Dissolving the Federal Monster...

[WhiskeyGirl]

"The Montpelier Manifesto"

"Whenever any form of government becomes destructive… it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government… as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness," says the Declaration of Independence. Alteration and abolishment include the right to disband, or subdivide, or withdraw, or create a new government.

A collapsing economy, with a moribund housing market and a staggering number of mortgage foreclosures, and high unemployment because of jobs lost to China, India, and elsewhere over the past three decades of globalism.
Stagnant real incomes for all but the super-rich, resulting in an ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor and an increasing rate of poverty, homelessness, and inadequate insurance.

A $15-plus trillion national debt and unfunded mandate obligations of $43 trillion, a staggering burden only added to by stimulus spending, tax cuts, and "quantitative easing" (printing money), none of which is restoring economic growth but does make us increasingly and dangerously dependent on China, Japan, and other foreign countries buying our treasury bonds.

Time to push the 'reset' button?  Give every community, country, state, and all people the chance to reorganize?

read more good stuff here - http://www.mikechurch.com/news/vermonters-ally-with-the-like-minded-plea-to-dissolve-the-federal-monster-before-it-consumes-us-all/

No money to get out the military vote, $500 million for terrorists that kill them.

Are we stronger together in growing poverty?  Perhaps the beast is to big to reform?  Better to return power to individuals?  "This is on us" - not the federal government?

just my humble opinions

[WhiskeyGirl]

State Pension Bailouts

"California, Illinois, and New Jersey, with 19 percent of the nation's population, accounted for more than half of the contribution shortfall. Between 1996 and 2011, Illinois underpaid contributions by $28 billion," the task force report noted.

Elected officials aren't exactly profiles in courage here. Consider Chicago, where Mayor Rahm Emanuel just settled a strike by giving teachers a 17.6 percent raise on top of an average salary of $71,000. This in a city whose school system already faces a billion-dollar budget deficit. (The teachers went on strike mainly for another reason: to protest being subject to evaluations based on their students' progress.)

read more here - http://washingtonexaminer.com/looming-public-pension-crisis-undercuts-optimism-on-economy/article/2509422#.UGnDEFH5Usw

If three states have 19% of the nation's population, why can't they solve their own financial problems?  Why should 47 other states take money from their struggling taxpayers to good on these obligations? 

How many Chicago teachers send their children to the Chicago Public Schools?  There have to be good teachers, I believe students could survive one ineffective teacher in their student lives, why continue to support systemic failure?  Failure to educate?   Why should failure be socialized among 50 states?


"DeMint: No fed bailout for state pensions"

ASHINGTON, D.C. — The Illinois Policy Institute launched “No Pension Bailout,” a national movement to block Congress‘ attempts to rescue failing state and municipal pension plans.

...

“States will assume they can run their pension systems into debt and turn to the federal government,” said DeMint. “For decades state legislators have endeared themselves to public employees with pension promises … based on accounting methods that would put any business in jail.”

The total national public pension debt was at least $2.5 trillion two years ago and more than $4 trillion now, Tillman said.

In Illinois, he said, “we had a $7 billion tax hike that was supposed to solve all our problems, pay all our bills, and instead it all went to pensions.”

read more here - http://www.foxillinois.com/news/illinois/DeMint-No-fed-bailout-for-state-pensions-170968451.html

Madoff went to jail for failing to meet his promises to investors.  Who's going to jail for failing to fund the pensions?  Who went to jail for the failure to fund the autoworker pensions?  Who disappeared the autoworker pension money?  Why aren't these people in jail?

Hmmm...$2.5 TRILLION two years ago, $4 trillion today...almost doubles every two year?  Who's going to pay for that?

What do Americans have 15% taken/taxes/confiscated to fund Social Security get?  Higher and higher 'retirement' ages?  Lower and lower benefits? 

How can people making nickles and dimes support the dollar pensions of public workers?  Pay off the hundreds of TRILLIONS in unfunded liabilities?  The massive debt?  Money printing?

Why should any pension debt be the responsibility of Federal taxpayers?  Why aren't those to make pension promises and fail to ensure they are funded in advance going to jail?

just my humble opinions

[WhiskeyGirl]

"Florida shouldn't pay for other states' foolishness"

In Washington, crises seem to spring up overnight. Quick fixes that seem absurd today — such as a pension bailout — suddenly become tomorrow's answers.

Taxpayers can't afford and don't want more bailouts. Bailouts reward failure. Bailing out irresponsible states would send a message that fiscal discipline doesn't matter, that someone else will come along and take care of the bills.

...

States with the biggest pension liabilities — such as Illinois and California — would benefit tremendously from a bailout, while most other states would suffer. Consider Florida. Its state pension system has fared much better than those in Illinois. If a federal bailout were enacted, however, Florida would be among the states hit the hardest. The Sunshine State could pay a price as high as $50 billion through higher federal taxes or severe cuts in services and federal aid to state and local governments. In this situation, fiscally prudent Florida would lose.

There's no denying that many states' pension funds are in trouble. But what they need are state-based reforms, not a federal bailout. A bailout would make states such as Florida pay for mistakes made in California and Illinois. That's not only bad economics; it's just plain wrong.

read more here - http://www2.tbo.com/news/opinion/2012/sep/24/naopino2-florida-shouldnt-pay-for-other-states-foo-ar-510045/

I wonder is some of the money printing 'buying more bonds' isn't another bailout.  Nobody bailed out Main Street.

It seemed like only big global business, foreign countries, unions, political donors, and special interests got a bailout.

This weekend I heard of one foreclosure, a home loss, and an eviction.  I heard from two folks that their companies implemented fingerprint time cards - for security reasons, apparently can't trust folks with a badge and timecard.

What of America?  Not even voter ID for everyone.  What happened to vote integrity? 

just my humble opinions

[WhiskeyGirl]

On Sept.  12, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 340, the Pension Reform Act, in which he promised “sweeping bipartisan pension reform legislation that saves billions of taxpayer dollars by capping benefits, increasing the retirement age, stopping abusive practices and requiring state employees to pay at least half of their pension costs.”

Once Brown ceases his self-congratulatory strutting, he might realize that his reforms are in effect only against newly hired public employees.  The state will only begin to see meaningful pension savings around the year 2055, when the current batch of public sector new-hires begin to retire. This extended time frame also gives powerful public employee unions decades to bribe and coerce lawmakers to peel back the hard fought reforms before they go into full effect.

Of course, everybody would like a comfortable pension after a lifetime’s worth of hard work, but the tragic fact remains that there is not enough private capital to support legions of public sector pensioners at current rates.

...someday California’s true pension reform will likely be hammered out by a judge in a bankruptcy court during a federally mandated restructuring package in return for federal bailouts needed for the state’s daily operating expenses.

http://www.dailytitan.com/2012/09/californias-upcoming-pension-avalanche/

Sounds like another auto workers union pension bailout...

just my humble opinions

[WhiskeyGirl]

Millions of auto company bondholders have taken a haircut.  People who self-fund their retirements have taken a haircut and live day to day with the danger of hyperinflation, shifting/shaky financial markets, government takeover...

Why aren't government pension plans taking a haircut?

just my humble opinions

[WhiskeyGirl]

See interactive map.  Is your state a pension bailout winner or loser?

Play the politician.  Interactive game here too.

http://nopensionbailout.com/