Jim Kimmel and George Doyle to John Curry re: Preparing us for the kill

From Jim Kimmel, September 29, 2006

Subject: Re: STRS - Are THEY preparing US for the kill?

Tell George it makes sense if you are attacking the concept of STRS provided health insurance from all possible angles in order to "get out of the healthcare business" as Dyer mentioned a few years ago. They are rolling along with their agenda. It is the idea of privatizing everything they can and dividing and conquering the retirees Never mind who it hurts if a few can make millions!!.

1. If all retirees are in hundreds of private insurance companies for HC they cannot unite and complain the way CORE has done.

2. The individual stock options for new teachers will put each one at the mercy of stock brokers who can make a killing on their backs. (again- divide and conquer)

3.Some of the options for new teachers in the stock market individual (stock broker) plans will give them no health insurance when they retire. I wonder how fully that is explained to the new teachers who are young and think they will never be sick .

4.It is very uncomfortable and unacceptable to many in the business world that mere teachers, police, fire and safety personnel and other "mere" public servants should have retirement systems which own large blocks of stock of large corporations, enough to influence management decisions. I think for a long time the goal has been to diminish these funds, built from the sweat of honest teachers, cops, etc., with no regard for the retirees they are destroying. The individual plans would "divide and conquer" and eliminate the influence of these workers. There have been situations where retirement systems like STRS (including STRS) have thrown their weight around at tobacco companies and others and made changes. By sabotaging STRS corporations can stop such "interference".

5. The reason, I think, that OPERS has been run more effectively, especially in the area of Health Care, is that OPERS has as its retirees and potential retirees a lot of the powerful politicians and bureaucrats in the state of Ohio. They of course protect their own, including the STRS staff. I taught with a guy who, besides teaching, had been a member of the Township Trustees and our local city council, as well as other elected posts. he was a HS government teacher and in a very real way practiced what he preached. When he retired after 30 years of teaching he chose OPERS because he had a choice between OPERS and STRS. He knew which one was the best.....

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From George Doyle, September 28, 2006

Subject: RE: STRS - Are THEY preparing US for the kill?

John:

I think this is a crock!! If they are so concerned about healthy people leaving the system for other health care, why are they forcing healthy people who work in the private sector to take their employer's insurance? This makes no sense at all!!!

George