Pension benefit cuts are "necessary", but only because wages are artificially depressed

[Recursion]

That's my other argument on this. If wages had not been artificially depressed over the past 40 years, pension funds would be flush (since they are based on a percentage of wages).

If the minimum wage were $25 / hour, and established the kind of wage floor it did 40 years ago, employer/union pensions and private savings (remember, those were supposed to be coequal with SS) would be flush (and for that matter Medicare and SS would be in even better shape).

Or, to put it a different way: we don't really even need to tax the rich if the poor and middle class are making enough that we can fund our own health care and retirements.

[msongs]

1. wage increase plus quit allowing wall street to plunder the nation every 5 yrs or so then

get bailed out at taxpayer expense

[Recursion]

2. Taxpayer profit, not taxpayer expense

We made money on TARP.

[doc03]

4. You are ignoring the real cost of the Wall Street robbery. We could add the Stimulus, GM,

unemployment compensation, people that lost insurance and went onto Medicaid, the IMF, the bailout of European countries and so on. TARP was a
very small drop in the bucket in comparison with all the other damage to the world economy.

[Trajan]

3. Easy ... increase wages ....

AND restore corporate taxation to responsible levels, while you're at it ...

The problem is solved ... everybody wins ...