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Comments

1. #1
   On February 18th, 2010 at 7:59 am, ACHefty said:

   Watch your wallets.

   And your own private pension plans…

2. #2
   On February 18th, 2010 at 8:06 am, JohnnyD said:

   Watch your wallets.

   Mine is stamped “IRS Approved” because they only give me what they think I should have.

3. #3
   On February 18th, 2010 at 8:09 am, JohnnyD said:

   Illinois is in the worst shape, with only 54 percent of its pension obligations funded,

   Not to worry Illinios, you have friends in high places.

   /sarc

4. #4
   On February 18th, 2010 at 8:15 am, et said:

   Show me the money. If we don’t demand fiscal responsibility from our government officials we wont get any.

   As far as government pensions go, the first rule of government is what the government giveth, the government can take away. Maybe its time for a Bankruptcy Judge to adjust a wide array of ill gotten benefits government workers receive.

5. #5
   On February 18th, 2010 at 8:21 am, graysonret said:

   McDonnell, here in Virginia, has unveiled his budget, with cuts in education, which has the union howling, of course, and pension benefits. But, we need to put a stop to free-wheeling spending that has occurred here, over the years.

6. #6
   On February 18th, 2010 at 8:34 am, jlhudg23 said:

   ACHefty:
   

   And your own private pension plans…

   I’m guessing Congress will, on orders of the Ober-Bama, “look into” changing the tax rules on 401(k), 403(b), IRA, Roth and other tax sheltered plans.

7. #7
   On February 18th, 2010 at 8:39 am, cicerokid said:

   que Alice Cooper:

   “Trillion…dollar …Baby…”

8. #8
   On February 18th, 2010 at 8:43 am, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

   They WILL come after you private pensions, IRAs, 401s and such and roll them into Social Security. They have been talking about it for years.

9. #9
   On February 18th, 2010 at 8:46 am, jjmurphy said:

   Because the analysis did not encompass the final six months of calendar year 2008 — most states’ fiscal year’s end during the summer — it does not include the market downturn that devastated many funds’ investment portfolios.

   Holy Moly! I bet it is understated!

   I also bet the collectivists in power will do everything BUT cut spending or deal with the unions to address this looming disaster.

10. #10
    On February 18th, 2010 at 8:57 am, zyzzyg said:

    This happened with private companies, too. I believe at least one car company, had underfunded pension liabilities, and one airline’s retirement portfolio that went under. The employees pretty much got shafted, though the blow was cushioned by a socialist program not in the Constitution, the PGC. (Pension Gaurantee Corp)

    Not sure if municipal systems are covered by the socialist PGC program, which is not in the Constitution.

11. #11
    On February 18th, 2010 at 8:59 am, NJ-Aviator said:

    Hopefully here in NJ where we kicked out the democrat, there will be some fiscal sanity. Christie is cutting spending all over the place. Now he has to get tough with the unions…. rather than what Corzine did….. which was have sex with a female union leader.

    The right kind of change is good.

12. #12
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:01 am, txvet2 said:

    On February 18th, 2010 at 8:34 am, jlhudg23 said:

    I’m guessing Congress will, on orders of the Ober-Bama, “look into” changing the tax rules on 401(k), 403(b), IRA, Roth and other tax sheltered plans.

    Retroactively, of course.

13. #13
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:02 am, iamsaved said:

    Are you willing to get paid in yuan or yen when you retire? That’s what it’s coming to. I hear they have some specials going on for Rosetta Stone so we can learn Chinese and/or Japanese for when we cash our checks.

14. #14
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:08 am, txvet2 said:

    On February 18th, 2010 at 8:57 am, zyzzyg said:

    I think both companies were unionized. You wouldn’t want the Democrats to abandon one of their prime constituencies, would you? By the way, that’s “PBGC”, and it’s privately funded, according to their website.

15. #15
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:11 am, pressto said:

    Here in CA they are reporting it is up to $300 Billion in unfunded pension benefits statewide, so I believe the $1 Trillion number is way to low.

    Also these numbers don’t talk about the Federal government pension benefit shortfalls and our real federal budget deficit is much worse then they report because of it.

16. #16
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:15 am, sbw999 said:

    Pols are like drug addicts sniffing out more money for their spending fix. By my estimate this country has 2-4 years to reverse its suicidal course, or there will be financial pain in America that will make the Great Depression look like Happy Hour.

17. #17
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:16 am, DBNinKY said:

    …it does not include the market downturn that devastated many funds’ investment portfolios.

    This shows that union greed and corruption buoyed by political cronyism, can a break state’s finances just as easily those of America’s largest corporations.

18. #18
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:20 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

    On February 18th, 2010 at 8:39 am, cicerokid said:
    que Alice Cooper:

    “Trillion…dollar …Baby…”

    This Thugocracy prefers “Holy Muscle Of Love”

19. #19
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:21 am, mytake said:

    McDonnell needs our support. The media has already started in on him with his austerity program. Critics are coming forward and being interviewed. What is it about living within your means that is so hard for people to understand? When the recession is over we can expand services again…..not before. The federal and state credit cards have been maxed out.

20. #20
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:34 am, Fenguri said:

    What folks don’t stop to think about is just how much each newly-hired government costs us taxpayers: salary (higher than the norm of course), subsidized health benefits, and generous pensions.

    I know — I am a retired government employee! My IRA is barely half of what it once was, but my pension is plenty. And YOU FOLKS are paying for it — and (hopefully) will for decades yet to come!

21. #21
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:41 am, RTater said:

    Private pension plans? The dollar is worth zero. You have an account balance of XXX,XXX.xx times zero.

22. #22
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:47 am, b-cat said:

    That was weird. Michelle, your Mount Vernon thread just disapeared.

23. #23
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:52 am, stillontheroad said:

    Where I live, more and more, bartering is the way to do anything. I never thought I would live to see the day where trading in goods and services would be the norm but this is what it is coming too.

24. #24
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:59 am, jangar said:

    United States Government money laundering scheme – the Chicago way.

25. #25
    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:59 am, battleaxe said:

    Part of the loss is in the stock market. If we can rescue the dollar and get the economy back on track, the pension problem will decline. However, we can’t possibly save the dollar without killing social security and medicare. Since this will never happen…I guess we wait to find out whether we’ll be speaking Japanese or Chinese.

    http://www.zerohedge.com/article/move-over-china-beijing-sells-whopping-342-billion-treasuries-december-japan-becomes-largest

26. #26
    On February 18th, 2010 at 10:05 am, Hannibal said:

    On February 18th, 2010 at 8:57 am, zyzzyg said:

    This happened with private companies, too. I believe at least one car company, had underfunded pension liabilities, and one airline’s retirement portfolio that went under. The employees pretty much got shafted, though the blow was cushioned by a socialist program not in the Constitution, the PGC. (Pension Gaurantee Corp)

    Not sure if municipal systems are covered by the socialist PGC program, which is not in the Constitution.

    Please explain how it is a socialist program?
    Do you even know what the program is and what it does? The program seizes the assets of the pension funds of corporations that go into bankruptcy to safeguard any monies left if the corporation refuses to fund the pension fund. The monies are then treated like an annuity and divided up among the vested retirees and future vested retirees based on the available pension assets remaining. The federal government does not put money into the fund. They do not make up the difference in unfunded liabilities.

    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:08 am, txvet2 said:

    By the way, that’s “PBGC”, and it’s privately funded, according to their website.

    It is privately funded because it administers funds seized from private pension plans.

27. #27
    On February 18th, 2010 at 10:22 am, zyzzyg said:

    On February 18th, 2010 at 9:08 am, txvet2 said: #15

    I think both companies were unionized. You wouldn’t want the Democrats to abandon one of their prime constituencies, would you? By the way, that’s “PBGC”, and it’s privately funded, according to their website.

    Yes, both companies are unionized. The individuals who controlled the pension investments, the people who advised them on investments, or the people who rated the investments, are they unionized, too? Unionozation has little if anything to do with the collapse of the investment portfolios.

    Even individualy controlled (401k) investment portfolios lost value.

    The unfortunate reality is that the first instinct of Democrats is to help and protect, and not to allow failure and market forces to take over. Constituents or not, Democrats are stereotypical maternal in their approach. They will want to kiss the boo-boo, vice rubbing dirt on it and telling you to get back on the field.

    Thank you for the correction. I did it from memory and should have gone to the site and got it right.

    Well, I did go to the site and have cut and pasted the following.

    PBGC is a federal corporation created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. It currently protects the pensions of more than 44 million American workers and retirees in more than 29,000 private single-employer and multiemployer defined benefit pension plans. PBGC receives no funds from general tax revenues. Operations are financed by insurance premiums set by Congress and paid by sponsors of defined benefit plans, investment income, assets from pension plans trusteed by PBGC, and recoveries from the companies formerly responsible for the plans.

    The fact remains that it is much like the FDIC, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Federal programs set up by the Government. They are not in the Constitution. Eventhough each is supported by private funds, as is Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, each is a socialist type program.

    The Federal Government setting them up in the first place makes them socialist. Not socialist would have been if the programs were developed privately from the ground up.

    Do you think the Federal Government would come to the rescue should the PBGC come close to collapsing? They did for for Fannie and Freddie. And, have repeatedly provided additional funds to the FDIC.

28. #28
    On February 18th, 2010 at 10:24 am, zyzzyg said:

    On February 18th, 2010 at 10:05 am, Hannibal said: #28

    See the second from the last paragraph in post #29. Actually read the entire thing.

29. #29
    On February 18th, 2010 at 10:28 am, cheapseat said:

    Gee, my retirement fund (401k) took a lot bigger hit than 25%, where is my bailout? I guess we mere citizens aren’t important enough to get the wall street or seiu treatment. Why doesn’t the gubmint give we taxpayers stock in the seiu and the auto industry, and the banks and insurance firms we so generously loaned our money to assure their success. If we owned stock in these entities, we could vote the morons in charge out and put our slate in charge.

30. #30
    On February 18th, 2010 at 11:37 am, flenser said:

    The fact remains that it is much like the FDIC, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Federal programs set up by the Government. They are not in the Constitution. Eventhough each is supported by private funds, as is Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, each is a socialist type program.

    That’s a lot of errors to cram into a few words. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are not “supported by private funds”, unless you think that tax money constitutes “private funds”.

31. #31
    On February 18th, 2010 at 11:46 am, RedDog said:

    Many states, not just NJ, are in this same boat. This is another IED primed to go off.

32. #32
    On February 18th, 2010 at 11:55 am, Hannibal said:

    On February 18th, 2010 at 10:24 am, zyzzyg said:

    Actually read the entire thing.

    Why would I not read the entire thing?

    from #29

    The Federal Government setting them up in the first place makes them socialist. Not socialist would have been if the programs were developed privately from the ground up.

    That’s rather a unique definition; if the government does it, then it is socialist. I have never considered the VA, NASA, CDC, CIA, etc. as socialist in nature, but I am probably in error.

33. #33
    On February 18th, 2010 at 12:48 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    This is what a sensible retirement looks like…2000-2010.

34. #34
    On February 18th, 2010 at 1:54 pm, zyzzyg said:

    On February 18th, 2010 at 11:37 am, flenser said: #32

    That’s a lot of errors to cram into a few words. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are not “supported by private funds”, unless you think that tax money constitutes “private funds”.

    LOL.

    Of course, the money you earn and are compelled to pay into SSA and FICA are private funds.

    Good grief. Shaking head.

35. #35
    On February 18th, 2010 at 1:55 pm, jangle said:

    I know that this will not be a popular thing to say but the federal government took steps to address this issue some years ago. Under the old retirement system a worker who spent 30 years in government could receive a pension equal to 80% of their pay. The new retirement system gives them a pension equal to 33% of their pay. Big difference!! The new system puts it on the individual to plan for their retirement. The individual can put money into the thrift savings plan which is like a 401k and the government will match up to 5%. I know 33% after 30 years is not a bad pension but it also is not over the top like it was.

36. #36
    On February 18th, 2010 at 2:07 pm, zyzzyg said:

    On February 18th, 2010 at 11:55 am, Hannibal said: #34

    That’s rather a unique definition; if the government does it, then it is socialist. I have never considered the VA, NASA, CDC, CIA, etc. as socialist in nature, but I am probably in error.

    No, not really.

    Is it in the Constitution, can it be done privately, does Congress have a level of authority over the program, will the taxpayers be on the hook should it collapse? Elements that contribute to the socialist nature of the program.

    When the market can deliver the service and instead it is organized by law, then the program leans socialist.

    I’ve not considered the VA, NASA, CDC or CIA socialist in nature either. Certainly there are private companies that can be paid to perfom certain traditional Government services. Of the four you mention the only one I would be reluctant to put into private hands is the CIA. The others can be sourced out.

37. #37
    On February 18th, 2010 at 2:33 pm, Southpaw said:

    Pension fund investments were a major factor in investment banks speculating in mortgage backed securities and derivatives. The need for high rates of investment returns to keep these pension funds afloat is insatiable. And impossible.

38. #38
    On February 18th, 2010 at 6:04 pm, bear1909 said:

    So if the state pension plans are in trouble, I wonder how bad off the federal system is?

    Hmmm…you don’t say.

    Bear1909 out

39. #39
    On February 18th, 2010 at 11:56 pm, corkie said:

    On February 18th, 2010 at 1:54 pm, zyzzyg said:

    Of course, the money you earn and are compelled to pay into SSA and FICA are private funds.

    This must be a joke.

40. #40
    On February 20th, 2010 at 6:17 am, bolivar said:

    I took early retirement and cashed out my pension (fully funded we were told) and put it in a “safe” annuity. It is not a huge gainer however, I at least will not lose principal and that has a lot of value to me. My pension would have paid me around 1300 to 1500 a month max. The annuity (provided I don’t dip into it) will pay more than that AND my old company and the government can’t get their greedy mitts on it.
    I hate socialists more than I can say and the things this current lot are doing are treason pure and simple. I hope Murtha and all who will follow him and swimmer to hell really like their lot in life.
    BTW I am printing out some cards that will have the uhbama logo on them with HOWS THAT HOPE AND CHANGE WORKIN FOR YA NOW BUNKIE???? I would love to see the look on the lib nutz faces when they see that one….around here in Rhode Island there are plenty of morons with uhbama stickers on their cars AND SUV’S.

41. #41
    On February 22nd, 2010 at 11:14 am, Tazed and Confused said:

    Another fine example of the entitled left’s “new economy”. Promise anything. Lie and blame the opposition for your own incompetence. Most morons knew this would never work.