Free Republic

New York City teachers, cops and firefighters lost nearly $30 million in pension funds tied to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Critics accuse Comptroller Brad Lander, who is custodian of the pension systems, of favoring the “woke” bank over shareholders. Five city pension funds had a total of $41,867,214 invested in the doomed bank as of Jan. 31, according to data provided by the comptroller’s office under a Freedom of Information request by The Post. The comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management oversees the investment portfolios. Among the largest funds left holding the bag were the Teachers Retirement System, which...

New York Senator Charles Schumer was instrumental in getting Bharara appointed to that position and in return was asked from time to time to do favors for the senator and his allies. Up until recently, President Trump had no idea what was really going on. Once President Trump’s staff understood the quid pro quo, they had no choice but to ask for Bharara’s resignation. In 2015, Puerto Rico defaulted on $70 billion in municipal bonds. Those involved panicked. There was ample evidence that the issuing agencies were technically bankrupt when they issued the bonds and that they purchased fraudulent credit...

New Republican Governor Bruce Rauner of Illinois is taking on the most powerful special interest in the state - public employee unions - and he's getting some support from Democrats. In truth, Rauner has little choice. Public union pensions are out of control. The pension crisis in Illinois is easily the worst in the nation and the Rauner administration is already looking for ways to cut benefits - a move that would have been considered sacrilegious previously but is now being considered even by Democrats. Also, Rauner issued an executive order: prohibiting unions from collecting so-called fair share fees from...

The Department of Labor classifies almost half of America’s private union pension funds as either “endangered” or “critical” because they are so grossly underfunded. Among the unions on this list are the Democrats’ favorite piggy banks; “the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the International Brothers of Electrical Workers, the Laborers International Union of Northern America, the International Association of Machinists, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, the International Union of Operating Engineers and the National Plumbers Union.” On average all private union pensions are almost 40% underfunded. In real life terms this means less...

If you need evidence on how corrupt self-serving unions and union officials can be, then please consider Ex-labor chief's 1-day rehire nets $158,000 city pension A retired Chicago labor leader secured a $158,000 public pension — roughly five times greater than what a typical retired public-service worker in the Windy City receives — after being rehired for just one day of active duty on the city payroll, local news reports said. According to The Chicago Tribune, Dennis Gannon stands to collect approximately $5 million in city pension funds during his lifetime. He now draws the pension while working for a...

Most city workers spend decades in public service to build up modest pensions. But for former labor leader Dennis Gannon, the keys to securing a public pension were one day on the city payroll and some help from the Daley administration. And his city pension is more than modest. It's the highest of any retired union leader: $158,000. That's roughly five times greater than what the typical retired city worker receives. In fact, his pension is so high that it exceeds federal limits and required the city pension fund to file special paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service to give...

All it took to give nearly two dozen labor leaders from Chicago a windfall worth millions was a few tweaks to a handful of sentences in the state's lengthy pension code. The changes became law with no public debate among state legislators and, more importantly, no cost analysis. Twenty years later, 23 retired union officials from Chicago stand to collect about $56 million from two ailing city pension funds thanks to the changes...

July income was $539 million lower than expected, leading many to doubt the state budget's assumption of economic recovery and a $4-billion windfall. If revenues remain low, drastic education cuts will kick in. California's tax revenue plummeted in July, missing expectations by nearly $539 million and raising fears that deep education cuts will be needed to keep the state budget balanced. The plunge occurred before the recent Wall Street gyrations that wiped away many of the year's stock-market gains. If the economy remains sluggish and the $4 billion does not materialize, cuts in public schools, universities, libraries, child care, and...

Democrats in the Senate on Thursday held a recess hearing covering a taxpayer bailout of union pensions and a plan to seize private 401(k) plans to more "fairly" distribute taxpayer-funded pensions to everyone. Sen. Harkin (D-Iowa), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee heard from hand-picked witnesses advocating the infamous "Guaranteed Retirement Account" (GRA) authored by Theresa Guilarducci. In a nutshell, under the GRA system government would seize private 401(k) accounts, setting up an additional 5% mandatory payroll tax to dole out a "fair" pension to everyone using that confiscated money coupled with the mandated contributions. ***...

Reported in the Examiner, Philadelphia: Firefighter Union to City: Liar, liar, pants on... you get it already.Exactly a week ago, it was written here how a fire in West Philadelphia killed a 12 year old boy. Much blame was put on the fact that Philly's Democrat Mayor Michael Nutter recently made Fire Department cutbacks, or "brownouts" to punish us all for not going along with this stupid soda tax idea. Please bear with me, before I begin this story a little back story is necessary. Apparently Philadelphia is our future and we need to see where the present proposed Marxist...

Why Democrats are Pushing the $165 Billion Union Pension Bailout by LaborUnionReport Somewhere lurking in the hot, putrid halls of Congress this summer is a union bailout bill of epic proportions and long-term ramifications. Whether or not Democrats can ultimately push it (or something like it) into passage is yet to be determined. However, with rumors that Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) signed on as a co-sponsor on Thursday, it would appear that the union bailout is quietly creeping along. If it passes, though, its ramifications surpass the mere $165 billion-plus price tag, as it will influence the political landscape for...

Taxpayers could be on the hook for another $165 billion if a bill to bail out private union pension funds makes it through Congress. A Democratic senator is introducing legislation for a bailout of troubled union pension funds. If passed, the bill could put another $165 billion in liabilities on the shoulders of American taxpayers. The bill, which would put the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation behind struggling pensions for union workers, is being introduced by Senator Bob Casey, (D-Pa.), who says it will save jobs and help people. As FOX Business Network’s Gerri Willis reported Monday, these pensions are in...

According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, GM will need to add $12.3 billion into its pension fund by 2014. To make matters worse, if GM terminates their pensions, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation – funded by taxpayers - would then become responsible for as much as $14.5 billion in unfunded liabilities. In the video: Aaron points out, this could enrage taxpayers fed up with paying for government worker benefits at a time when the average government employee is making more than private sector workers and receives better benefits.

Legislation introduced last week could shift costs of union pension plans to taxpayers in an attempt to stave off organized labor’s pension funding crisis.Senator Bob Casey, Pennsylvania Democrat, introduced the Create Jobs & Save Benefits Act of 2010 to address the funding problems faced by union-administered multi-employer pension plans.Multi-employer pension plans have to cover the benefits of members, even if their companies are defunct.