There’s a new odor in the air, the stench of the “bloated” government pension. A Pilot editorial got on board, calling state employee pensions “lavish” (Dec. 15). As a retired state employee I had to laugh.

The private sector — management, generally — destroyed defined benefit pension programs for its rank-and-file, cut their salaries, took their jobs overseas, made the remaining low-paid service employees and turned them loose into 401ks they had to manage. Something like Republicans want to do to Social Security.

Now the political spin machine of the private sector is looking beady-eyed at government pensions. It’s all just noise, you know, bad government, managed under the aegis of state governments. Of course, those funds lost billions, too.

So the private sector that does all it can to marginalize its workers, except the upper echelons — get this — now complains that its employees don’t have the same kind of pensions government workers have.

It’s hypocritical, absurd, unbelieveable, almost laughable, the ol’ bait and switch.

Bob Katrin

Southern Pines