Posted on 02/23/2007 10:06:00 AM PST by SmithL
Faced with a politically intractable problem, elected officials invariably turn to blue ribbon commissions -- panels of distinguished citizens they hope will come up with palatable solutions.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed such a commission early in his first term to deal with the state's burgeoning prison crisis, to little or no avail. The panel made sound recommendations, which the governor ignored, and the prison crisis has deepened.
Now the governor, together with legislative leaders, has created a new commission, this one to deal with another intractable state problem: the soaring cost of retiree pension and health benefits. Like the Corrections Independent Review Panel, the individuals named to the Public Employee Post Employment Benefits Commission have impressive credentials. They include academics, public employee union officials, financial experts and former pension fund managers.
But will panel members be able to persuade elected officials to force the kind of sacrifice from politically powerful constituencies -- specifically, public employee unions -- that fixing the state's retiree health and pension problems will inevitably demand? There's reason to be dubious.
The Legislative Analyst's Office laid out the health care part of the panel's challenge in a special report last year. Under new federal accounting rules, state and local governments are required to disclose their health care obligations to current and future retirees. The LAO study pegged the state portion of those costs at between $40 billion and $70 billion.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
There is a looming crisis in state and municipal pensions that parallels that of social security and medicare.
Both are based on the premise of social programs using a Ponzi scheme.
The answer to both is the same: "the rich" are gonna get soaked.
I've always believed a penalty tax (over and above the normal income taxes) will be enacted on 401k withdrawals and pension payments above a certain (pretty low) level.
Hey, the pensioners are good dems . . put the current state senators and assembylpersons in office. Let's not make too much of a squawk just because they're getting their payback.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I worry about the "tax deferred" state of my 401K plan. Who knows what the tax rate will be in 20 years?
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