Unfortunately, as a federal retiree, I'm dismayed and ashamed to have to admit that I am one of the group. But there are things that need to be said that, apparently, haven't been said.
The U.S. Supreme Court justices were dead wrong. It would have been proper to require state retirees to pay on retirement income, as everyone else must, but they completely ignored the rights of about 180,000 other taxpayers in our state who must now bear the burden of paying for this refund.The taxes were not illegally collected. They did not become illegal until some poorly considered court decrees made them so. Since members of the U.S. Supreme Court are also federal employees, was there a conflict of interest?
All retirees were, and still are, given a partial exemption on their retirement income.
Of course, I know that we were promised a retirement annuity before we entered federal service. The only reason it was available is because members of Congress, wanting one for themselves, included all federal employees.
Ostensibly, it is paid for by the taxes collected from the rest of the people. In reality, this system is just a part of all the other entitlement and pork-barrel projects that are driving us headlong into national bankruptcy - paid for with the $200 billion to $300 billion being borrowed every year by the Treasury to keep an out-of-control Congress afloat. We are truly living in a fools' paradise.
Appreciate the fact that most members of our Utah congressional delegation are very conservative in fiscal matters, but the same cannot be said for most of the rest. Just a few weeks ago, they again demonstrated their inability to face reality by rejecting another effort to balance the budget even years in the future. If they don't soon begin to reduce these entitlements, instead of increasing them year by year, bankruptcy is assured.
I hope retirees realize that this refund they have demanded will, in most cases be an added burden on the backs of our own children and grandchildren who are raising their children and trying to pay for homes. They are also still working 40-50 hours a week earning what they get.
Don't tell me retirees paid for our annuity. If we've been retired for two years, everything we contributed has been given back (and it wasn't taxed twice). If our income is small, or medical expenses are high, allowances are already in the system. Lots of others working for minimum wages have the same problems. If we don't like high taxes, we should ask for fewer services.
Am I all alone, or will someone else refuse to participate in this raid on the state treasury? If a Wells Fargo truck scattered money all over the freeway, most of us wouldn't grab what we could and run. Why should we feel less exposed in this matter?
My first priority will be to see that the attorneys don't get any of the money that is allocated for me. Next, I will not accept it. I don't want it to canker my soul.
John Hooper
Layton