It’s that time of year again — when the temperature is cooling off and the leaves are falling — when we must once again enter that most frightening of places: the Haunted House of Pension Horrors. Full of frightening characters seeking to send pensions to the grave, this dreadful abode haunts the dreams of working families. Let’s venture in for a closer look at this rogue’s gallery of ghouls and spooks.

Like a spider spinning a web to capture its prey, John Arnold has spun a web of connections among many anti-pension organizations seeking to eliminate public pensions. We documented Arnold’s web of connections in this frightening video:

 

Like Dr. Frankenstein using his brilliance to nefarious ends, Pew creates monstrosities composed of different parts –like the cash balance plans they pushed in Kansas and Kentucky– and then turns them loose on unsuspecting working families.

 

The Retirement Security Initiative reminds one of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. While they claim to support retirement security for working people, they also work to gut pensions in multiple states. It’s as if they have two personalities working against each other.

 

Like the sight of the full moon to a werewolf, The Reason Foundation turns rabid at the sight of a public pension. This stridently anti-pension organization travels from state to state instructing anti-pension legislators on how to dismantle retirement security for working families. They even have a handbook for how to do it.

 

Like two giants trampling over the United States smashing the rights of working people, the Koch Brothers play an oversized role in attacks on public pensions, collective bargaining rights, and other policies that support workers. Their giant presence casts a deep, dark shadow over the fight for retirement security.

 

Finally, no trip into the Haunted House of Pension Horrors would be complete without an appearance from Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin. With his constant insults and relentless attacks on public pensions, Bevin has shown himself to be a truly ghoulish opponent.