At a certain age, everyone begins to wonder, “Have I saved enough for retirement?” For most people, the answer is that they have not and will not. Governments have not saved enough for retirement, either, whether in the form of Social Security and Medicare for all seniors or pensions and health benefits for government employees....
A system that omits health care and retirement obligations for government workers underestimates the potential impact for taxpayers.
Mary Easley could get a cool million bucks in extra pension benefits from taxpayers, and she'll never have to explain to the people of North Carolina how she got her sweetheart of a job.
If state government were a corporation subject to standard accounting requirements, it would be in breach of them.
Never let it be said that I don’t report good news about North Carolina when it crosses my desk.
North Carolina has one of the healthiest public-employee pension systems in the country – and has also been underfunding the system in recent years.
All public officials are for “fiscal responsibility.” Its virtue is one of those things that ought to go without saying – but doesn’t, particularly during election time.
One of the best ways to free up dollars to pay our good public employees more and protect their pension and health plans would be to eliminate the lower-priority positions within state and local governments.
