RETIREES IN ACTION A message from PEF Retirees President Jim Carr Did we make this mess? NO!!! If you ever had any doubt the political extremists and corporate power brokers, such as the Koch brothers, are going after public employees, just look at what happened in Wisconsin. There and throughout the country, these extremists have made public employees scapegoats to deflect the attention from soaring executive pay and profits, even at corporations and banks that took public bailouts and still refuse to hire more workers or to lend or lower interest rates. They set middle-class Americans against each other, so they can dodge awkward questions about the billions of dollars raked in by hedge-fund and private-equity managers. Their income is treated as capital gains and taxed at only 15 percent, thanks to a loophole in the tax laws designed just for their benefit. These are the same greedy Wall Streeters who tanked our economy in 2008 in the sub-prime home-mortgage and investments debacle. What we see in Wisconsin is an example of those who are determined to bust the unions, cripple the collective-bargaining rights of public employees and strip their ability to collect dues. We retirees cannot afford to ignore it. What is happening in Wisconsin is ground zero for nationwide assaults on government workers and retirees. They are coming after our pensions, our health care, our Social Security and even our rights. One attack in New York is being carried out by the Empire Center at the Manhattan Institute, as noted in a letter published in the February Communicator. This group of public-employee bashers earned an average of $257,634, with their president earning $453,630 in 2008, yet they say we earn too much. Ask yourself, Who’s greedy: hard-working public employees just trying to make a decent living and serve the taxpayers, or these front guys for the business lobby? They know they can’t justify tax cuts for the multi-millionaires and billionaires who fund them. So they try to make those tax cuts permanent by saying we make government too costly and taxes too high. However, objective data shows public-sector workers now earn 11 percent less than comparably educated workers in the private sector. Even with health insurance and retirement benefits, government workers still earn less than their private-sector counterparts. Speak up now. Don’t get stuck with the blame and the tab for their offenses. Send your email address to jtropiano@pef.org to get PEF Retirees news alerts

The Communicator Letters policy We welcome letters to the editor about union issues and events relevant to PEF's diverse membership. All letters are subject to editing for space, fairness and good taste. Please keep them brief (up to one page, double-spaced or a maximum of 250 words), and please include your name and phone number for verification. Send letters to thecommunicator@pef.org: The Communicator Public Employees Federation P.O. Box 12414 Albany, N.Y. 12212-2414 Email to Sherry Halbrook, Editor or Darcy Wells, Editor-In Chief