The widely respected Pew Charitable Trusts is engaged in a major ongoing campaign with right-wing Enron billionaire John Arnold to undercut public pensions across the country, writes David Sirota in a report released Thursday for the Institute for America's Future. According to Sirota, Pew positions itself as a nonpartisan organization dedicated to the public interest, but when it comes to pensions, Pew has taken an extreme position and allied itself with conservative activists bent on undoing public pension programs across the country to protect corporate subsidies.

As recently reported, conservatives across the country are stepping up their assaults on the pensions of public workers. But it isn't just at the local government level that such attacks are happening. Legislation that would change or cut public pensions are being pursued in several states, including Oklahoma. Much like the proposals you see in the cities, Tulsa World is reporting Gov. Mary Fallin (R) and Republican legislative leaders are pushing a plan to switch pensions for state workers from defined-benefit plans to defined-contribution plans, which could amount to massive cuts in retiree benefits. The switch would leave many, including those who are not part of the Social Security system, in poverty.