Tag "pensions"

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CA take note: Detroit pensions could take big hit in bankruptcy

July 13, 2013 By John Seiler Although California’s current financial fortunes seemingly are improving, the next recession could cancel the bliss. So Californians, especially government workers, should take not of what’s happening in Detroit. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr is being

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Fresh 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

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BART pay, benefits so lavish that workers deserve 0% raise

July 3, 2013 By Chris Reed We’ve been talking seriously in California since the middle of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s second term as governor about the need to rein in insanely costly public employee benefits, and not just pensions. This has led

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Detroit 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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Why public-sector unions are ‘special’ special interests

Analysis June 12, 2013 By Ed Ring California’s November 2012 statewide ballot included Proposition 32, the “Stop Special Interest Money Now” initiative. Among the provisions included in this campaign finance reform measure was the requirement that public sector unions obtain

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Why do we need govt.? Dept.

May 24, 2013 By John Seiler Governments tell us we need to pay high taxes to them so they can protect us from criminals. And one of the most liberal Democratic areas in the country is Oregon. It’s a heavily

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No spare change under the dome

May 20, 2013 By Katy Grimes During his press briefing last week while discussing the state’s lack of budgeting flexibility, Gov. Jerry Brown said, “Anyone who thinks there’s spare change around here, they haven’t read the budget.” Brown released his

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Six bills would make it easier to pass tax increases

MAY 17, 2013 By Katy Grimes SACRAMENTO — The Senate Governance and Finance Committee on Wednesday passed six constitutional amendments to make it easier for local voters to pass various tax increases on property owners. “California didn’t knowingly vote for

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Gov. Brown’s May budget revision balances only by ignoring unfunded liabilities

May 14, 2013 By Katy Grimes SACRAMENTO — Balancing the economic realities of the state budget with political influences surely is a challenging task. Unfortunately, in California it is a task which few administrations have managed in recent state history.

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LAT’s Steve Lopez: Pension crisis real — not unions’ fault. Huh?

April 24, 2013 By Chris Reed The unsustainability of the public employee pension system in California has been obvious for at least six or seven years to anyone who understood two simple facts: the demographics of our aging government workforce

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