RH Jones: Letter published in the Akron Beacon Journal

From RH Jones, January 8, 2010
Subject: My "Letter to the Editor" & , also, paying $14 more per month for Medicare

John, Kathie and all:

Today, 01-08-2010, I have a “Letter to the Editor” in the Akron Beacon Journal, Pg. A8, entitled: “Teachers pensions are well earned”.

The purpose of this email is to alert on our web all who may have read it that the editor left out -- and that is the editor’s privilege to do so -- where I wrote our COLA is only on each individuals’ base, and it does not compound each year.

With that not in, we will probably get some flak from those uninformed individuals who may envy this 3%. Also, I would like to remind folks that Social Security for many, with the exception of this year and next that for many, long years Social Security awarded compounded COLAs twice per year.

By the way, believe me, I am not being a crybaby; but, I am complaining. However, having a very modest OH STRS monthly check, with President Obama’s new Medicare program (Which was approved by Congress); I am now hit with a new $14 per month increase!

My case in point: I did work and paid into it for 20 years, but one must work thirty to be eligible as a primary recipient. Now, realistically, at age 78, I am not likely to be hired for employment. And, I would get hurt with the Ronald Reagan’s GPO/WEP anyway. My wife, having worked 30 years, does get an extremely modest check and has no Medicare increase, and I thank whomever for that; however, but with me being her spouse, I am fortunately eligible for Medicare, and unfortunately get the $14 cost increase.

As a registered Democrat, may I ask: Is the Democratic Party for the common man? If so, why did I get this $14 cost increase that amounts to $168 per year? And, I wonder also, will my Democratic Ohio Governor help me maintain my non-compounded 3% COLA so that I can pay for an increasingly even greater cost of living? Or perhaps, should I be looking for a third political party? Neither the GOP nor the Dems, so far, have not been much help to this retired teacher.

RHJones, a common man who just happens to be a retired Ohio teacher.

Letter in the Beacon Journal, 1/8/10:

Teachers' pensions are well earned

I can only speak as a retired Akron teacher. I must say that ''pension envy'' is not good for Akron, or Ohio.

We teachers taught students to read, and we taught them basic skills to serve in the private sector. When comparing pensions, there are too many variations between private and public employment for envy to be a factor.

For instance, in the private sector, there are numerous wealthy individuals who do not even need a pension.

During the Great Depression, when I attended the Lincoln Elementary School, the wonderful teachers there taught students who have become highly productive citizens. In my class, two classmates earned millions in the real estate business, one was a highly successful automobile dealer, two became medical doctors, one became a lawyer and another became a judge.

One became an Army lieutenant colonel, and one even became Akron's police chief. There are too many who became outstanding citizens to mention in this letter.

Those wonderful educators who taught us are on pension now, and some are in nursing homes. We ex-students know they certainly earned their pensions. Fortunately for Akron's citizens, they do have a pension, limited health care and prescription insurance and a cost-of-living allowance.

If they were not offered this modest pension, they might have chosen another profession. Then we would all have been losers.

Once again, to all those truly wonderful educators who taught my classmates and me, I give my deepest, heartfelt thanks.

Robert H. Jones
Norton