When Gov. Runs Out Of Other Peoples Money

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Rising fixed costs for health care and pensions have been driving Hartford’s fiscal challenges. The city is on the hook for nearly $180 million in payments for debt service, health care, pensions and other costs for the current fiscal year. That is more than half of the city’s budget, excluding education.

Hartford’s officials said the city has a debt problem. The city said its law firm of Greenberg Traurig LLP will engage in negotiations with its bondholders and asked the state for its support.

“Our bondholders understand that our debt burden is unmanageable,” city officials said in the letter. “They will need to be part of the solution today, through a serious, sustainable, long-term debt restructuring.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hartfo...cy-unless-state-provides-a-bailout-1504800558



keep giving public sector employees unsustainable sweetheart deal ....
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
Liberals are, now, reaping what they sowed. Boo hoo. I hope this is an example to the rest of America. I hope to not see bailouts for the idiocy of it all.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
If I may ...



Is this not the definition of an oxymoron? Do fixed costs rise, or, do costs rise? It can't be a "fixed" cost if it rises. Is this a quote from the illustrious Wall Street Journal itself?
Fixed, in that context, means obligations that absolutely have to be met....cannot be cut, eliminated or deferred. Promised pension benefits are the most notorious of those for many states and municipalities.....promises made back when that have a dramatically increasing cost now.
 

LightRoasted

If I may ...
If I may ...

Fixed, in that context, means obligations that absolutely have to be met....cannot be cut, eliminated or deferred. Promised pension benefits are the most notorious of those for many states and municipalities.....promises made back when that have a dramatically increasing cost now.

Oh. That kinda makes sense. That promised pension benefit thing. What exactly is promised? That a pension program will be administered on behalf of the employee? That there will be some level of matching contributions to what the employee pays in? Because I know that since pension money is invested in stocks and ... (the global financial casino) that is is no guarantee on any returns. Was, is, there a promise, or responsibility, ever made that requires any government entity to shore up, and contribute, millions upon millions, in some cases billions, more, when a pension program falls short due to miserable market returns, and/or financial chicanery and high fees?
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
If I may ...
Oh. That kinda makes sense. That promised pension benefit thing. What exactly is promised? That a pension program will be administered on behalf of the employee? That there will be some level of matching contributions to what the employee pays in?

Shirley you jest ...
Politicians promise to take care of public sector employees no contributions required

a few yrs ago Teachers Unions had a fit in Wisconsin ....
the State Gov. wanted teachers to start contributing [IIRC] 9 or 11 % towards their benefits

they stormed the state house and would have burned the joint down ...
Democrats let town, so the Republicans couldn't get a quorum and have a vote



What is an 'Unfunded Pension Plan'
An unfunded pension plan is an employer managed retirement plan that uses the employer's current income to fund pension payments as they become necessary. This is in contrast to an advance funded pension plan where an employer sets aside funds systematically and in advance to cover any pension plan expenses such as payment to retirees and their beneficiaries.

BREAKING DOWN 'Unfunded Pension Plan'
A pension plan is a program offered by certain employers that provides a salary replacement when an employee is no longer working (for example, when the employee retires). When employers offer a pension plan, they can plan for the anticipated financial requirements of the pension plan and set aside a certain amount of money on a regular basis - and invest the money to ideally grow the fund. Conversely, certain employers elect to fund the pension plan out of current earnings. This is a pay-as-you-go pension plan, and the future of such plans can often be put in danger by unexpected events.



Read more: Unfunded Pension Plan http://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/unfunded-pension-plan.asp#ixzz4sZPy7RSP
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Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
Oh. That kinda makes sense. That promised pension benefit thing. What exactly is promised? That a pension program will be administered on behalf of the employee? That there will be some level of matching contributions to what the employee pays in? Because I know that since pension money is invested in stocks and ... (the global financial casino) that is is no guarantee on any returns. Was, is, there a promise, or responsibility, ever made that requires any government entity to shore up, and contribute, millions upon millions, in some cases billions, more, when a pension program falls short due to miserable market returns, and/or financial chicanery and high fees?

Your questions above all pertain to private pensions. The issue is state and municipal pensions; public employee pensions. In the case of those, promises were made to provide them..often quite lavish pensions too. Those promises are legally binding. In practically all examples, the people responsible for voting on the pension allotments used assumed rates of return for pension funds that were ridiculously high and now those chickens are coming home to roost as waves of baby boomers retire.
 
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