Posted on 02/25/2011 5:02:26 PM PST by renewableenergy2
Pension crisis
I do not think that any elected officials have a viable solution to the pension deficit issue which will continue to grow.
As I said before there is no simple solution. This is an issue that affects every level of government (City, County, State, Federal, Etc.). No one solution or one individual can solve this problem. It would take a committee with multitude of financial planners and an open mind to modify the plan as it progresses, when some facets of the plan do not work as anticipated.
But as the crisis grows, we as people of this great country must put our differences aside and work for the common goals and restore our City, State and the Nation to the spirit of our founding fathers.
I think that every politician or candidate should state what they propose to do to correct the situation and not attack their opponent or the opposition.
Tell me and or show me what you can do, not what the other did not do or did wrong.
Action speaks louder than words.
We need to remain vigilant, especially as the City of Los Angeles is facing a monumental fiscal crisis.
Public confidence in the integrity of the Government is indispensable to faith in democracy; and when we lose faith in the system, we have lost faith in everything we fight and spend for.
Thank you
YJ Draiman for Mayor of LA
I don’t have faith in “democracy”....I have faith in a Constitutional Republic...
It has been said many times, but again, “ignorance is our most expensive commodity”.
Most public employee pension funds are controlled by the state. They are actual funds with assets and have not been raided by the Government. The problem is that there is not enough money in the funds to pay promised pensions.
Some unions of non-public employees do have their own pension funds and the union bosses have raided them on numerous occasions for corrupt purposes.
Simple solution was already posted here: Tax back all “windfall profits” from the Unionistas.
Correction to one error in the lead paragraph: there’s no “crunch” in federal pensions. That system (FERS) is fully funded and in no danger.
What’s happening in many states is a completely different story, however.
I dont think anyone including the people that negotiated these contracts had any idea of the impact or long term effects that they would have. Im just wondering if they could get projections on paying out the remaining pentions and set up planned savings for future retirees.
Teachers are also being targeted. In most cases they work longer than police, fire and government professionals and the other professions have more years of retirement and more lucrative pentions. Also some police admin, judges etc have pentions over 150 k per year for the rest of their lives.
If you haven’t read it, this is the best article I’ve read about Government unions. They are deadly to a nation’s economy and to public education and are incompatible with personal freedom.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2679702/posts
Here’s an idea...
1. Raise the retirement age!
2. Increase the cost to the employee. In Wisconsin, Teachers pay $1.00 for every $26.50 paid by the TAXPAYER!
3. In the case of civil service employees who pay no social security REALLY increase the employee donation.
Quit making the Taxpayer fund a 401 then tax us to pay for the government pension. The Taxpayer should never pay more than the government worker.
Not for nothin, but teachers don’t pay into SS, and they do not get it either. Not unless they work extra jobs.
Not a big fan of the unions, but Social Security is not a pension. It is a supplement. We need to start educating folks of that point.
I am 59. I always believed that SS was my retirement. I HAD a Guaranteed Retirement Account. It was called Social Security and my representatives spent it! Why is this different from the pensions that the Unions will/won’t be enjoying?
PS-teachers get a full salary for 9 months work. I have NEVER had that benefit.
My point being that in an average month I pay $900 between SS and Medicare while teachers pay so LITTLE into their teachers retirement system. A smart govt worker would invest that 900 in a IRA and really collect. After I pay into SS, I have to pay taxes to fund their retirement, and another $1000 into a 401 for my own retirement. I pay for theirs, and fund my own, so I see no real reason why the civil service employee’s can’t pay a bit more than the $1.00 they pay in Wisconsin for every $26.50 from the taxpayer.
Their game is up, because NOW folks are finding out the true story about the poor civil servant. They should have just quit their complaining because the genie is outta the bottle. Oh, and I agree that SS is not a retirement. Thanks
Michigan provided an option for police and fire pensions to be managed by local governmental agencies through a pension board. Other governmental employees are through the state MERS (municipal employee retirement system).
My pension is local and the rules are very strick how and where the money can be invested.
Another poster says the fed system is fully funded. That only means that there is enough money coming in to cover the outgo. Once the income stops, the outgo rapidly diminishes the funded. Fully funded is an actuarial term and does not mean there is enough money in the system to cover all future payments. It just means as long as there is income, or future contributions. This changes rapidly when fewer and fewer people pay into the system as is rapidly happening with layoffs in the public sector.
Many departments in Michigan have actually raised their retirement age to 55 years plus a minimum service usually 25 years.
55 years is great for administrative people but not so great for field officers.
>> As I said before there is no simple solution.
I know a few non-pensioners that are blowing through their retirement savings to help pay the bills hoping to survive Obama’s repressed economy. I have no special pity said aside for anyone. We’re all in the same boat and no one has the right to priority buoyancy.
I am sorry you are finding yourself in that position. I really am. You have been lied to, and not educated by the people who are about to enslave you.
Social Security has ALWAYS been a supplemental plan.
I dont disagree. I think that the entire pension system in the states is a disaster. But making them pay into SS is only going to result in more people going into the system.
I agree that all teachers should be allowed a opt out of SS but where can us regular folks apply? My only point is that the Federal,State, and local workers should pay enough to pay for their pensions. Most do not.
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