Posted on 06/06/2012 7:37:23 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Voters in two major California cities overwhelmingly approved cuts to retirement benefits for city workers in what supporters said was a mandate that may lead to similar ballot initiatives in other states and cities that are struggling with mounting pension obligations.
Supporters had a simple message to voters in San Diego and San Jose: Pensions for city workers are unaffordable and more generous than many private companies offer, forcing libraries to slash hours and potholes to go unfilled.
"The public is frustrated," said San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio, a Republican who staked his mayoral bid on the pension measure and advanced to a November runoff in Tuesday's election to lead the nation's eighth-largest city.
In San Diego, 66 percent voted in favor of Proposition B, while 34 percent were opposed. Nearly 97 percent of precincts were tallied by early Wednesday.
The landslide was even bigger in San Jose, the nation's 10th-largest city. With all precincts counted, 70 percent were in favor of Measure B and 30 percent were opposed.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Well darn..../s
Do You Know The Way To San Jose lyrics
Songwriters: BACHARACH, BURT / DAVID, HAL
Do you know the way to San Jose?
I’ve been away so long. I may go wrong and lose my way.
Do you know the way to San Jose?
I’m going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose.
L.A. is a great big freeway.
Put a hundred down and buy a car.
In a week, maybe two, they’ll make you a star
Weeks turn into years. How quick they pass
And all the stars that never were
Are parking cars and pumping gas
You can really breathe in San Jose?
They’ve got a lot of space. There’ll be a place where I can stay
I was born and raised in San Jose
I’m going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose.
Fame and fortune is a magnet.
It can pull you far away from home
With a dream in your heart you’re never alone.
Dreams turn into dust and blow away
And there you are without a friend
You pack your car and ride away
I’ve got lots of friends in San Jose
Do you know the way to San Jose?
Can’t wait to get back to San Jose.
Better have a fortune if moving to San Jose, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoooooo-—wooooooo—whoooooooa.
I bet the courts will simply declare these votes unconstitutional...
Unfortunately, the taxpayers are still stuck with the high salaries and hugh pensions of current employees. We can’t afford those either. Then pension reform hasn’t gone far enough.
When’s the Recall?
Right on. We need to figure out how much we need to pay these folks TODAY for the work they do TODAY. Just like everyone else with a job. It is ridiculous to promise them pay and benefits for the REST OF THEIR LIVES in exchange for the next 20 years work. Maybe they should get a raise. But when the work stops, the pay and benefits stop. I’m sure someone will take that deal if the current crop resigns over it.
Reports from a variety of media reveal California state employees are spiking their pensions to stratospheric levels, leaving nothing for their brother employees. Sorry, can't blame Wall Street for this one. In a laudable instance of the mainstream media doing its job, the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee, Bloomberg News and City Journal have all exposed "pension spiking" by California public employees.
Basically, the govt greedsters manipulate rigid unionized pay and promotion systems to raise their pensions well above what they earned during their working years.
The Los Angeles Times pieced together tough-to-get data from Kern and Ventura counties and found a fiscal horror story: In Kern, 77% of public employees with pensions greater than $100,000 actually get more than they did during their working lives. In Ventura, the figure is 84%. Kern has a $761 million pension shortfall, in part due to the practice.
Both the practice and the lack of transparency are signs of a rotten system. Bigger counties like San Diego and Los Angeles also permit pension spiking.
AND GET THIS: LA govt insiders asked the Times to fork over $63,000 for "research" or they won't reveal a thing about govt budgets (tax dollars). Seems it doesn't bother the govt bureaucrats to pay out the spiked cash, but knowing how much of the tax dollars are going out is (not allowed)....... (Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
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FReeper grampadave posted: CBS Evening News reported 3/7/12---San Jose, CA has three spanking new libraries and a mega- police station that are vacant and unused b/c of lack of funds----govt worker pensions are eating up the city budget. Govt workers get 90% of their salaries as pensions when they retire at the age of 50 or so---probably into a 2nd low-show six- figure govt job.
Vallejo, the city that went bankrupt closed a new fire station and for awhile had the community of Benicia on call for fires and police action. Then, things seemed to turn around, the fire station was reopened, cops and firemen were hired, and we started hearing about the Vallejo miracle.Most of us know that the age of miracles died about 2000 years ago.
So how did Vallejo liberals running the same Ponzi games with union thug voters turn Vallejo around? Apparently, the new regime got promises from the thugs in DC and got federal grants to pay their bills. Eventually the evil bond holders/creditors will be knocking at the doors asking for money that will not be there when those grants run out.Vallejo was in vote-crazed Obama's pants in the last election, and they will be even more so in the upcoming election.......there was no Vallejo Miracle just more of the same criminal con game.
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Paraphrasing Saint Augustine “Without a system of justice – what is govt but a marauding band of thieves.”
NO MORE PIE FOR YOU!
Some Democrat judge beholden to the Party will just declare void due to rasism, or homophbia, or sumpin.
Yeah, but how did Obama do in the exit polling?
I had an aunt and uncle who moved there after retiring from the Air Force. It didn’t take long for them to grow to detest the city. They bailed out just before the property values started to crumble.
If the court declares it unconstitutional, the only alternative is city bankruptcy.
Good. This is a start. Maybe now my insufferable liberal former-teacher-retired-at-age-52 sister-in-law will get her cumuppance. She constantly moans that she worked so hard, got paid so little and she deserves more. For the children...I know. The main problem is that she seems to feel she knows everything and she won’t STFU. But it would be nice to see her pension cut by say 50%.
Good. This is a start. Maybe now my insufferable liberal former-teacher-retired-at-age-52 sister-in-law will get her cumuppance. She constantly moans that she worked so hard, got paid so little and she deserves more. For the children...I know. The main problem is that she seems to feel she knows everything and she won’t STFU. But it would be nice to see her pension cut by say 50%.
In the end this sort of pension system cannot continue. There is not enough money. One way or the other it can’t last. If that chaps certain deserving asses, good!
NO ONE should get paychecks for not working. Social Security checks are bad enough.
The billions of Obama's shovel ready stimulus funds sent to California to stimulate the economy, were shovelled right into CALPERS to stimulate government employee retirements.
And now the lawsuits and ninth circus start the process to overturn the voter’s will.
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