Posted on 05/17/2013 8:12:28 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Bureaucrat perks are a fact of American life. Generous - even outrageous pensions, health care plans, and a host of opportunities to better oneself at conferences and seminars, usually held in places that the rest of us couldn't afford.
But what if you work for a city that's so broke they can't pay their police department or fix the streetlights?
From Detroit Free Pres:
Four trustees of Detroit's two public pension funds are heading to a Hawaiian beach resort this weekend with their $22,000 tab paid for by the funds, which are mired in claims of mismanagement and said to be at least $600 million underfunded.
Trustees say the conference provides the education they need to manage complex investments for the funds' retirees and beneficiaries. But other major public pension systems, including the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions, avoided sending their officials to Hawaii because of concerns the exotic locale sends the wrong message at a time when pensions nationwide are contemplating or implementing reduced benefits to cope with rising retirement costs and shaky investment returns.
Records obtained by the Free Press under the Freedom of Information Act show the expenses cover airfare -- including a first-class flight for one trustee -- lodging at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu, registration fees, meals and a per diem for miscellaneous expenses.
The city's two public pension funds -- the General Retirement System and the Police and Fire Retirement System -- each are sending two trustees to the six-day National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) conference, which starts Saturday. The retirement systems, which are funded by contributions from workers and the city, have combined assets valued at more than $5 billion and provide benefits to about 20,000 retirees and beneficiaries.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Maybe they are going to go to Hawaii to learn how to grow pineapples? They’ll come back to Detroit and share their expertise and pretty soon, Detroit will be rolling in pineapple juice.
I think a story like this should have names, and mug shots of the perps. They are serving a public role—no reason why they should have privacy for this.
It would be nice to see names and photos of the two pension fund trustees, although I think I know what to expect...
Same old same old in Detroit. The long-suffering productive class which pays the taxes, foots the bill for it, again.
Response: So is Rhodesia(aka Zimbabwe). I woder if there is a causal connection between their respective financial disasters?
“They are counting on you to go on, to work to the limit of the inhuman and to feed them while you last - and when you collapse, there will be another victim starting out and feeding them while struggling to survive - and the span of each succeeding victim will be shorter, and while you’ll die to leave them a railroad, your last descendant-in-spirit will die to leave them a loaf of bread. This does not worry the looters of the moment. Their plan - like all the plans of all the royal looters of the past - is only that the loot shall last their lifetime.”
Ayn Rand.
When will we say “NO MORE!”?
Their Amish , of course and taking a buggy ride to Detroit Metro.
Awesome! Thanks
So, what's the big deal? After 50 years of corruption, mis-management, graft, incompetence, thievery, and stupidity, why is anyone surprised? Business as usual. Not going to change, either.
Detroit - the city where EVERY liberal idea was tried...
And the boyz at the New York Times can write stories on how important the trip was... really important...
"60 Minutes" can run a serious sounding piece on how warm soft breezes can help clear the mind for 'problem solving'...
Jay can tell the Citizens of Detroit that this is nothing ...
And Hillary can ask What difference does it make if the city's broke and the trip cost over twenty thousand...
Dem War room crews can crank out stories saying Republicans only care ... because they have 'MOTIVES'..
Chris Matthews can call anyone who objects a 'racist'... and CBS's Schieffer can act like a befuddled old man who believes dems walk on water and it's always 1968...
Want to see this kind of thing going on in your own backyard? Look at your local public school, the one that can’t afford enough books or office supplies, and so on. Note how the administrators and special teachers go to seminars on the taxpayer’s dime.
Bump
Hold the conference in Detroit and see how many show up.
The servants of a decaying mansion steal from the owners to go on vacation.
Bump
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.