As retirees, We have witnessed the mass exodus of jobs overseas. We have seen the decline of workers’ rights and wage stagnation, while corporations enjoy larger and larger handouts and giveaways. It’s too much.
For 41 years, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate-funded, pay-to-play lobbying group, has brought together corporations and state legislators to craft “model” legislation. Unfortunately the model bills they crafted put corporate profits before people and the public interest.
ALEC’s goal is to wipe out public pension systems in favor of private 401(k) type plans. In a Wall Street-managed, individual 401(k) world, workers lose their ability to save, invest and take action collectively. In a states like Wisconsin that have maintained fully-funded public pension systems in good times and bad, ALEC member legislators and corporations create theoretical problems and work on ways to destroy the system.
We don’t appreciate corporations and their lackeys working to destroy programs that give middle class people dignity.
Constituents and our neighbors deserve better. Together, we can put an end to the ALEC war on retirement security and their pay-to-play methods. Together, we can strengthen the American Dream by expanding Social Security and building stronger pension programs, not tearing them apart.