Retirement, health benefits essential for North Carolina employees

In response to the May 4 news article “Benefit cuts will make hiring hard, bill foes say,” all I can say is “seriously?”

I worked for 30 years as a teacher and am now retired. When I started teaching in my 20s, I did not particularly think about my needs in retirement. I became a teacher because I loved the profession and also needed a job. I also didn’t give much thought to anything else that would happen to me 40 years hence, such as aging, illness, the death of my parents, owning a home or having grandchildren. Twenty-somethings rarely think in these terms.

Then my pay was frozen for seven years. My retirement and health insurance are now keeping me out of poverty.

Teachers made a bargain a long time ago with the state: We would accept lower salaries in exchange for retirement and health benefits. Clearly, the state thought it would be fine to “trick” young, naive and enthusiastic state employees into working a low-paying job with no retirement or health benefits and abandon them when they were done serving.

Shame on North Carolina legislators.

A civilized society doesn’t do that to a huge workforce that works for the benefit of everyone.

Cable provider raised rate

Regarding the May 3 business article “Spectrum reassures Triangle customers”: My cable/phone/internet bill went from $177 to $205 this month. AT&T: Here I come.

Tax proposal not ‘reform’

Regarding the April 27 news article “White House proposes slashing tax rates”: Specifics of Republican income tax reform legislation were wanting. Once again, the fantasy that massive tax cuts for wealthy individuals will pay for themselves through huge gains in gross domestic product was touted as gospel despite being discredited in the Reagan and Bush II years.

This was not reform. It was decimation of federal revenue and deficit creation without tax simplification. We deserve a tax system that funds our government in a simple and fair fashion.

This story was originally published May 7, 2017 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Retirement, health benefits essential for North Carolina employees."