Farsighted state employees are realizing that state pension benefits are an illusion. Nowhere in the world does any government match the pension benefits as California state employees. However, many economists are warning that as billions and billions that will become due, those employees will get stiffed. Consider San Diego on steroids.
So what to do? Bring in financial experts in a special commission.
Would you hire a person who publicly opposed the Recall that got this Governor elected, who nearly bankrupted the Republican Party, who personally stiffed RNC funds for the nearly successful McClintock comptroller campaign in 2002, who testified against the GOP pension fix in 2005, presided over the scandalous UC payroll cover-up, was sued by Treasury Secretary William Simon and has a blatant conflict of interest because he makes millions managing CalPERS money?
The choice of Parsky is laughable throughout California and extending to Washington where Parsky tried but failed to impose himself as Secretary of Treasury.
Goodness knows that this post employment benefits commission is doomed before it starts.
[Publisher’s Note: Shawn, you left off Gerry’s top qualification. FR readers may remember that he proudly is head of the "Parsky Committee" – a group of kingmakers that come together to advise the President on federal Judicial picks for the Golden State. Parsky’s favorite aspect of his committee? He gave liberal Democrat Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein "veto power" over any potential federal Judicial nominations… So, you have to ask yourself if before this new commission gets started, if Parsky will go to the union-boss types appointed by the liberal legislative leaders, and give them "veto power" over any of the commission’s findings. I’ve never met someone who signs the terms of surrender before engaging in battle, and yet this is who is tapped to head up this important effort. Yikes! — Flash]
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 am
As a member of CalPERS, this is truly scarey…many people will be greatly upset if this does not work. How does California continue to operate in such a “quagmire?”
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Is Gerry Parsky promising to do the same thing to public employee retirement that he did to the U.C. System? Yikes!
If so, we should expect to read in the newspapers that he is DEFENDING the worst abuses in the retirement system and promising to change the rules to make them legal after-the-fact.