Good on the Washington Examiner for going (relatively) in depth about the pension benefits for employees of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The two-parter reveals that calculations for transit workers’ pension benefits include overtime earnings, a practice that the paper notes is not common among transit agencies in other cities. It also takes aim—-rather justifiably—-at the secrecy that WMATA maintains with respect to the pension plan. It’s not subject to any reporting requirements, according to the Examiner, and no freedom of information laws apply.

But don’t expect outrage to come billowing out of the blogosphere and the John A. Wilson Building. After all, the big bombshell in the series is that…bus drivers and train operators are getting a good deal. Who’s going to come out against the working man? Especially a working man putting in insane hours?

Here’s a telling graph from the series:

A recent Examiner report…found that hundreds of hourly Metro employees, including bus drivers and train operators, make six-figure incomes when overtime is included, which is significantly higher than the regional average for the private sector.