Pension ReformCalSTRS Drops Fund ProjectionsFriday, February 3rd, 2012 John Seiler: Putting its investment projections slightly more in line with reality, yesterday CalSTRS downgraded its fund forecast. According to its own announcement, "The governing board of the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) today adopted a new set of actuarial assumption... Providence Could Cut PensionsThursday, February 2nd, 2012John Seiler: I've been arguing for a couple of years that the pension problem in California is so bad that the state will have to cut existing pensions. Is that supposedly banned by the California Constitution? It doesn't matter. Constitutions can be changed. Actuarial realities cannot. Such ... Berkeley Mgr. Grabs $266K PensionMonday, January 9th, 2012 John Seiler: Say, wasn't Berkeley the most liberal, progressive, hippest and hippiest place around? The Free Speech movement (pictured at right)? Anti-Vietnam War protests? Political Correctness that would make Mao envious? Ah, forget it. As it always does, it comes down to money -- money grab... Dems won’t tolerate pension dissentSaturday, December 31st, 2011Steven Greenhut: California's bare-knuckled public-sector unions won't tolerate dissent on pension-related issues, as evidenced by the state Senate's refusal to allow Progressive pension-reform advocate David Crane to remain on the UC board of regents. This is from the San Francisco Chronicle: "Cran... Out of the Mouths of CalSTRSTuesday, December 27th, 2011Steven Greenhut: California's pension systems are running enormous unfunded liabilities -- i.e., the estimated debt to pay for current pension promises. But the pension funds want us to believe that there's no problem and that there's no need for additional contributions. Higher contributions from g... CalPERS is Wall Street!Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011Steven Greenhut: If you're looking for interesting perspectives on California news, check out this relatively new Web site, called the Republic of Costa Mesa. It is run by CalWatchdog advisory board member and former OC Weekly publisher Will Swaim. Swaim is a lefty who dares to slaughter his side's ... Brown’s Pension Dead EndWednesday, November 23rd, 2011Steven Greenhut: Here is my piece from The Daily regarding the GOP reaction to the governor's pension reform plan. My conclusion: "Unfortunately, it appears that the governor was just being cynical. He released a decent reform plan, but he has no intention to expend any serious effort to get it thro... Governor Rejects Pension SessionFriday, November 11th, 2011Steven Greenhut: Gov. Jerry Brown's rejection of Senate Republican calls for a special legislative session to deal with pension reform is disappointing but not surprising. Bob Dutton, Mimi Walters, Tom Berryhill and Tom Harman held a press conference earlier in the week, which I attended. They said ... $100K Pension Club DoublesThursday, November 3rd, 2011John Seiler: The invaluable Fix Pensions First Website just updated its list of California government retirees pulling $100,000 or more in pension pay. The data comes from CalPERS own numbers. The latest tally: 12,199 in the $100K Pension Club. That's nearly double the 6,133 on the list back i... Act One For Pension ReformThursday, October 27th, 2011 Katy Grimes: Earlier today, Gov. Jerry Brown released his 12-point public pension-reform plan, primarily affecting newly hired state employees. But is this just Act One of a long, California drama? The plan calls for employee contributions, an increased retirement age of 67, and will end... |