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IT’S ONLY MY OPINION: Public pensions promote potholes

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By Stanley P. Gershbein

Brooklyn Daily

Regular readers know that my roommate’s passion has always been to travel. Besides the many countries we have visited and the ships on which we’ve sailed we have toured forty-three states, some twice and some even three times.

Ask me how many different cities we’ve gone to, and I couldn’t even guess, but there is one thing we’ve noticed this past decade that several of those cities have in common.

There is a great big need for road repair. Yellow cones and signs warn drivers about tire- and axle-breaking holes in those roads. Just a few days ago, on April 17, President Obama mentioned the need to fix the many potholes, especially after this winter. When I discuss road repair with the locals I hear about the lack of funds needed to do the fixing. In one town, I heard about the choice in the county budget: “… school teachers and cops, or fix the roads.”

All across the United States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, cities are going broke. One of the largest is the Motor City. Detroit is so deeply in debt that Americans who bought city bonds are now standing in line with everyone else who is owed money.

One of the biggest concerns is what will happen to current and retired municipal workers. Last year, the city’s emergency manager paid strict attention to pension funds. According to him, the pension debt is about $3.5 BILLION of the $11.5 BILLION in unsecured debts.

WOW! That’s a lot of money.

Move across this nation and you will find much of the same almost everywhere. From Central Falls, Rhode Island, to Vallejo, California, and many more in between, cities are going broke and residents in those cities are quick to point a finger at the super-sized pensions drawn by government retirees.

When more funds are needed, the elected officials whose strings are being pulled by the unions are quick to roar, “Raise taxes.” A recent article in the Boston Globe shouted, “Public pensions are eating taxpayers alive!” Many who are paying large taxes and are able to move are leaving for successful no-tax areas in America.

When I mentioned the letter from Tom Golisano a few weeks ago, there were readers who requested a copy. If there are any of you who missed that column and would like to receive a copy of his letter, my e-mail address appears near the end of every column. Just ask, and you shall receive.

Before you pro-union people start to compose that letter to me about all the wonderful things that unions have accomplished, my problems are not with your unions as much as I am with the vote-hungry politicians who sell their soul for your membership’s votes. Those SOBs give it all away when they sign those contracts, knowing that they will not be around to get blamed when the spit hits the fan way down the road. I am StanGershbein@Bellsouth.net hollering, “DO YOU HEAR THAT MAYOR DEBLASIO?”

Read Stan Gershbein's column every Monday on BrooklynDaily.com.

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