[mr.fundamental]

So you're admitting the teachers pension money was squandered. I'm certainly good with that.

If some reporter did a story on Kentucky's present state of financial woe, it would seem that a good title for the story could be "When Chickens Come Home to Roost." Legislators have looked the other way for decades now where fiscal responsibility is concerned. And frankly, as I have pointed out on here now for some time, the weight of Kentucky's inordinately replete state welfare benefits has the shoulders of working Kentuckians noticeably bent. But past that on the larger scale, though the taxpayer may still be standing under that load, the added weight of federal hand outs (such as ObamaCare) will certainly at some point cause sudden collapse. In the final analysis, Democrats may not have 'been fer the werkin man' after all. Where do you think all that benefit money comes from?

So since 'the money' was used for things other than pensions, why would you say the teachers all want Bevin's political head on a stick? If for no other reason than patently obvious time constraints alone, I guarantee Beshear and his predecessors are the guys who made the decisions to spend the money elsewhere, and I guarantee they foresaw this day coming. They just didn't think it would be so soon. Given that we're talking about the retirement fortunes of the intellectual elite here, it is truly amazing to consider that though the true culprits in all this continue to walk the yellow brick road, the newcomer on the block in the person of Governor Bevin somehow gets all the blame. :igiveup:

Pension funds, are not made up of subsidies provided by the tax payer. I used the word appropriated only in the sense that union dues are paid, and applicable employee contributions are collected from teacher's paychecks throughout the term of their employment. And you agreed that those funds got spent. (Likely on goodies handed out to everybody but teachers, BTW.) If anything those funds should have been invested, not spent. They might as well have drop-kicked if all off a cliff, it's just as gone. But if government were to appropriate tax dollars to be used to fund teacher pensions in my view, that would be a form of extortion.

I agree that since 2002-2014 the state did not allocate its portion of the pension. The teachers paid their share. I agree that before 2002 the funding for the pension system was at 125%. I agree that there was a political shift after 2002 just look at the Senate.

As far as the rest.. union dues... explain to me why union dues even have to do with the pension? Teachers from all all walks (those that are part of unions and those that are not) pay into TRS.

As far as unions though are concerned this has been on the legislative agenda since 2006, to fully fund the pension system, but you would not know about that would you unless you are or were part of KEA. I am betting you are not.



So, back to the point it is definitely concerning that we were fully funded, over funded, then a political shift happened then, now the funds are not. I agree we should vote out all of those that have helped make this happen. I want to go back to the days of being fully funded... but I have a strong feeling you would disagree with that party.

Just for the record teachers pay taxes as well.

As for Bevin, he has provided a solution, not a good one, but a solution. There were other solutions proposed as well... but again you would probably discount those. This even happened before Bevin. I know it is crazy that there were house bills to deal with it and the senate did not call those bills up.