[calcowgirl]

The proposed pension fix wasn't a fix at all. It just shifted the risk to the employee from the pension manager (and taxpayer), letting the manager off the hook for bad investment decisions. A real reform would have changed the benefits which would result in an expense reduction, whether under a defined benefit or defined contribution plan. The lies coming out of Sacramento on the pensions were beyond repulsive, trying to imply that a growth from only $160,000 to $2 billion was due to benefits when in fact it was the result of going from a self-funding environment (when the dot-com boom stock market went wild) back to ordinary contribution levels. There is no reason that a defined contribution plan cannot be offered without being a catastrophe -- plenty of responsible companies have done it for decades.

[calcowgirl]

Correction:

There is no reason that a defined contribution benefit plan cannot be offered without being a catastrophe -- plenty of responsible companies have done it for decades.