Brazil police storm Congress over proposal to raise retirement age

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters



Pension changes spark violence in Brasilia as police union members clash with congressional security forces

Reuters
Tuesday 18 April 2017 22.15 EDT


Congressional police in riot gear used tear gas to drive back hundreds of members of federal police unions who tried to invade the Brazilian Congress on Tuesday to protest against a pension reform bill that would reduce their benefits.

The demonstrators broke glass doors before being pushed back in a violent clash that underscored the unpopularity of the pension reform President Michel Temer’s government is proposing to balance Brazil’s overdrawn public accounts.

The lower Chamber of Deputies, where debate on the bill will begin at committee level on Wednesday, said in a statement that 500 demonstrators, most of them off-duty police officers, tried to invade the building but were repelled with no injuries reported.

The controversial reform sets a minimum retirement age of 65 in a country where public sector employees work on average to 54 before retiring in a generous social security system that is the main cause of Brazil’s unsustainable budget deficit.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/19/brazil-police-storm-congress-over-proposal-to-raise-retirement-age

[elmac]

1. what will happen here

when the fascists set our retirement age at 70?

[CousinIT]

2. BIG difference. Our social security program doesn't add to the debt or deficit

It's self-funded -- providing the Greedy Old Psychopath party (GOP) doesn't DEFUND it by getting rid of FICA taxes & calling that a "tax cut":

https://www.salon.com/2017/04/12/donald-trump-is-coming-for-your-social-security-how-the-gop-plans-a-bait-and-switch-to-cut-taxes-and-pensions/

[elmac]

9. Difference doesn't matter

if the fascists do it, and they will, then they will eliminate. Are we going to take that too? Sheep?

[snooper2]

3. It is not sustainable to live half your life for free off the doles of others

[NewRedDawn]

7. On the dole?

Not very progressive are we? I worked a very hard manual Construction job for over 25 yrs & was disabled from it by 45. So I guess I am on the Dole in your eyes. Are you sure you are in the right place with that attitude?

[snooper2]

8. disabled is different from being 50 and "abled"

[elmac]

10. We lost our factory jobs

now we are losing retail. With so many 10's of millions without a steady income we need a minimum income in this country and the uber rich needs to pay their share.

[snooper2]

12. Never Gonna Happen

Basic math-

Who is going to pay for it? Lets say....

30 million people x 20K a year- Just ONE YEAR, 600,000,000,000 Billion

[Javaman]

4. The reality is, most people now can't retire at 65 let alone 70.

I plan on dying at my desk. I joke to my coworkers that I have a coffin under it.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. May your job remain secure until you want to retire.

It's not easy to find good-paying work after "a certain age".

A coffin? My employer wouldn't allow a little foot-heater under my desk. But, I took an early retirement (age 69). Now, I don't need a foot-warmer: I have a dog.

Best to you, Javaman (Java coding language? Or a hot cuppa coffee?)

[Javaman]

6. Actually, the Javaman name came from an old archeological article I was reading when

I had to think up a nickname for DU. But it can be interchangeable with coffee or a computer language as well. LOL

I'm lucky to have a job as a professional paper pusher for an very large architectural firm. It's completely up to me to screw it up. LOL

It's pretty much a job for life or unless the company goes belly up, which thankfully doesn't seem to be the case at least as far as I can tell (I guess that's what people said about enron too. LOL)

[onetexan]

11. Can we do the same here if the loser Agent Orange cuts Social Security?