Letters to the Editor

Many public workers finally to get earned Social Security

I am proud of the role RPEN – Retired Public Employees of Nevada – had to congressional bill H.R. 82 repealing the WEP - Windfall Elimination Provision – and GPO – Government Pension Offset. These two programs, started by President. Ronald Reagan, took away earned Social Security from thousands of Nevada public employees, including police, firemen, and teachers. Lots of people and organizations in the U.S. got this passed, and RPEN members did their part contacting our representatives, putting together petitions and keeping the pressure on.

The votes in Congress were overwhelming and Joe Biden signed the bill January 5. I want to thank all Nevadans who helped support this bill and urge public workers to support RPEN and its mission to protect PERS and employee benefits. Special thanks to our senators, Catherine Cortez-Masto and Jacky Rosen and congressional representatives Dina Titus, Susie Lee, Steven Horsford and Mark Amodei for their support in passing this bill.

RPEN is a nearly 50-year-old member-supported non-profit organization dedicated to protecting NVPERS (Public Employee Retirement System) and retiree benefits. This effort regained benefits for NVPERS retirees who have had their earned Social Security benefits cut.

Anyone who wants to help save PERS, get information on RPEN at www.rpen.org, where prospective members can find our membership application, along with supplemental member benefits offered through AMBA, our member benefits provider.

Thanks to all who helped this successful effort!!

Lynne Ballatore

RPEN State President

Don’t blame global warming, blame poor government leadership

Hurricane season in the southeastern U.S. is usually June through November and that’s been common knowledge for a very long time. Weather forecasting has been improving through the years as well warning systems, building practices that are more resilient, and maybe most importantly, people put in trusted positions doing things that hopefully soften, loss of life and property well before and up to the time just before and after the worst happens, with another bonus that if lucky enough to dodge the brunt of the disaster, to quickly send the needed resources to places that weren’t so fortunate.

There will always be something that changes to undermine the best plans, but the best people usually have and or quickly devise helpful alternate plans to help those in need. The U.S. has been witness to leadership that has shown very well at how to handle major issues how Mother Nature can throw at the living and the things they build, as well as how poor leadership can fail at some very basic planning to avert the loss of life and pain the taxpayer people, that entrusted them, getting down finger-pointing to divert any responsibility from them.

The leadership in Florida, even if not perfect, is an example, would be much preferable than the leadership on full display in California, that are now in search of “scapegoats”, even like simple plans that could have been planned at a nice dinner at the “French Laundry” restaurant, planning repairing the “liner” of a major water reservoir that supplied a great number of fire hydrants in a very vulnerable area at a time the Santa Ana winds are less likely to be blowing.

Of course it would be important to implement that plan in a timely fashion. It seems now, these impressive “not responsible for anything” are now heavily touting with the help of many others like many news outlets, the real blame is the old standby “global warming” and all those people driving their SUVS, etc. and that’s why they are California problems and should have to pay with higher taxes to rectify things.

We don’t have control over many things, but we do have some control for now, of the people we empower with our tax money to do the “right” actions on our behalf.

David Jaronik