GOP finding excuses to kill unions

With glaring front page headlines of “State pension gap widens” and “$139 billion needed; state has $63 billion” Christopher Wills of the AP tries to explain the problem. It isn’t until the last sentence of the article on Page 9 that he mentions “workers have always paid their required share while state government has sometimes failed to meet its obligations.”

The truth of the matter is that for decades Republican and Democratic members of the legislature and governors have not only “failed to meet its obligations” but have borrowed from the teachers retirement fund to make ends meet. I have never seen an exact number of how much money in total was borrowed and the amount of scheduled contributions that were not made. That figure coupled with the interest lost on that money is immense.

The Republicans are using the term “overpromised” around the country to explain away what they are trying to do in cutting the teachers’ pensions. In reality they are using this as an excuse to try to kill the unions.

Wisconsin was in excellent financial condition until the governor dictated a huge financial tax break to businesses. Not that that should be a surprise to anyone who pays attention. Republicans are for the wealthy and not the average person. I just wish that they would be honest with us admit it. It really is that simple.

Jack Halpin

Arlington Heights