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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Republican Way To Create A Pension Crisis....
revolves around siphoning off retiree's cash and then claiming the system is insolvent. The only way to keep the system running is to cut benefits and put new employees into a 401(k) types plan. Why if we don't do something soon the system will go bankrupt! It's easy to put all of the blame on the employees. Just don't look behind the curtain to see what those in charge of the system are actually doing with the funds entrusted to them. Consider Chris Christie's genius plan that has cost the pension fund $4 billion in lost revenue and increased management fees. Christie's buddies are getting rich off the system while the people who actually earned the benefits and paid into the plan pay the cost and lose their security.
The $4 billion loss wasn't enough. While Christie's manufactured pension crisis owes a large part of it's origins to the mismanagement of pension funds and the payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in management fees to Christie's friends, he had to try to hide the magnitude of the diversion. That certainly runs afoul of NJ Law. But never mind, Christie is a brave reformer, making all of the difficult decisions that need to be made! It's good to be a FOC'er! (Friend of Christie)
Read David Sirota's article here: http://www.ibtimes.com/chris-christie-administration-paid-600m-financial-fees-2014-1833872
Under Chris Christie, the New Jersey pension system paid more than $600 million in fees to financial firms in 2014 -- 50 percent more than a year ago, and a higher rate than almost any other state reports paying for pension management. The figures are buried within an otherwise routine annual report that appeared to change the way the fees were counted to make them look smaller than they actually are.
That accounting change comes at a time when the Christie administration is under scrutiny for investing pension money in high-fee firms whose executives made campaign contributions to Republican political groups. The move obscuring the increase in reported fees also comes on the heels of Christie telling New Jersey teachers, firefighters, cops and other public workers that there are no alternatives to cutting their retirement benefits because the state pension system is so strapped for cash.
The lack of transparency, skyrocketing risks and fees and chronic underperformance makes New Jersey the poster child for the kind of shenanigans happening in pension systems across the country, said former Securities and Exchange Commission attorney Ted Siedle, who conducts forensic investigations of state and local pension systems.
The New Jersey Department of Treasury and Christies office did not respond to International Business Times' request for comment.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)on point
(2,506 posts)and do tax cuts instead.
Stock market doing well, pension fund up, we don't need to keep making contributions at the same rate, let' cut taxes.
Pensions were often a promise in lieu of wages, and now that the bill is coming due government CANNOT shirk the promse.
Beach Rat
(273 posts)It wasn't just in lieu of wages, there were contributions made as well and entrusted to the government that employed you. As a government employee, you were held to certain high standards, not withstanding the public perceptions that the republicans have worked so hard to create. The folks handling the money couldn't be trusted. When they get called on their screw ups they blame "overly generous" benefits, not the screw up and look to blame the employees. Screw up is teh wrong word because its a deliberate raid on the funds. Here in NJ, Whitman raided those funds for budget reasons in the 90's and it set the system back. Christie's raided the funds to reward his big donors and friends and its about to put the system under.
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,847 posts)...uniquely rethuglican.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Laxman
(2,419 posts)I'm going to borrow this article for the Christie Crime Digest. This should have been near the top in Volume 1. Better late than never. This article also raises a question I hadn't though of before. How did Christie become a partner in an established law firm just a couple of years out of law school? He had no real experience, yet he became a high-powered lobbyist. This wasn't someone who was an established professional or someone who had been in business and decided to go to law school. In 1987 he was just a wet-behind-the-ears novice lawyer. Hmmm.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Laxman
(2,419 posts)that article has a treasure trove of links...including one to a NY Times article that includes this quote:
Mr. Corzines advisers point out that New Jersey is seeking to recoup losses from Lehman Brothers. Before Mr. Christie became the United States attorney, they note, he worked as a lobbyist and represented the Securities Industry Association in its effort to block securities fraud from being included under the states Consumer Fraud Act.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/nyregion/05corzine.html?_r=0
Under the Corzine administration they lost $20 million and they tried to recoup the loss. Christie's administration loses $4 billion and they try to gut the system. Hypocrisy of this magnitude is nothing if not entertaining.
Laxman
(2,419 posts)put him up to running in the first place is getting a bit tired of Christie's act when it comes to pensions! This from NJ Biz Magazine....
Count us among those who were not surprised a Superior Court judge ruled against Chris Christie's decision to cut short a scheduled pension payment by more than $1.5 billion this year.
Count us among those who were not surprised a Superior Court judge ruled against Chris Christies decision to cut short a scheduled pension payment by more than $1.5 billion this year.
There are difficult, disciplined ways to deal with budget shortfalls, such as program cuts or tax increases. Were not in favor of either, but given that snow forecasts are more reliable than this administrations revenue predictions, stop-gap measures have become a pretty regular feature here in the Garden State. Thats one thing we find most business owners say is among the most maddening things about a governor they genuinely like the most basic function of both business and government is to keep the books in order. And when a business ends up short on revenue, it cant do something like kick a billion-dollar pension payment down the road.
Well say it again: Christie had no business deciding against that payment in the first place. When your signature accomplishment is negotiating a better deal with the unions to solve a looming fiscal crisis, you dont go back on your word as soon as times get tough. What kind of example does that set for anything else you hope to accomplish or the other kinds of public trust you need to build? Behavior such as this can solve the short-term problem, but its hard to imagine anyone else coming to the negotiating table.
read the rest here: http://www.njbiz.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20150301%2FNJBIZ01%2F150229843%2FEditorial%3A-There%27s-no-negotiating-when-it-comes-to-your-word-%3Futm_source%3DListrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.njbiz.com%2Farticle%2F20150301%2FNJBIZ01%2F150229843%2FEditorial%3A-There%27s-no-negotiating-when-it-comes-to-your-word-&utm_campaign=Sunday+Roundup%3A+Christie%27s+pension+woes%2C+3+thoughts+on+the+budget%2C+executive+moves+and+more&template=mobileart
Wow that's a long link!
Mister Ed
(5,945 posts)There are several websites that can help you tame long links like that one. Many years ago, I saw that someone on DU mentioned tinyurl.com as one of those websites, and I've used it from time to time ever since.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)KoKo
(84,711 posts)Laxman
(2,419 posts)a cartoon can sometimes say so much more than words...