A Detroit Free Press editorial prominently displayed on its website makes it clear what it thinks about screwing Detroit workers out of their pensions:
It's wrong.
It’s simply wrong, as a moral imperative, to snatch money out of old folks’ pension checks, no matter how broke the City of Detroit is.
If all Detroit’s creditors and claimants are on the hook for a reduction in the $18.5 billion in debt and long-term liabilities they’re owed, a fair settlement can’t be reached without accounting for the damage done in the process, to the city and to its people.
The New York Times came out with a similar editorial last week.
The Freep editorial goes on to say:
Among the city’s claimants, retirees are the most vulnerable. Their payouts are meager — an average of $30,000 a year for police and fire, $19,000 for other city employees — but absolutely crucial to their survival. And even though the pension systems’ elected leadership mismanaged funds, made poor investments and overstated the funds’ health, to visit the consequences of those missteps upon recipients is a Dickensian nightmare.
