Comments on: Pensions at heart of bankruptcy

By: Black Coffee: Some People Have a Lot of Gall (and Some Don’t Have Any) « Len Penzo dot Com

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 19:30:40 +0000

[…] But wait … it gets better. According to Cal Watchdog, those health care benefits included no co-pays, no generic requirements, no HMOs, no premiums, and […]

By: California Government Scumbags

California Government Scumbags — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:51:22 +0000

[…] http://www.calwatchdog.com/2013/04/01/pensions-at-heart-of-bankruptcy/ […]

By: The Africanized Swarm of Ted Steele System

The Africanized Swarm of Ted Steele System — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:17:22 +0000

Skipper– Move to the head of the class– you are 100% correct about the record on appeal AND chapter 9……

By: Ulysses Uhaul

Ulysses Uhaul — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:08:50 +0000

Trout…..will give you some free moving boxes….

By: Brown delta trout

Brown delta trout — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:49:46 +0000

Skippy may be right. If we look at Detroit as an example then it certainly can mean that union pay, pensions and benefits trump everything else. But at what cost to society? Maybe this will be the beginning of the business Exodus from California. Long live governor Pharoah, king of the government unions!

By: Ulysses Uhaul

Ulysses Uhaul — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:06:29 +0000

Relax. You pay no matter what goes down…..your ruled not represented…….you should just Pack and Ship with us…..we treat ya “right.”

By: SkippingDog

SkippingDog — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 06:46:47 +0000

BTW, Bob, the obligation Stockton has to CalPERS isn’t a “contract” in the normal sense. It’s a “statutory lien.” Be sure to look for that term in the primer when you read it.

By: SkippingDog

SkippingDog — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 06:13:19 +0000

Well, Bob, Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code was established by Congress pursuant to Art.1, Sec. 8, et. seq. of the Constitution. Chapter 9 is the only chapter of the BC available to municipalities and has significant differences from Chapter 11, so you might take a few moments to read up on it.

One of the major differences is that Chapter 9 recognizes the limitations on federal courts required by the 10th Amendment. You could do the research yourself, but I’ve attached a nice primer for you to educate yourself with.

Enjoy!

http://www.afgi.org/resources/Bankruptcy_Primer.pdf

By: Bob Smith

Bob Smith — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 04:37:06 +0000

“That means he knows the law, knows the cases, and understands how the 10th Amendment prevents the imposition of a workout plan that violates state laws in a chapter 9 action.”

Really? How is that, exactly? Bankruptcy is a power granted to the Federal government (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4), not the states. Since it’s an explicit grant, the 10th Amendment is irrelevant, because the 10th only governs unenumerated powers. State law is irrelevant unless explicitly made relevant by Congress. If Federal law lets state law control which contracts may be voided in a municipal bk, then Stockton is screwed 10 ways from Sunday. If not, then its pension contracts are as subject to being voided as any other debts.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 04:21:40 +0000

In light of the Judge’s ruling, will Stockton be required to increase it’s pension payments to Calpers by the required 33-50% over the next 6 years that Calpers has been proposing for state and local agencies?
If they cannot afford to pay it, will they borrow it? Or will they have to get it via further increases in resident parcel taxes and/or contributions from employees?