Government Tapping into Federal Employee Pensions
March 20, 2015
As the government approaches debt ceiling of $18.1 trillion on Monday, federal employees’ pensions once again are helping to forestall a government funding crisis. The Treasury Department will suspend investments into the trust fund that holds the assets of the federal employees' retirement systems.
It’s important to note that the reason we have a large government debt is that our tax system does not raise enough revenue to cover all the government's obligations under current law. Further, both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars were financed almost entirely by borrowed funds i.e. increases in the national debt.
"Once again, federal employees' retirement assets have come to the rescue of the nation," said AFGE President J. David Cox, Sr. “Although we recognize that the money will eventually be paid back, we believe that Congress should act more responsibly and either raise adequate revenue to fund the government or raise the debt ceiling or both."
By law, the Treasury must refill the G Fund and Civil Service Retirement & Disability Fund after the debt ceiling situation is addressed.
