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Steve Sweeney,: He offered the unions a meaningful pension reform plan in 2006 but they called him a rat for doing so

(Molly J. Smith/The Jersey Journal)

Where’s that giant inflatable rat? I suspect we may be seeing it soon in Trenton. But this time the target won’t be Steve Sweeney.

That wasn’t the case during the Corzine administration. Back then, the state senator from Gloucester County was a fiery back-bencher who drove his fellow Democrats crazy with his calls for the much-needed reform of public pensions.

That led to a 2006 Statehouse rally by about 10,000 public employees — on a work day, of course — at which Gov. Jon Corzine had what became known as his "Norma Rae" moment, yelling "We’re gonna fight for a fair contract!" to the screaming crowd. (See the video below.)

Across State Street, a giant inflatable rat was on display. The union workers intended "Scabby the Rat" to symbolize Sweeney. As a leader in the Ironworkers Union, Sweeney was incensed at all the giveaways the public employee unions were getting, particularly in the area of pensions and health benefits. Sweeney pointed out that unionized employees in the private sector don’t get the sweetheart deals the public employees do.

Those deals led to what was then a $27 billion deficit in the state-run pension funds. Sweeney proposed closing the gap through an innovative plan that has since been implemented in other states. Under the Sweeney scheme, current employees would have kept their pensions and benefits but new hires would have gotten defined-contribution retirement plans and reduced health benefits.

"You can’t put enough money into the pensions and benefits side to make this up," he said at the time.

The inflatable rat the unions used to caricature Steve Sweeney

Truer words were never spoken. And Gov. Chris Christie uttered similar words at Tuesday’s press conference, at which he announced that

he will balance his budge

t by making big cuts in state pension contributions.

"Our problem is we have made promises to people that we cannot keep," the governor said.

At that point, Sweeney could have said "I told you so." Instead, Sweeney attacked Christie, calling the decision "callous and yet another attempt by this administration to point the finger at someone else."

Perhaps. But if Sweeney himself wanted to point fingers, he could point at the Democrats who ganged up on him eight years ago, burying a plan that represented the last chance to put the pension funds on a sustainable track before they fell into the abyss — which is now more than $50 billion deep.

This is just good old-fashioned politics on the part of both men. Sweeney has moved from the back bench to a spot behind the podium in the Senate chambers. And he’s angling for the Democratic nomination to succeed Christie in 2017. By criticizing Christie, he helped solidify his base.

Chris Christie: He won't commit political suicide for the public-employee unions.

That’s exactly what Christie did on the Republican side. That press conference went on for 29 minutes Tuesday, but let me condense it in one sentence: "If you think I’m going to commit political suicide to bail out the public employee unions, you’re crazy."

That was Christie’s message. And in political terms, it was a very practical message indeed. Raising taxes would kill him with his fellow Republicans. Making cuts elsewhere in the budget would leave him open to attack from the Democrats. This move permitted him to balance his budget and lay the blame on the greedy unions.

As to what happens next, I suspect not much. The unions are making noises about suing, but they tried that already. In 2007, Mercer County Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg rejected a suit by the New Jersey Education Association to force higher pension contributions. Feinberg ruled that the court lacks the authority to intervene as long as the fund is able to pay out current benefits, something it will be able to do for years beyond the end of Christie’s term.

Sweeney and his fellow Democrats could try to restore the pension contributions in the budget now under consideration for the 2015 fiscal year, which starts July 1. But Christie anticipated that.

"If the Legislature wants to try and so something else, that’s obviously in their province," he said Tuesday. "If they have other ideas, I’m willing to discuss it."

Unless of course those "other ideas" include tax hikes. Christie promised to veto any bills to raise sales or income taxes. They’re already among the highest in the nation. So don’t expect the pension fund to be shored up anytime soon.

Those union bosses should have listened to Sweeney back in 2006. Instead, they ended up cornered — like a rat, you might say.

ADD: A commenter offered this link to a very good piece by Steven Malanga making the same point I made in the column: The time to save the pensions was back in 2006, when Sweeney first proposed it and Corzine attacked him for doing so.

Check the graph from the article. You'll note that in 2006 a solution was still within reach. By the time Christie took office, it was too late. The system cannot be saved.

By the way, the real problem here and is that the federal government does not require governments to meet the same funding levels as private industry. If that were required, most public entities would have had to drop their pension plans long ago.