Wisconsin offers California lessons on balancing budget

[Amelia]

Maybe it is because California liberals are supporting Wisconson conservatives.

Most Red States Take More Money From Washington Than They Put In | Mother Jones

California can't support themselves.

California budget deficit has swelled to $16 billion, governor says | Fox News

This can't be. Why would a state on the brink of such massive cuts to schools and public safety commit to an expensive rail project? That article must be wrong.

 

[g5000]

Banks Sell 'Toxic Waste' CDOs to Calpers, Texas Teachers Fund

Calpers. California's public employee pension fund.

Bear Stearns Cos., the fifth-largest U.S. securities firm, is hawking the riskiest portions of collateralized debt obligations to public pension funds.

This is a 2007 article.

You guys remember what happened to Bear Stearns in 2008, right? The first Wall Street broker-dealer to go under. Before Lehman, even.

Fleischhacker, 45, says she doesn't associate toxic waste with the equity tranches she's selling. Pension funds in the U.S. have bought these CDO portions in efforts to boost returns.

"...to boost returns". ROI. Derivatives bubble. Higher returns, lower contributions.

Many pension funds, facing growing numbers of retirees, are still reeling from investments that went sour after technology stocks peaked in March 2000. Fund managers buy equity tranches, which are also called ``first loss'' portions, even though those investments are never given a credit rating by Fitch Group Inc., Moody's Investors Service or Standard & Poor's.

`I Have Trouble'

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the nation's largest public pension fund, has invested $140 million in such unrated CDO portions, according to data Calpers provided in response to a public records request. Citigroup Inc., the largest U.S. bank, sold the tranches to Calpers.

 

[PoliticalChic]

I am ALL FOR union busting in California!

Public unions should not be able to negotiate with politicans for wages and benefits, it's an unholy alliance that always screws the taxpayers. You should be able to join or not, your choice.

We usually agree, Wisey...but I'd lay the blame at the feet of the politicians....and I'd like to see both criminal penalties for those who trade the public fisc for votes...


....and serious financial penalties for the party that signed off on bank-breaking public union contracts.


I can't see blaming folks who asked for benefits and salary boosts.....Asking? That's human nature.

 

[g5000]

Last year, the SEC filed its first ever enforcement action against a state by accusing New Jersey of securities fraud for misleading pension fund bond investors. Now the SEC has turned its attention to CalPERS, which lost about 25 percent of its gargantuan investment portfolio value after the national financial crisis. The issue is whether CalPERS disclosed the riskiness of its pension investments and how much money it would need to cover pension obligations. By using an unrealistic 8 percent rate of return on its investments CalPERS hid its actual financial condition.

Pulling Back CalPERS’ Ethics Curtain | CalWatchDog

There you go. That's why California's public employees are royally fucked. It was not their doing. It was the doing of their pension fund managers and their elected officials, and Wall Street.

 

[Wiseacre]

I am ALL FOR union busting in California!

Public unions should not be able to negotiate with politicans for wages and benefits, it's an unholy alliance that always screws the taxpayers. You should be able to join or not, your choice.

We usually agree, Wisey...but I'd lay the blame at the feet of the politicians....and I'd like to see both criminal penalties for those who trade the public fisc for votes...


....and serious financial penalties for the party that signed off on bank-breaking public union contracts.


I can't see blaming folks who asked for benefits and salary boosts.....Asking? That's human nature.

Agree that it's mostly the politicians who are at fault, the unions are just like every other special interest group trying to feather their own nests as much as possible. No different really than the big corps and industries lobbying for tax breaks, subsidies, and changes in the law that benefit them. Frankly, the public is also partly to blame for not keeping their elected officials more open and honest, as is the media for not reporting what's going on in an unbiased manner.

Penalties have to be applied in a court of law, right? Right now our laws are too vague to get convictions on most transgressions, and how do you prosecute entire legislative body for betraying the public trust? Not saying it shouldn't be done, just that it's a tough job to do.

 

[Amelia]

I am ALL FOR union busting in California!

Public unions should not be able to negotiate with politicans for wages and benefits, it's an unholy alliance that always screws the taxpayers. You should be able to join or not, your choice.

We usually agree, Wisey...but I'd lay the blame at the feet of the politicians....and I'd like to see both criminal penalties for those who trade the public fisc for votes...


....and serious financial penalties for the party that signed off on bank-breaking public union contracts.


I can't see blaming folks who asked for benefits and salary boosts.....Asking? That's human nature.

It would be hard to make a case that anyone consciously and intentionally or even literally traded any favors for votes.

It is usually just too hard for someone whose success in the next election depends on avoiding bad publicity to say no to the "it's for the children" crowd.

As you say, we're dealing with human nature.


In Wisconsin, teachers' unions were so confident in their strength that they would work without contract for months, even years -- as long as it took to finally get enough media stories to report on their heroic struggle and enough sweating politicians to cave. Meanwhile these "it's for the children" union members would have illegal-but-difficult-to-prosecute sickouts and would stop writing recommendations for college-bound students and yummy stuff like that.



Also, how could you penalize the party which signed off on the deals? Are you going to codify the assumption that your elected representatives are going to vote the party line? That could backfire and amp up our already hyper-polarized political situation. Also, in some cases, the people making the decisions are nominally nonpartisan. Elected but without party affiliation.



The people involved are well-intentioned. It's just a built-in conflict of interest which is almost impossible to avoid because of all the human nature. When elected people are making the decisions for how to use taxpayer money, they are going to be influenced profoundly and subconsciously by the politics.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Public unions should not be able to negotiate with politicans for wages and benefits, it's an unholy alliance that always screws the taxpayers. You should be able to join or not, your choice.

We usually agree, Wisey...but I'd lay the blame at the feet of the politicians....and I'd like to see both criminal penalties for those who trade the public fisc for votes...


....and serious financial penalties for the party that signed off on bank-breaking public union contracts.


I can't see blaming folks who asked for benefits and salary boosts.....Asking? That's human nature.

Agree that it's mostly the politicians who are at fault, the unions are just like every other special interest group trying to feather their own nests as much as possible. No different really than the big corps and industries lobbying for tax breaks, subsidies, and changes in the law that benefit them. Frankly, the public is also partly to blame for not keeping their elected officials more open and honest, as is the media for not reporting what's going on in an unbiased manner.

Penalties have to be applied in a court of law, right? Right now our laws are too vague to get convictions on most transgressions, and how do you prosecute entire legislative body for betraying the public trust? Not saying it shouldn't be done, just that it's a tough job to do.

The party of whoever signed the contract.....mayors, governors....any.

 

[daveman]

Maybe it is because California liberals are supporting Wisconson conservatives.

Most Red States Take More Money From Washington Than They Put In | Mother Jones

California can't support themselves.

California budget deficit has swelled to $16 billion, governor says | Fox News

This can't be. Why would a state on the brink of such massive cuts to schools and public safety commit to an expensive rail project? That article must be wrong.

Because they're fucking idiots, that's why.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Last year, the SEC filed its first ever enforcement action against a state by accusing New Jersey of securities fraud for misleading pension fund bond investors. Now the SEC has turned its attention to CalPERS, which lost about 25 percent of its gargantuan investment portfolio value after the national financial crisis. The issue is whether CalPERS disclosed the riskiness of its pension investments and how much money it would need to cover pension obligations. By using an unrealistic 8 percent rate of return on its investments CalPERS hid its actual financial condition.

Pulling Back CalPERS’ Ethics Curtain | CalWatchDog

There you go. That's why California's public employees are royally fucked. It was not their doing. It was the doing of their pension fund managers and their elected officials, and Wall Street.

I know that this is a terrible thing to say....

....but that avi is the way I have always pictured Ms. Truthie.....

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Wisconsin offers California lessons on balancing budget

Yeah....they surely do know how to......

......generate a buck-or-twelve-hundred!!!