Posted on 05/14/2012 7:13:00 AM PDT by ZULU
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — a rising star in the national Republican Party — called an overhaul of the state pension system his "biggest governmental victory." He now faces embarrassment from flaws his reforms failed to fix.
(Excerpt) Read more at openchannel.msnbc.msn.com ...
And we care what MSNBC has to say because....
I don’t ESPECIALLY care what MSNBC has to say about anything.
But facts are facts and the facts are presented in the article. It appears Mr. Christie has no problem with double dipping politicians - a partiocuarly odious problem in New Jersey.
And, since he appears to view himself as a VP candidate for Romney, this shouldbe something considered ALONG with his pro-Muslim, anti-Seocnd Amendment, pro-illegal alien positions.
This is the key point:
The sweeping new laws increase contributions from public workers, decrease benefits and halt cost-of-living hikes. According to Christie, the changes should save the state $120 billion over the next 30 years.
But his reform did little to stop the age-old New Jersey practice of double-dipping
The Christie reforms solved some of the pension problems, but there's still plenty more to resolve.
The thousands of people in the state who collect double pensions are not criminals, because the government intentionally wrote the laws and the contracts in a manner that allowed them to do so.
In return, the thousands of people who double-dip, or intend to double dip, or have close relatives who double-dip, voted for the politicians.
They voted themselves some slices of the treasury, as predicted. Many many more reforms are needed in New Jersey.
Does that ever happen in the private sector?
“But his reform did little to stop the age-old New Jersey practice of double-dipping, in which employees “retire,” start collecting a pension, and then are rehired, often the next day. Christie’s own deputy chief of staff collects $219,000 a year from the state — a $130,000 salary as a top aide to the governor plus $89,000 in state pension.
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Worse for Christie, a criminal investigation is under way involving his running mate, New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.”
So Christie is responsible for this???? has PMSNBC taken the same views on Holder? Solyndra? etc??
lets see how this plays out and how Christie reacts before we find out who is the one really embarrassed....
This issue came up when Christie inititally proposed his pension reforms - and he ignored it.
My guess is he will let this article die too. Like most politicians in both plitical parties - up till now - he has one standard to judge one group of people, and another to judge his allies.
And don’t expect the Dems to make an issue of this either. They have THEIR buddies they protect too. And so it is a case of mutual self-protection. Until the general public becomes aware enough and irate enough to demand it stop. Until then, ,politicians in both parties will go merrily on, raping the tax-payer and covering up for each other as its in their mutual best interests to do so.
Double dipping is legal. It should be outlawed. But right now it is legal.
New Jersey's electoral votes are safely locked up for Obama. Trust me. Obama can be our first "gay" president (as on the Newsweek cover). He can have the White House closets packed full of live boys and dead girls. He can serve baked poodle at a State Dinner. It doesn't matter. New Jersey is still going to vote for Obama. The only reason Christie won the governorship over Corzine is that New Jersey's state elections are held in odd-numbered years and the Democrat machine doesn't pull out all the stops for fraud in these elections. Both Romney and Christie must know this, and if they don't, the Republicans deserve to lose in November.
It makes no sense to elect CINOs, no matter how much they spew.
PING
BINGO.
Despite Ann Coulter’s mindless ravings, neither Romney nor Christie are conservatives.
Romney we are stuck with. At this point, we aren;t stuck with Christie - at this point.
The Supranos
I was not impressed when Christie told a mom with a kid in the public school that it was none of her business that he sent his kids to private schools.
That is a liberal argument that defends liberals who kill school choice vouchers which keeps kids out of the schools that their kids go to, like in DC with Obama.
Christie is all sizzle, and no bacon.
What you guys always fail to consider is that when you look at government employees they only have one CEO. In the private sector there are nearly 7 million CEOs ~ not that all of them are getting rich of course, but they are part of the "work force".
The government employees didn't invent the double-dip gimmicks, or how to boost your tap on the company pension fund at the end of your career with lots and lots of fake overtime. That came out of private sector dealing with IRS and with the federal and state agencies that regulate pension rights ~ and who look for criminals attempting to bilk pension plans.
If you need some supplemental education concerning how pension plans get bilked take a look at the history of LTV ~ and its pension plans.
As a taxpayer you are paying for their management ~ and to some degree their payments! The company started out by attempting to clawback what they called "excess contributions" ~ which used to be a much more common practice today. That's pretty much like management claiming 'management overtime' ~ and the pattern follows the public employee union deals where end of employment overtime counts double ~
Look here, the term "bilk" is derived from a Romany word "bilco" which means, little thief ~ with the implication being "A minor tapping that pays off for many years". Golden parachutes are in the same class, as is the Pigeon Drop Game.
So, how do you keep traditional Gypsy scams out of government retirement systems? Well, you do it the same way you keep them out of private sector management retirement systems, or private sector union managed retirement systems, or out of stores where someone drops what seems to be a large wad of money which they agree to share with you after they check with the store manager ~ provided you put up some earnest money.
THe double dipping scam is most egregious with political office holders who hold elected office for several years, then get “appointed” to some committee or special advisory group at inflated salaries - generally in some area they know nothing about - and stay only long enough to draw down a handsome pension based on the state retirement system formula. That formula is based on the number of years in the system and the three highest salaried years. So if you have some clown who was an elected official on a part time bases for x number of years and then gets appointed to some special slot at a vastly inflated salary, he or she can then retire based on those few years of full time income and the many years as a part-time elected official. Its a scam.
When it comes to double dipping, NO ONE can beat law-enforcement. They are EXPERTS at it.
I’ve never met a private sector employee who was able to pad his/her yearly pension by working crazy overtime in their last year of work but I could fill a book the with the teachers, cops, transit workers, fireman etc. who have.
What you have is a group ~ could be public or private ~ who have the power, and they trick things up so they can LOOT the pension program.
Their draw will be greater than that of others ~ and their contribution will be far less as a percentage of their ordinary salary.
IRS actually enforces existing federal laws regarding 401(k) plans ~ and there are other agencies that do different things regarding pension plans. You might enjoy reading through this little article because it names all the major actors who can affect your own pension from any source ~ >http://www.enotes.com/retirement-aging-reference/retirement-pension-plans
The double- and triple-dipping mayors and school superintendants really aren't the same sort of employees as the guys sweeping the floor at the highschool, or killing the mosquito infestations.
In fact, many of those higher ranking appointees came to the job under contracts that provided for very favorable downstream retirement treatment. To them those extra 'dips' are just deferred compensation. If they get them at the expense of the rank and file retirement system which pays the retirements of the civil service employees, that could be construed as THEFT, but on the part of the public officials (usually elected) who offered a contract like that.
Sometimes the public rage is well justified but you have to correctly identify the thieves.
Civil service employees have few options ~ the overtime trick is used where you have public officials who decided to DEFER a property tax increase by promising the union (if there is a union) an extra dip into the retirement pool.
So, who's the thief in that case? Is it the employee or is it the public official, and if so, who benefited ~ obviously the taxpayers benefited eh?!
Bet they'd preferred getting a tax increase. (Bwahahahahahaha)(you made my day).
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