Broken Promises

Much has been made in the financial media about attempts to break contacts.  Of course, the focus is on the AIG bonus contracts.  Frankly, I think there is a problem with a society that decides to stiff payments which were contractual obligations.  Not that I agree with the AIG bonuses, but I think we begin to walk down a path which we need to closely and thoroughly examine, before we begin breaching contractual obligations.

Many pundits have made excellent points that while it seems "wrong" to break the AIG contacts, there seems to be no problem in breaking contacts with union represented employees of General Motors, Chrysler, or Ford.  And now there are municipalities which are gearing up to break contracts with police, fire professionals, and other employees.  The most perplexing thing is the Obama Administration's desire to force General Motors to restructure the health care obligations to retirees.  I keep wondering whether I misread this statement, because isn't one of the tenants of this Administration providing quality health care for all Americans?

That said, it is the promise we made and continue to make to our most valuable citizens, seniors, that after enduring years of hard work, they can retire, live a comfortable life doing the things they dreamed about while breaking their backs earning a living, putting children through school, volunteering in their communities.  It is that promise that we are breaking.  More and more seniors are being forced back to work because the retirement savings crashed and burned in the stock market or real estate, along with the inflation in fuel costs, medicines, and other necessities.  We are, as a society, breaking a promise.  

While the addition of valuable and experienced voices in the work place is important, this is not how most seniors envisioned their lives.  Just as the GM workers did not realize they would have to scramble to find health insurance and come up with the extra money for monthly payments.

Meanwhile, we still seem to keep promises to those who make a whole lot of money.