Dear Editor,
Scott Reeder, in a recent “special” to the Rockford Register Star, wrote about what the State of Illinois needs to do on State pensions.
As a corporate journalist Reeder wrote in boilerplate fashion expressing the wishes of the money hogs called the 2%. Reeder’s article was, however, wrong. It was wrong in it’s statements, it’s slant and it’s conclusion.
Reeder is doing the
“whining” actually. Reeder whines about working people getting a fair retirement pension. Reeder wants that pension money going into the already bulging pockets of the wealthy. I am sure Reeder is looking forward to a handsome pension from his corporate bosses.Reeder’s argument comes down to blaming teachers for working, for paying into an agreed upon pension system and then fighting to keep what is rightfully theirs.
Reeder calls that “whining”.
I call it standing up for yourself.
Reeder cherry picks statistics and lies by omission. Reeder never mentions the Governors, the State Representatives, the State Senators, past and present, here in Illinois who have mismanaged the State’s pensions for three decades, who are the real cause of this mess.
Reeder represents the lowest level of journalism—the hack level—where unfortunately too many in the field reside.
Reeder’s work is a clear example of why more and more Americans have lost faith in the Corporate Media System. And why newspapers are going belly-up around the country.
Mr. Reeder, I reject your false article.
I will stand with the teachers, with public education, with the unions, with a living wage and the fair pension system as it stands.
Mr. Reeder, I reject the rancid, elitist, corporate philosophy of greed and destruction that you represent.
A good solution to many of the current problems facing America is to stand up to the corporations and end their reign of tyranny. The corporations own the Congress and many of the State Houses of this nation. It is time for people to choose. To live standing on your feet or to merely exist on your knees kowtowing to the corporations and listening to the whine of the likes of Rockford’s spin-star, Mr. Reeder.
Yours truly,
Mike Barr
Tags: corporate media, Illinois, pensions, Rockford IL, Rockford Register Star, Scott Reeder, State of Illinois, teachers, Winnebago County