Bernie Madoff is said to be the biggest thief in America. He stole billions of dollars from those whose money he claimed to be investing for their future. For his crimes he received a life sentence in prison and his assets were seized and sold to make partial restitution to those he swindled.

Bernie diverted money for his pet projects and he is paying the price. Our legislators have done the same thing and now they're telling us that the retirement systems are severely underfunded and they're going to have to make some "painful" decisions. Painful for whom? It clearly isn't going to be painful for them; they're still free, still in office, still drawing a salary, an expense account and their pensions are secure.

Perhaps as a sign of good faith and contrition, they should forgo their salaries and revoke their pensions. After all, a state legislator is only a part-time job. They shouldn't be getting a pension anyway, and they have a full-time job to provide for their financial well-being. The current and soon-to-be retirees who have been contributing to and planning around the retirement system upheld their part of the contract, but now they're expected to pay for the con men in Springfield's crimes.

Besides, isn't it counterintuitive to expect the people who didn't have the foresight or fortitude to face this problem before to suddenly be capable of fixing it?

Byron K. Joyce

O'Fallon