Regarding: “Atascadero pushes retirement age to 55,” Tribune, June 14.

Well, well. How fortunate we are to have such political leaders as found in Atascadero. This action supercedes being a Republican or a Democrat. It fits right in the middle of imbe cilic. How many of the voters can and do retire at 55 ? One would have to ask why this now ?

The answer is obvious. It is simply political correctness. Government workers should be taken off their pedestals and join the rest of society. They are no worse nor better than any of us. They should be treated as all citizens are treated. They should be paid no more nor less than their counterparts in the private sector. Their pension and benefits should be no more nor less than their counterparts in the private sector.

If we continue to treat public employees as special, we will all lose and fail. A question never asked is whether public employees like firefighters and police officers would work for the government if they were to be paid no more nor no less than the average private employee, or are they public employees because they get more from the taxpayers then they could get from private employers?