"'Military and civilian pensions are both out of line with pension benefits available to the average worker in the private sector, and in some cases, out of line with each other across different categories of federal employment,' the new version of the plan states. Simpson-Bowles recommends 'gradually' increasing federal civilian pensions 'so that new federal employees ultimately pay about one-half the cost of their pensions, and existing federal employees pay one-quarter.'"  MORE >>