Dear Readers:
“California’s Half Trillion Dollar Pension Fund Mess: Blame Jerry Brown”
Published April 9, 2010
on American Thinker
See here on American Thinker.com
California is the nation’s shameful example of what happens when Democrats influenced by big-government labor rule the statehouse for forty years.
With 12.5% unemployment (up from 4.5% a mere three years ago) and a “recognized” budget deficit of $21 billion, California has just found that out it is in much, much more financial trouble than anyone, especially a Democrat, really wants to admit.
California’s governor Schwarzenegger commissioned a study by Stanford University, which has found that California’s three public employee pension funds (The California Public Employees’ Retirement System [CalPERS], California State Teachers’ Retirement System [CalSTRS], and University of California Retirement System [UCRS]) lost $109.7 billion in portfolio value in one year (June ’08 to June ’09) and are currently in shortfall of “more than half a trillion dollars.”
By law, California taxpayers are required to pay the public employees’ pensions shortfalls that may occur. Local governments cannot “print money” as the federal government does to cover budget deficits.
What should have been considered a huge scandal in the state pension fund system in the past year got little attention but is more pertinent now: The two largest plans, CalPERS and CalSTRS, were reportedly near bankruptcy in 2009 after it was learned the funds had lost from 25%-41% of their value due to risky investments in real estate and the stock market. Former employees of the state plans were accused in January of getting huge fees to direct pension investments to certain banks or ventures.
There are outrageous examples of abuse in the California public pension system.
PensionTsunami.com, which has been tracking the pension fund liability issue for five years, has found that 9, 233 retired members of CalPERS or CalSTRS receive more than $100,000 per year in retirement benefits, amounting to more than a billion dollars a year.
The retired city administrator of Vernon, California, Bruce Malkenhorst, receives an annual pension of $449,675 from CalPERS. Vernon, a Los Angeles suburb, has 92 residents.
California’s state employee pension fund liabilities have ballooned for years with increased numbers of state employees, many of whom can retire at age 50, can “spike” their last years’ income with overtime to increase their retirement, and can then move on to other government or private jobs without losing their pensions.
Why should Californians care about this confusing, complicated budget problem with a huge, unfathomable invoice attached? David Crane, writing for the Los Angeles Times, says that today’s pension fund shortfall is tomorrow’s budget cut to something some Californian is likely to miss.
In California’s case, past pension underfunding means reduced funding of current programs. This explains why pension costs rose 2,000% from 1999 to 2009, while state funding for higher education declined over the same period.
Californians are feeling the pain of the budget crisis, but they often misplace their criticisms.
Let’s go to the videotape this year of the many demonstrations on the many University of California campuses, where students have rioted against proposed 32% state tuition increases and program cuts.
Approximately 22,000 California teachers have just received “pink slips” indicating that they may be laid off due to budget cuts next fall. An additional 20,000 were laid off last year. California is cutting “live” teachers out of classrooms in order to pay for retired teachers.
California schools have gone from number one in the country in the 1970s to at or near the bottom in performance and funding.
Who is to blame for this ticking-time bomb of unfunded public pension liability?
“Thank” Jerry Brown. As Governor “Moonbeam” of California in 1978, he signed the “Dill Act,” which gave California public employees the right to collective bargaining.
Brown, who has been governor, Oakland mayor, and attorney general, now wants to be California governor…again. Four big, grateful government labor unions are backing him…again.
Speaking recently to the Service Employees International Union, Jerry Brown “the populist” said he was proud to have given state employees “the choice” to belong to unions in the ’70s, and he will “take a look” at the pension funds to make sure that they are actuarially sound. Big applause line.
Speaking to another union group in Sacramento, Brown was caught on videotape asking the labor leaders to “do the dirty work” and “attack” Republican candidates who oppose him in the governor’s race. (Hear it here.)
Who else is to blame?
Since Brown gave them a green light in the 1970s, public employee unions have become a muscular, dominating force in California politics. State employee unions spent a whopping $31.7 million on state races just from 2001-2006, according to the California Fair Political Practices commission — higher than any other group, including corporations. The majority-Democrat California legislature has voted accordingly.
What can be done?
Jerry Brown the rerun, who is running technically unopposed by any other candidate in the Democratic primary, has been oddly silent on his state’s dire budgetary woes. His campaign site news releases do not mention budget problems.
At the same time, it has been noted by the tabloid media that Jerry Brown has been weirdly over-involved as California’s attorney general, his current job, in the celebrity death investigations of Anna Nicole Smith, Michael Jackson, and Corey Haim. His office spent several months investigating ACORN employees who were caught in a videotape sting organizing houses of prostitution in government housing. Brown has just determined that there will be no prosecution of ACORN in his state.
Brown also went to the unusual extra step to seal his gubernatorial records from his 1970s-’80s term for fifty years. (U.S. presidents can seal records only up to twelve years for national security purposes.)
Brown refuses to join with fourteen other states’ attorneys general in challenging the recently-passed health care reform law, even though it will mandate billions more in unfunded expenses to the financially-strapped California Medicaid program. He says that to challenge Obamacare would be to engage in “poisonous partisanship.”
Republican gubernatorial candidates are tacking the pension fund liability:
Steve Poizner says he supports a “two-tier” system for current and new state employees but doesn’t think that a new governor will be able to come in and “steamroll” the unions.
Meg Whitman has campaigned on cutting state employee rolls and advocates “401(k)” style pensions for government workers and higher retirement ages (from age 50 to 55 or 65).
What can California do?
The U.S. Constitution technically does not allow for states to go bankrupt. Vallejo, California was the first city in the country to go bankrupt and has been establishing new “tiers” of retirement plans for police and fire employees.
The newly-elected governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, is tackling government employees’ unions to some effect. Christie has announced his intentions to cut substantially from government executive positions, privatize other state jobs, and cut positions.
There has been criticism of increased funding and budget overruns for state prisons due to the influence of the California prison guards’ union.
The Citizen Power Campaign seeks to “unplug” the public employee unions and is endorsed by many of the conservative candidates for office in California, including Republican Steve Poizner for governor.
One thing California clearly does not need is the déjà vu “hair of the dog” in the person of 1970s retread Democrat Jerry Brown.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Penny Roberts Marquart commented on your link:
“Wait a minute……..I thought everything was George Bush’s fault. Past, Present and future…oh, now I am confused.”
Posted by: Randy Fardal Apr 09, 12:53 AM
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As governor in the 1970s, Brown destroyed three crucial contributors to California’s miraculous growth and prosperity: highways, water delivery, and higher education. He attempted to appeal to libertarians by babbling, “small is beautiful” but he really wanted to divert the funds for those programs to his own vote-buying projects.
Just as federal politicians expropriated Social Security funds for their own selfish uses, Brown expropriated the massive California highway funds. That money already had been collected from motor fuel taxes and other vehicle fees for building roads, but he diverted them to his own selfish programs.
Ironically, it was Brown’s own father — also a California governor — that championed California’s nation-leading highway system, plentiful water, and high-quality low-cost college education. The quality of all three has plummeted since Brown’s 1970s thievery, yet consumers continue to pay more for them.
Posted by: wodiej Apr 09, 04:40 AM
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Of course Brown is silent, it happened during his watch. It’s a no brainer that unions are bankrupting the country. Gov’t/union workers are overpaid and underworked for the most part. Republicans will need to take over many of the prominent positions in California to straighten out the mess with pensions and the budget.
Posted by: Ernie Apr 09, 06:00 AM
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Another reason we left and will NEVER return!
Posted by: MrBill Apr 09, 07:11 AM
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Is there anyone left in America who doesn’t know that We the People will bail California out?
Posted by: Groucho Apr 09, 08:02 AM
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Cut current pensions in half, tax any amounts over 100,00 at 100%, raise the retirement age to 65 and force a 401k style plan on public sector workers – just like the rest of us. That should get me elected.
Posted by: blotto Apr 09, 08:24 AM
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Groucho, great ideas!! How about also taxing union dues at 99% and using that money to pay for union retirees retirements. How about adding a 15% wealth tax on those with over $5 million in total assets? Tax 527 groups at 99%. Tax any tort or punitive damages reward that lawyers and law firms recieve at 99%.
Wait, you mean to tell me that CA just NOW noticed that they had half-a-trillion in unfunded retirement liabilities and NOBODY in state government ever noticed this over the years. No, it was noticed but overlooked because of political considerations and expediency. Well then too bad for those retired public workers. They voted for the frauds-Dems- and now they can live with the consequences of their voting.
Posted by: randy1 Apr 09, 08:24 AM
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k
Every election cycle it is the same old heart tugging pleas from the teachers unions for more money. “Our children deserve better.”
Well just once tell me how much is enough? Give me a figure and then shut up and do your job. It’s never enough with these people.
Posted by: roenal Apr 09, 09:02 AM
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It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if the Dems weren’t in control of the Congress, CA wouldn’t be in the mess they’re in. Figure it out, do some thinking. Think about every state in our country where Dems are in control and look at their financial situation, make a comparison. Dems have been in our Congress since 2006 and just look at what they have accomplished in a few short years. They are about to bankrupt the greatest country in the world.
Don’t waste your time blaming Bush, Congress spends the money. With people like Dodd and Frank running things we were bound to end up where we are.
Posted by: Snarky Apr 09, 09:28 AM
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I don’t care about Jerry Brown. I don’t care if the liberals run California into insolvency. They can’t raise my taxes because of Prop-13 so I’ll just watch them go broke and ask for a federal bailout.
I’m giving up on my state, it is too far gone to save. California is ungovernable.
They killed the aerospace industry. They killed the space industry. Now they are killing California agriculture. Soon there will simply be no jobs here and the rest of the country will have to support us.
We’re going to need that federal VAT tax just so you folks can pay for California’s high-speed rail, sanctuary cities and meatless Monday in San Francisco.
Honestly, if a huge earthquake hit and the entire San Francisco penninsula slid off into the ocean the state of California would be much better off. Mother Nature is our Friend.
Posted by: buckinmt Apr 09, 09:44 AM
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“California’s state employee pension fund liabilities have ballooned for years with increased numbers of state employees, many of whom can retire at age 50, can “spike” their last years’ income with overtime to increase their retirement…”
Please get your fact straight. Overtime is NOT a factor in determining retirement benefits. Furthermore, the retirement plan offering the option to retire at age 50 is primarily for public safety employees (police, fire, corrections). Most will work beyond age 50 unless they started their career at a young age.
CalPERS is currently valued at $210.8 billion, which doesn’t sound so broke to me. You can check it out at [www.calpers.ca.gov].
Groucho…since you sound so socialistic, let’s cut the salaries of all professional athletes, entertainers, etc to $100,000 despite what their contractual agreement calls for. You are whining and sound like so many who want what others have, but don’t want to work for it.
As far as Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown…he is an idiot. For those who might not remember, he gave the CA a Supreme Court Justice named Rose Bird…Another loser with disastrous effects on law enforcement and Kaliphornians. Those who are foolish enough to vote for Brown deserve what they get.
Posted by: seven Apr 09, 09:48 AM
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These pension funds can go bankrupt. The airlines take bankruptcy every few years and the pension allocations get hit. The Fed pension guarantees pay recipients of pensions a flat lump Giving the retired administrator a lump of 47,000 dollars instead of 400 thousand per year is a risk he entered when he either went union or they promised a pension. Obama shafted several retirement funds when he bankrupted two auto companies. he can do it again.
Remember the Stock market has lost 17 trillion in market cap with the post Bush depressed stock market.
Posted by: kgolfinghawaii Apr 09, 10:00 AM
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Hey buckinmt,
Not sure how you think someone retiring at 50 at over 100K is a good thing. I don’t give a hoot how young they were when the started working. They were no younger than the rest of us. I know from personal experience how the system works in CA. I have lifelong friends that have all retired at 50, yes law enforcement of which I was one long ago, and they are getting ridiculous salaries. And no, they have not earned that right to make a full living while being non-productive in terms of nothing on the return in investment anymore. We don’t “owe” them that type of living on the public dime.
The real kicker is they didn’t put one dime into their own retirement. Heck, they don’t put money in SS. They only pay the 1.5% tax, if hired after 1983, into medicare. So, if they made the salaries they got paid, they worked for a whole whopping 29 years, paid not one dime into retirement then they need to get about 50% or possibly 60%. If they want to stay till 60 then I would go a bit higher. I would never tax someone at 100% like Groucho, but I certainly don’t disagree with him on what is right. You are just plain wrong, feeling a bit guilty?
Posted by: tone_b Apr 09, 10:02 AM
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If you read some of the hyper linked articles at the beginning it reads like a microcosm of what happened on Wall St. With ties to New York firms to boot. I would not be surprised to find Goldman Scams somewhere in there as well. Everything is the same, looting and speculation with peoples retirements and then an expectation of a government bailout if the bets went bad. Gee where have we seen this before? And ACORN running a prostitution ring??!!! Unbelievable.
Posted by: Bruce Thompson Apr 09, 10:03 AM
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Don’t forget Phil Angelides
Peggy Noonan has a column [online.wsj.com] on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission of which Mr. Angelides is the Chairman.
His Wikipedia entry [en.wikipedia.org] states
“As Treasurer, Angelides was an ex-officio member of the boards of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS)[6], which are the nation’s first and third largest public pension funds.”
So the guy who was on the boards of these retirement plans that are now a half-trillion dollars in debt is supposed to be the guy who solves the “mystery” of the financial collapse?
I hope he owns a mirror!
Posted by: Dancquill Apr 09, 10:03 AM
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It used to be common knowledge in California what Jerry Brown was all about.. Take his transportation head Adrianna Gianturco (sp?) who famously said.. ‘We are going to make driving a car so expensive and so inconvenient, people will stop doing it and take public transit.’ So they.. Jerry and his friends in government stopped building freeways, and barely did the maintenance on the existing ones. Except for dot com bubbles California has had little to brag about in the area of infrastructure since then. Water and electricity production have also suffered from his ilk… and fallen behind safe levels.. let alone what we need for a growing vibrant economy.
People are waking up on the massive budget shortfalls.. but are not being given the background of its governmental and public sector causes. Word of mouth does seem to work in the short run, but education and media seem to aim at sacrificing everything to maintain the problem producing industry.
Posted by: tone_b Apr 09, 10:29 AM
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Mr. Thompson it’s the same old story put the foxes in charge of an inquiry to find out why there is less hens in the henhouse. It’s ridiculous.
Posted by: Rick Johnson Apr 09, 10:41 AM
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Blame Jerry Brown – and his father before him, Pat Brown!
Posted by: inspectorudy Apr 09, 10:47 AM
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There is only ONE reason the fed and state governments are in this mess and it is UNIONS! No politician will oppose them in state elections and the federal unions are bullet proof. I have been or was in a union all of my professional life. Every time their was a crisis in the airline world the unions took a hit to our pay as well as our retirement. Not so in the public sector. It is like a one way ratchet, always up. Tell me ONE good thing that unions do for the public they serve? chirp……chirp…….chirp, (That’s crickets chirping for those of you in Rio Linda.)
Posted by: TheRealNCal Apr 09, 11:04 AM
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Buckinmt
“Please get your fact straight. Overtime is NOT a factor in determining retirement benefits.”
A CDF (California Dept. of Forest) captain that I know, retired and then after they improved the retirement he came back for one year. Why? Because CDF calculates retirement at the highest one year including overtime. The one year he came back, he worked a bunch of overtime and retired making MORE than his base salary.
US Forest Service retirement is based on three highest years base pay. CDF retirement is based on highest one year including overtime.
“CalPERS is currently valued at $210.8 billion, which doesn’t sound so broke to me. You can check it out at [www.calpers.ca.gov].”
How much do they owe? If you believe how they show “their” numbers then you may believe the Fed Gov when they leave things like Fanny and Freddy’s trillions off their budget numbers because they are…separate.
“Groucho…since you sound so socialistic, let’s cut the salaries of all professional athletes, entertainers, etc to $100,000 despite what their contractual agreement calls for. You are whining and sound like so many who want what others have, but don’t want to work for it.”
Groucho is a bit out there with taxing but: Athletes etc are not paid for by tax payers. If you are taking taxpayer’s money, then tax payers have a right to have input on how much they are FORCED to pay you. The Fed. Gov. had no qualms about breaking contracts with bank employees, automotive investors and more but they favored the unions. Unions and government controlling tax payer’s money is socialistic. Tax payers controlling government (and there by unions false power) is a republic.
Posted by: NoNeoCommies Apr 09, 11:09 AM
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If ‘the law’ requires that we continue to (over)pay retirees; change the law!
When the government is made to feel our pain they will, at last, be on our side.
Posted by: Jake Apr 09, 11:09 AM
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I thought pyramid schemes were illegal.
Posted by: Joseph Somsel Apr 09, 11:11 AM
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We can also credit (debit?) Jerry Brown for leading California’s energy supply system on the road to ruin.
He created the California Energy Commission which has NEVER made any energy yet costs us half a billion a year in cost. Over the 30 years since its creation, thats about $15 billion of wasted, wasteful, and redundant bureacracy paid for by the taxpayers.
Plus, they repeatedly get in the way of new energy projects and impose extensive and invasive energy conservation rules on our home and businesses.
Let’s kill this unneeded and unwanted petty tyranny called the California Energy Commission.
Posted by: fredmertz13 Apr 09, 12:00 PM
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Lets just give california back to mexico. that should solve our problem
Posted by: mjd001 Apr 09, 12:35 PM
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Blame Jerry Brown?
I’m sick of hearing about politicians being blamed for this stuff – there I said it.
How many people in California believe promises that can’t be kept? How many were totaly ignorant and just don’t care? So the chickens come home to roost and the consolation is that we have someone to blame – a politician. Goverment unions were allowed and politicians were put in the position of goody dispenser – this is the result – “Someday” has arrived and its going to be a long day.
Let the people of California pay for this, raise their taxes good and high and if they don’t like it then let them get out. It’s time to live in the mess these people are responsible for.
Posted by: Keizer Apr 09, 12:44 PM
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This is not just happening in California. This is a problem for a LOT of states. States cant pay their pensions or fund their programs and services. Its just worse in some states than others.
Many states have it in their laws or consitution that state employee benefits cannot be reduced or changed in any way. But, everyone agrees there is no way to pay for it. The politicians made promises and screwed them at the same time in many cases by not even making their required contributions. That argument, however disappointed to state employees, doesnt solve the problem.
Its a bomb few politicians know how to diffuse and still keep their cushy jobs. The Unions are going to punish reformers with all their might and they are more organized and better funded than joe citizen.
The governor of NJ (I forget his name right now) is off to a good start and seems to be leading the way. Will anyone follow?
Posted by: Russ Vaughn Apr 09, 02:33 PM
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First commenter, Randy Fardal, points out the deterioration of the highway system, reminding me of a complaint received a few days ago from my brother, a resident of Santa Barbara, who noted that while there is no funding to repair Highway 101, which is becoming more of an obstacle course than a major roadway, the state has managed to fund the off-road vehicle recreation program to the tune of $27 million. Looks like 101 may soon qualify for the off-road funding.
As for the snarly comments from buckinmt, I wonder if that ID stands for Buck in Montana and if old Buck isn’t a member of those droves of California public employees who stay in the promised land long enough to cash out and then head out to more bucolic places like Idaho and Montana where their very generous public pensions become even more lucrative?
Posted by: Momlee Apr 09, 03:04 PM
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Why is there no mention of our govenor Arnold S contracting China to build our high speed train project??? The billions set aside from the stimulus was ment to put our people to work, not stimulate China. GE is also part of the deal. Don’t we have qualified engineers in the US? Don’t we build anything anymore? Why is there no mention in our lame stream media? Let’s outsource jobs right? Let’s ban GE and all their products. Jeffrey Emmelt could care less about our country as he has just stopped selling products to Iran. California is falling off a cliff, unemployment 12%+- and our reps main concerns is to make pot legal? They are raising salaries and pushing for the Water and Power to raise rates. Make your vote count in November folks…you want more of the same bumbling idiots?
Posted by: kgolfinghawaii Apr 09, 04:02 PM
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One more comment. The idiot voters of CA had the opportunity to overturn all this garbage, but they voted down all four initiatives that were placed on the ballot in 2006. They really have no one to blame but themselves. I am a native Californian and am so glad I am gone. The liberal dimwits and their voters, same thing I guess, have ruined that state, period.
Posted by: Randy Fardal Apr 09, 04:35 PM
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This debate reminded me of another comment I posted in January, so I went back and found it. It still is relevant:
In 1989, a section of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed during the big Loma Prieta earthquake. After repairs were made, California lawmakers and bureaucrats studied and debated the situation for years until they finally decided to replace the entire east half of the bridge in 1997.
After the new bridge design was deemed to be sufficiently “sensitive” to the needs of the gay, lesbian, feminist, African American, Native American, and illegal immigrant voters, the project was put out for bids. The original CalTrans cost estimate was well under one billion dollars.
The powerful labor unions demanded that domestic steel would be used. That alone jacked up the project cost by about 30 percent. And as in every government-run project since the dawn of time, its cost then ballooned further, from $1.3B in 1998, to $5.1B by 2005.
Today, the project still isn’t even close to completion, more than 20 years after the earthquake. The latest “official” government cost estimate is $6.3B, which is ten times what CalTrans originally estimated. But the total cost through 2049 — the date at which taxpayers and toll payers finally finish paying for the bridge — is estimated to be more than $12B. That includes the interest on the bonds and other financing costs.
And Leftists want to turn over life-and-death healthcare decisions to these corrupt, incompetent morons?
Posted by: merrimack1 Apr 09, 05:57 PM
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Give Ca back to Mexico?I guess you weren’t watching.They already took it.But who remembers 10 or 12 years ago when the financial wizards of Orange county lost megabucks investing in derivitives?Nobody even knew what they were back then.Mix in some dem-fueled union packages and add water,presto!How do you say adios in spanish?
Posted by: Rick Johnson Apr 09, 06:51 PM
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Whoa mjd001! It’s true. The voters own it – ultimately, don’t they?
Posted by: durga Apr 09, 07:36 PM
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Jerry Brown is a tool of the public employee unions. If he gets elected one more time, the end of America has been foretold.
Jerry Brown set up the tipping point. He gave public employee unions the power to get dues deducted directly out of paychecks paid for by tax dollars and go directly into union coffers .Union bosses used those taxpayer paid dues to buy Democratic legislators who in turned guaranteed massive pensions and benefits for public workers.
Schwarzenegger knew what was wrong, ran on the platform he could stop this. And he blinked the very first time the unions showed him their power. We are now in twice the mess we had before Schwarzenegger was elected.
This is in the hands of the voters who have to blindly throw all the bums out, no telling who else they might be putting in. If we don’t break the Democratic public employee union grip on the throat of California ASAP, all will be lost.
The public employee unions have massive coffers to win this one and have already started indirect ads for public employees like the police which I heard today. No political mention at all. Just a sweet Norman Rockwell radio ad about how much we depend upon our pollice who work day and night and weekends too to protect us and whose children never know if daddy or mommy in uniform is going to come home again after having to deal with the really bad people who are out there to harm them.
Forget that roofers and fishermen have the most dangerous jobs. Forget if Daddy policeman works on weekends, he get 4 week days off as well. Forget that Mommy police lady gets to retire at age 50 at 90% salary and life time health benefits, with almost guaranteed tax free disability, instead of retirement, since de facto anyone with a chronic condition is deemed to be service related caused.
READ THE BOOK “PLUNDER” BY STEVEN GREENHUT and don’t let what happened in California happen to you in your state. Enough voices have been now raising these abuses by public employees they have … (350 word limit)
Posted by: Al Shears Apr 09, 08:51 PM
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What a story about the bridge Randy. That one case just about sums up the insanity of all these giant mistakes made across the country by governments run by incompetents. This situation with colossal union power must be dealt with before we can go much further. There is NO choice. Gonna have to shout them down.
Posted by: durga Apr 09, 09:13 PM
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Jerry Brown now lives in the Oakland hills – he moved out of the downtown ghetto where he was once mayor and you can’t get to this tony section of Oakland unless you use a car. Sounds like this would almost make him a Republican these days, but those hills are right next door to Berkeley.
Posted by: DJL Apr 09, 09:16 PM
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If we didn’t have to bail them out, (I guess there are good people that will get hurt too) I would laugh at those morons as their insanely liberal state goes down in flames.
Posted by: durga Apr 09, 09:23 PM
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Here is what happens to public bond money in California when people are willing to tax themselves for their local school districts:
1. You have to hire union rate labor (living wage labor)
2. You have to hire someone extra to make sure union (living wage) labor being paid
3. You have to hire someone to make sure you are getting what you are supposed to be getting in building materials contracted for
4. You have to run everything through a state architect inspector who may or may not be the same person who has total power to make you rip everything out and start over, even if the prior inspector had passed it
You have to pay so much in soft costs up front and delays, you barely have anything left over for the actual building.
Posted by: cfin5 Apr 09, 09:26 PM
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Kinda tired tonight as I just got done working, so here’s a quick whiff off the cuff in what I think about this mess. It sounds like the Californians have worked in vain like the 1849′ers did looking for gold. The only ones that made the real money are the ones supplying the picks, shovels, and food. Has anything changed? The workers still work for and vote for their own economic deaths “in whom they trusted”……They will move on to another government scam like before,….and expect the wisdom of our wallets to bail their socialist follies out again, and again, and and forevermore again.
Guess I better hit it, the socialist need me to be well rested to work another day for them tomorrow……groan!
Posted by: durga Apr 09, 09:58 PM
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To salvage something about California, a big chunk of it is conservative – the Sierra foothills and Central Valley. Combined they are now a counterweight to LA and SF, but still not enough to outvote them when the Obaminations all gang up together to shoot themselves in the foot …. again.
We have a primary in June and there are lots of absurd ballot propositions for voters to keep sticking it to themselves and in this heap of a mess the legalize marijuana crowd is demanding we “tax and tolerate” pot so we can raise tax dollars to save this mess.
Name one country were pot has been legalized successfully – and don’t say Netherlands because it became a pit and they are having strong misgivings over its abuse and degradation of this little country.
So just when you thought things could not get worse in California, we have splendid opportunities this June to prove it can. Yes, we can.
Predatory Lending is a major contributor to the economic turmoil we are currently experiencing.
Here is an example of what I am talking about:
Scott Veerkamp / Predatory Lending (Franklin Township School Board Member.)
Please review this information from U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley regarding deceptive lending practices:
“Steering payments were made to brokers who enticed unsuspecting homeowners into deceptive and expensive mortgages. These secret bonus payments, often called Yield Spread Premiums, turned home mortgages into a SCAM.”
The Center for Responsible Lending says YSP “steals equity from struggling families.”
1. Scott collected nearly $10,000 on two separate mortgages using YSP and junk fees. 2. This is an average of $5,000 per loan. 3. The median value of the properties was $135,000. 4. Clearly, this type of lending represents a major ripoff for consumers.
http://merkley.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=A09C6A80-537A-4EB1-83C5-31925F046B6F
Don’t give all the credit to Moonbeam. Another stellar CA governor Gray Davis passed the legislation establishing these unsustainable pensions and countless elected officials statewide soon jumoed on the union bandwagon handing out these pensions in counties and cities all over CA.
Yes, Gray gave them all raises….you are right. More to come on this. I wish we could figure out a way to take the state into bankruptcy and “re-set” all the pensions….maybe to zero.