Another egregious example of public pensions gone wrong.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/21/BUN618S39O.DTL&tsp=1

This article discusses the recently retired Moraga-Orinda fire chief who at 51 receives an annual pension of $241,000. The chief correctly points out that he did not negotiate or design the pension program – he simply took advantage of it. The formula was so poorly constructed that when he cashed in vacation and got some other pay in his last few years that it boosted his annual pension from a mere $185,000 to $241,000. And at the age of 51 his life expectancy has got to be another 40 years.

These deals were already made and I do not suggest changing deals already promised but is there any chance we can stop this stupidity going forward?

Let’s close down all public pensions now. Lock in the benefits already promised and replace them with defined contribution plans rather than these dinosaur pension programs! Stop paying our government employees so much more than the private sector!