garage, I had to go back and buy another kit.

Finally, everything was finished. The rest of the evening was spent putting plastic sheeting over all the stuff in the backyard until the garage dried. All in all, it took about four days to finish everything. It came out beautiful, but beautiful at what price? I have a bump in my back and my shoulders are humped forward like a zombie and every time I look at the garage floor, I remember the pain I went thru and start sobbing.

Would I do it again? Well, I figured I spent about $400 on materials and at least thirty two hours of labor. I could have had the entire thing done for a couple of hundred dollars more and not given four days of my life away.

This experience taught me that time is as much of a commodity as money and sometimes it's best to just pay someone the money and buy yourself some rest and relaxation. Forty hours of work during the week is pretty much all I can handle these days and saving $200 or so in this case, can't justify the added grief and stress.

Teachers and Teaching

Teaching is a lot of work, yet many people who see teachers in action think they can pick up a text book and a pointer and start teaching, not understanding that a good teacher makes teaching look easy, but in fact it takes an incredible amount of energy and skill to motivate a class.

I don't teach public school, (I teach emotionally disturbed youth in another setting) but know many teachers who do. They all say that motivating students to learn and managing the class is probably the hardest thing to do, right up there with balancing a bicycle on your nose. What makes it so hard is the breed of kids that teachers have to deal with.

Back in the day we had corporal punishment, something I truely believe is needed for todays insolent, disrespectful, punk kids. There were consequences for bad behavior. You knew that if you screwed up, there was going to be hell to pay. Principals didn't beat the shit out of kids, but they let them know, by the arc of a paddle whizzing thru the air, that they had to be aware of their actions and impulsive decisions and how those actions and impulsive decisions could affect them. In other words students were held accountable, which in turn helped them develop self-discipline and respect, words that a good majority of kids couldn't define if you handed them a dictionary.

The pendulum has swung back much too far. Teachers have been hog-tied by district rules and regulations that leave them powerless to deal with seriously problematic youth. They are stomped on and taken advantage of. They have been subjected to verbal and physcial threats and physical harm. Don't get me wrong, there are many good, well behaved and mannered students, but a classroom only needs a couple of the others to completely disrupt it.

Teaching is hard work. Nothing about it is easy. You prep in the morning and you prep in the afternoon. I personally work thru my lunch just about every day. I wolf down a sandwich and then start prepping for the afternoon. Many times I take work home. It's pretty much non-stop. The paperwork generated in a typical class, particularly SPED, is mind boggling.

The education needed to become a teacher is vigerous, intense and time consuming. When you are in school, you have no life. You are told what courses to take and when. You might think your professor is a stupid imbecile or worse, but you have to swallow your opinion because it could affect your grade if you say anything. You are given conflicting instructions. Oftentimes you are told to take a class that you don't need or told that a class that you need to graduate will be offered in the Fall and then find out it wasn't true. And then there are the tests, CSET, CBEST, RICA. It's one hoop after another, a parade of trained seals slapping their fins together as they fly thru the air. You put up with so much shit. If I would have known what a ball buster school was going to be I'm not sure if I would have taken the plunge into graduate school at my age.

By the time you are done with the program you are well equipped to handle the onslaught of the day to day classroom. Kids that can't speak English. Kids who can't learn because they are so poor and hungary. Kids who have been socially promoted and by the time they reach high school they are behind academically four or five grades. Special Education kids in full inclusion programs. Kids who don't give a damn about you, learning or education. Kids who are cruel and violent and have no sense of decency or respect. Classrooms are composed of all these categories of students and teachers have to make it work.

Besides teachers we are therapists, social workers, surrogate parents, disciplinarians, counselors, nurses and friends. We play many, many roles.

One half of the teachers who begin teaching drop out before they have completed five years of teaching. The work, the stress, the politics, the shitty salaries, all work in tandem to undermine and demoralize today's teacher.

I love to teach and it's the love I have for my profession, for what I do, that has gotten me this far, but there are many days when the journey forward seems too long, too tedious and I want to just give up and sleep. Yet I hope I can always stay focused on the nobility of what I do, teach, to get me through another week.

Don't blame teachers for your kid screwing up in school. Instill values of respect and self-discipline. Take a proactive stance by volunteering in your son or daughters class. Support your teachers. They are one of the chief molders of today's youth.

Business as Usual in the White House

It looks like "Scooter" the disgraced former Aid to Dick "the insurgency is in it's last throes" Cheny fingered the Big Boss on Capital Hill as giving the O.K. to leak the name of a CIA operative, whose husband had written an article lambasting the Bush Aministration's War on Iraq. After stating for months that any one in his administration found to have leaked classified information would be fired, it looks like Der Leader has found himself again in the hot seat, trying to spin the newest allegations of White House cover up.

The Bush Administration gets another "F" in the areas of honesty, integrity and ethics. Weapons of Mass Destruction, mobile chemical labs, nuclear material in Nigeria, pre-war "intelligence," domestic phone tapping, secret interrogation sites, no bid contracts for Halliburton; the list of lapses defies understanding. Personally, I don't care where you stand politically, but anybody who still thinks the Bush Administration and the Republican controlled congress is upholding the national interest, has to have a grapefruit sized brain tumor in their head, choking off their ability to perceive the reality of the nightmare we are living here in the United States.