Lee Elci: We talked last week. Your latest column that came out, I think, is a bombshell, if you will. Pension spiking in Connecticut with state employees retiring on pensions 38% higher than their salaries. How did this practice become so entrenched?
Red Jahncke: It's been a practice [since] the 1980s, but most states have begun to rein it in. It's been the most dramatically abused in the blue states with heavy public sector unionization. California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, all the usual suspects. But, what's going on in our state is jaw dropping, even to people who know this game. The idea that people are retiring with beginning pensions far in excess of their last salary is just an eye popping and astounding condition.
Lee Elci: Why do you think Connecticut, this little state, is the second most unionized state?