A challenge for the Mayor’s Budget Day

Nothing scares politicians in the City of Los Angeles more than the thought of confronting public labor unions with the reality of retirement benefit costs and facing up to the structural impact they have on the budget. It comes as no surprise, then, that Mayor Villaraigosa, Eric Garcetti, Jan Perry, Paul Koretz and Bernard Parks pleaded with [...]

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Governments, unions and collective bargaining

“The community cannot tolerate the notion that it is defenseless at the hands of organized workers to whom it has entrusted responsibility for essential services.” – A.H. Raskin, former labor reporter for the New York Times. The issue of collective bargaining rights for public employee unions is a partisan fight. That wasn’t always the case. [...]

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“Caisse de retraite” – or let them eat cake

C’est un récit extrêmement émouvant. The public should get ready to eat cake, because that’s going to be our diet unless we institute serious pension reform.

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Walker no Chris Christie

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker shot himself in the foot today. Unfortunately, although it may be his foot,  it hurts a good cause:  reining in the costs and influence of public unions. The AP reported he was the victim of a prank phone call where he was tricked into disclosing the closeness of his association with the [...]

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Can he answer a direct question?

I have never watched Megan Kelly before.  Maybe I have seen some brief clips of her, but until today I have not been aware of her skills at conducting an interview. I have to credit her with a balanced combination of patience and perseverance.  She is in a class high above the vitriolic voices one [...]

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Tax extensions will require major concessions

Will pension reform be the counterweight to tax extensions? Apparently, bills are being drafted that would require new state employees to be covered by a defined contribution plan in lieu of the costly defined benefit plan in effect for current employees.  Higher healthcare contributions by all employees are also being considered. The chances of Governor Brown pushing [...]

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Getting Some Help from the Press

Blogging about the state and city’s financial crisis is getting easier all the time.  It seems as if more and more articles exposing the fiscal irresponsibility of our elected officials are cropping up.   Here’s one from the San Francisco Chronicle discussing California’s debt. Some salient points: Our debt is astronomical if you consider the pension [...]

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Taking the Words Out of My Mouth

This opinion piece in the LA Times saves me the time of writing an article. Fellow CPA Marcia Fritz is the President of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility. Her take on the pension crisis and its effect on state and municipal finances is in line with mine. Without a meaningful ballot measure to deal [...]

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The Lesser of Two Evils

Kudos to Tom Petruno of the LA Times for his article on whether bankruptcy is the most effective way for the state to resolve its financial woes. He acknowledges that it is unconstitutional for states to declare bankruptcy, but change may be on the way.  Congress might introduce legislation to make it possible.  Granted, that [...]

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Labor Day Debate in the Daily News

Read the opinion of the President of SEIU Local 721 along with mine in today’s Daily News.

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