WPRI Report Erroneous About the Wisconsin Retirement System

WPRI Says Public Sector Workers are a Drain on Taxpayers

The right wing think tank; an obvious arm of the Walker campaign, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute issued a report on Wednesday that erroneously spoke about the high value of the Wisconsin Retirement System and public employee pensions. As you read both the report and the summary it makes every public employee’s blood boil. It’s the same mantra about how public employees should work for minimum wage, have no pension and be just like workers in Alabama or Mississippi. The report also said public employees do not deserve the pensions that they get and that they are a drain on the taxpayers.

We have issued a press release and been on talk radio in the Madison area. We would suggest that as your local newspapers begin to report the story that public employees, whether state, county, school or city all respond in kind about the inaccurate information and conclusions made in the report. The real irony of the report is that 3 of the 6 members of the board of directors for this institute are receiving benefits from the Wisconsin Retirement System; they got theirs, but you can’t get yours kind of philosophy.

This is all a prelude to the political elections coming this fall. The only thing missing from this report is the disclaimer on the bottom that it was authorized and paid for by Scott Walker for Governor. There is no coincidence that the findings of the report parrot what Scott Walker has been saying publicly about state employees and their benefits. If there is anyone out there that is a public employee that thinks that Scott Walker will be good for state workers and programs that they are involved in, they need to get their head examined.

Read the AFSCME Council 24 press release >>>
Read the Milwaukee Journel Sentinel news story >>>

Authority: Martin Beil, Executive Director
AFSCME Council 24 AFL-CIO