Comments on: Responding to Carter Bundy

By: Ted Berthelote

Ted Berthelote — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 16:43:41 +0000

Private sector unions have largely, tough not exclusively, been responsible for the outsourcing of manufacturing to foreign countries, and in the process have killed the goose that laid the golden egg. They have consequently lost membership and influence. Similar fate awaits public employee unions.

By: Don

Don — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:51:37 +0000

AFSCME used an 8% revenue return projection. I would LOVE to have an annual 8% return on MY retirement funds, (contributed to at a much higher rate and for a much longer period of time than any government pension plan participant and matched only partially by my employer).

Reminds me of the corrupt way New Mexico’s legislatures and governors have “balanced the state budget” as required by law. They simply pad the amount of projected rate of return on investments so they have extra money to waste on their socialistic projects to buy votes.

By: Thomas Molitor

Thomas Molitor — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:17:58 +0000

Excerpts from an editorial in a paper today in California:

PENSION SYSTEMS MUST STOP USING FAULTY FORECASTS

Pension systems depend on investment earnings to help fund workers’ future retirement pay. The higher the assumed investment returns, the less money employees and employers (taxpayers) must kick in now to fund the plans.

But when those investment forecasts don’t pan out, pension systems are left with shortfalls, debts that taxpayers alone must make up. Employees have no obligation to help cover them.

So the public-employee union incentive is clear: Push for high investment rate assumptions that require lower contributions now. In the short term, that frees up more government money for salaries and benefits.

At CalPERS, actuaries have urged board members to lower the annual investment assumption below the current 7.5%, but the board, led by workers and union-supported elected officials, have rejected that.

By: NM OBJECTIVIST

NM OBJECTIVIST — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 23:08:40 +0000

Fully funded 401(k) plans are the only responsible way to deal with employee retirement and that would have the advantage of making the cost transparent.

By: Paul Gessing

Paul Gessing — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:32:19 +0000

Not so fast. New Mexico’s government employee pension system is NOT sustainable and states are on the verge of insolvency or some kind of bankruptcy-like process (we don’t know what it will be) due in part to over-generous government pensions. We’ll test this with California and Illinois first, but New Mexico is not free of its own problems.

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 03:17:54 +0000

So Bundy is right on pretty much all counts? Got it.

AFSCME tries to do the best for workers who work in state government while RGF wants to eliminate public pensions. Wonder who to believe…