Democrats have been in meltdown since Jeff Sessions fired corrupt little media leaker Andrew McCabe last week. Some Democrats have even offered jobs to McCabe to “save his pension.” There’s only one problem with that. McCabe will still get his big, fat, taxpayer funded pension anyway. McCabe is only 50 years old. The only thing he lost with the firing was the ligibility to a special top-up in benefit formula for retiring, or being removed between the ages of 57 and 62. There are some little tangible financial losses for McCabe by not lasting until 57 years old and retiring at the FBI, but who cares. He will be living off the tax payer teet for the rest of his life.
| No, Andrew McCabe Isn’t Losing His Pension |
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But the existence of these special perks, benefits that we in the private sector can barely comprehend in the year 2018, points to a fundamental disconnect between the private and public sector. Why shouldn’t someone whose benefits consist of 401(k) account accruals believe that government pensions work so differently as to punish someone arbitrarily by removing their benefits? Add to this the fact that retirement at age 50 is well-nigh incomprehensible for the average working American, except perhaps in the case of high-risk, health-sapping occupations, which surely likewise added to the impression that actual pensions, rather than generous ancillary provisions, were being lost.
Yes, the rationale for these generous pension benefits is that these civil servants accept significantly lower salaries than they would be able to earn in the private sector. But this exchange of “low salaries now, rich retirement benefits later” is a matter of “robbing Peter to pay Paul” that isn’t wise in the long term, either.