Pension Reform
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Pension criticism=racism. Aaauugghh! Aaauugghh! Aaauugghh!
Samuel Johnson’s 1775 observation that “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” has particular resonance nowadays, with civil libertarians who question our government’s massive spying on 300 million-plus Americans being derided as tools of U.S. enemies. But when it
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‘Transit workers vs. just plain workers’
A renewed BART strike could bring chaos to the Bay Area on Monday. But as CalWatchdog founder Steven Greenhut points out in his U-T San Diego column, the BART labor strife isn’t prompting the public reaction that transit unions may
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BART fight spurs anti-union backlash — from Democrats
The prospect that well-paid Bay Area Rapid Transit system workers with lavish benefits and little-known perks might inconvenience rich white-collar liberals in the San Francisco area has finally triggered an intraparty battle of the kind that California Democrats have somehow
Read MoreCA take note: MI state judge tests federal bankruptcy law
For municipal bankruptcy, all eyes across the nation now turn to Detroit. The latest: Michigan Circuit Court Judge Rosemary Aquilina ordered Detroit’s bankruptcy filings be withdrawn because they violate state law guaranteeing that pensions must be paid to public employees.
Read MoreCA take note: Detroit bankruptcy could slash pensions 90%
Detroit declared bankruptcy today. For California, here are the takeaways from the Detroit News report: “A bankruptcy judge could trump the state constitution by slashing retiree pensions, ripping up contracts and paying creditors roughly a dime on the dollar for
Read MoreFresh evidence that Jerry Brown’s pension fix fixed little
July 10, 2013 By Chris Reed The aura of self-congratulation surrounding the governor’s office is particularly intense when it comes to the pension reform measure that Jerry Brown got through the Legislature in September. But I’m not like some other
Read MoreNo, the recession is not to blame for the pension crisis
July 5, 2013 By Chris Reed Perhaps the single smartest guy in the Schwarzenegger administration, David Crane, continues to be a wrecking ball when it comes to the arguments offered by apologists for California’s ruinous state finances. In his latest
Read MoreDetroit sets precedent for radical cuts in ‘inviolate’ CA pensions
June 17, 2013 By Chris Reed In the sci-fi satire “Robocop,” we were treated to a glimpse of a future Detroit in which mechanized police ran amok. As my colleague John Seiler noted the other day, in modern-day Detroit, we’re
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