Public Pensions

Public Pension Cuts: Key to States' Budget Fix or Easy Financial Scapegoat?

HuffingtonPost.com | Janell Ross | Posted 03.22.2012

Read More: Pension, Government Workers, Andrew Cuomo, Video, Government Pensions, 401k, Public Sector Unions, Retirement, Public Pensions, Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York, Business News

In a deal done in the dead of night last week, New York became the latest state to drastically overhaul its pension plan against the wishes of its pub...

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Good Pensions Serve to Boost Economy, Not Drain It

Gregory Floyd | Posted 05.12.2012

Read More: Labor, Public Pensions, New York City, Pension Reform, Saving for Retirement, Retirement, Unions, Labor Unions, Retirement Planning, Politics News

Public sector workers are important assets to our communities and the foundation to the middle class. Investing in their pensions for the past 90 years has helped make this city world-class, and we must preserve this legacy.

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Should Elected Officials Have to Clock In for Work?

Emily J. Miller | Posted 02.28.2012

Read More: Public Pensions, Dupage County Board Absenteeism, Better Government Association, DuPage County, Dupage County Board, Chicago News

A recent BGA investigation found a high rate of absenteeism among some DuPage County Board members. This begs the question: should governing bodies require elected officials to prove they are properly qualifying for a public pension?

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Low Wage Concerns Are Not The Ties That Bind at Zuccotti Park

HuffingtonPost.com | Janell Ross | Posted 12.04.2011

Read More: Video, Low Wages, Solidarity, Occupy Wall Street, Pensions, Protests, Public Pensions, Economic Inequality, New York City Police Department, Business News

On Sunday, Jack Adamo stood at the corner of Broadway and Cedar Street, one of the ways into Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park, holding a hand-written...

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Public Pension Funds Lose Billions Amid Stock Market Volatility

AP | MICHAEL GORMLEY | Posted 10.12.2011

Read More: Volatility, Public Employees, Retirees, Dow Jones, Unemployment, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Stock Market, Economic Crisis, Business News, Jobs, Public Pensions, Health Care, Pension Funds, Business News

ALBANY, N.Y. — Wall Street's volatility has hit state pension funds just as they were beginning to recover from the recession, turning what was ...

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10 States Where Pensions Are Running Out Of Funds

24/7 Wall St | Posted 07.01.2011

Read More: Pension-Crisis, Retirees, Unemployment, Economic Crisis, Pensions, State Pensions, Business News, Underfunded-Pensions, Public Pensions, Business News

As the financial obligations and access to capital for states and cities is debated one remedy has already been taken almost universally–cost cuts. ...

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Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter On Pension Reform: 'Some People Will Be Upset'

HuffingtonPost.com | William Alden | Posted 06.29.2011

Read More: Michael Nutter, Defined Benefit Plans, Economic Crisis, Pensions, Business News, Public Pensions, Philadelphia, Defined-Contribution-Plans, Municipal Debt, Business News

CHICAGO -- Just months after Michael Nutter became mayor of Philadelphia in January 2008, the national economy plunged into the worst downturn s...

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Vernon City Admin. Gets Almost $520,000 In Annual Pension

washingtonpost.com | Karen Tumulty | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Vernon California, Public Pensions, California Pension Reform, Bruce Malkenhorst Sr, California Public Pensions, Los Angeles News

Whoever it was who came up with the phrase "golden years" might have had Bruce Malkenhorst Sr. in mind. The retired city administrator of Vernon, C...

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The 16 States That Are Killing Their Pensions

24/7 Wall St. | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Pension Contributions, State Pensions, Pension Cuts, State Budgets, Public Pensions, Alaska, 401k, Business News

For decades, public employees have had pension plans identical to those provided by most large American companies. These are defined benefit plans tha...

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Less Secure Retirements Lie Ahead

National Journal | RONALD BROWNSTEIN | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Public Employees, Baby Boomers, Retirement, Defined Benefit Plans, Pensions, Generation X, Public Pensions, Retirement Plans, 401k, Saving for Retirement, Private Sector, Public Sector Employees, Aarp, Defined-Contribution-Plans, Wisconsin Protests, Business News

One big reason public employees are under siege in Wisconsin and other states is because they now enjoy more secure retirement benefits than most priv...

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Really Bad Reporting -- Wisconsin Collective Bargaining Dispute

David Cay Johnston | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Taxes, Public Pensions, Public Employee Unions, Journalism, Wisconsin Protests, Media News

Economic nonsense is being reported as fact in most of the news reports on the Wisconsin dispute, the product of a breakdown of skepticism among journalists multiplied by their lack of understanding of basic economic principles.

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Debts Should be Honored, Except When the Money Is Owed to Working People

Dean Baker | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Taxes, Public Pensions, Budget Deficits, Business News

Many think public sector workers are often better situated than their private sector counterparts, in that they even have pensions. But these workers paid for their pensions with lower wages than their private sector counterparts.

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The Misshape of Things to Come

Vegas Tenold | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: New York Budget, Public Pensions, Andrew Cuomo, New York Legislature, New York State Accounting, New York News

While next year's budget may be grim reading for state employees and unions, it is more than likely that it will do little to address the underlying reasons for New York's fiscal woes.

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New York's Lousy Jobs (And How We Can Make Them Better)

Amy Traub | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Public Employees, Public Pensions, Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, Wage Theft, Wages, Middle Class, Economic Development, Jobs, Living Wage, Wage Theft Prevention Act, Walmart, Public Workers, New York News

Should we tear down the city's middle class? Or work to turn lousy jobs into good ones? That's the policy choice facing New York's leaders. So far, their decisions aren't encouraging.

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Your Mailman Didn't Make the Economy Collapse

Amy Traub | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Government Workers, Public Employees, Public Pensions, Public Sector, Middle Class Economy, Conservatives, Budget Cuts, Budget, Middle Class, Banks, Anti-Union, Right Wing, Big Government, Unions, Business News

Rather than being outraged that a public employee earns a living wage, we should ask why more private sector workers don't.

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Public Pensions Are $2 Trillion Short: Report

ft.com | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: State Retirement Fund, New Jersey, 401k, Calpers, Retirement, Pensions, Public Pensions, Orin Kramer, Business News

The US public pension system faces a higher-than-expected shortfall of more than $2,000bn that will increase pressure on many states' strained finance...

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