Desperate Hot Springs – Another California city teeters on the edge of bankruptcy
Desperate Hot Springs – Another California city teeters on the edge of bankruptcy
In what may be the most embarrassing California-related headline to appear in a while, Reuters announced last month: Tony resort city mulls bankruptcy, blaming wages, pensions. That supposedly “tony” city is Desert Hot Springs, on the northern edge of the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs. Though it’s certainly true that Palm Springs and many of its...
By Steven Greenhut
Pension Battle Shifts to San Jose, San Bernardino, Stockton
Pension Battle Shifts to San Jose, San Bernardino, Stockton
Now that a federal judge in Michigan has properly ruled pension obligations are not sacrosanct (see Lesson for Union Dinosaurs) the spotlight is once again on union dinosaurs in California. Bankrupt San Bernardino foolishly did not attempt to shed pension obligations in bankruptcy, but perhaps it can now reconsider. What about Stockton and Vallejo? On April...
By Mike Shedlock
Desert Hot Springs, California, Fights Bankruptcy – Average City Employee Makes $144,329 Per Year
Desert Hot Springs, California, Fights Bankruptcy – Average City Employee Makes $144,329 Per Year
While today’s municipal bankruptcy news focuses on Detroit, where a judge has just ruled the city can proceed with its bankruptcy filing, tonight a small California city holds a council meeting to try to avoid the same fate. Desert Hot Springs isn’t on the national radar, but its situation is hardly unique. With only 27,000...
By Edward Ring
Why Raising Minimum Wages Does More Harm Than Good
Why Raising Minimum Wages Does More Harm Than Good
On Friday, Salon reported Breaking: Massive Black Friday strike and arrests planned, as workers defy Wal-Mart. Defying the nation’s top employer and a business model that defines the new U.S. economy, Wal-Mart employees and allies will try to oust shopping headlines with strike stories, and throw a retail giant off its heels on what should be its happiest...
By Mike Shedlock
How Unions and Bankers Work Together to Protect Unsustainable Defined Benefits
How Unions and Bankers Work Together to Protect Unsustainable Defined Benefits
One of the biggest unreported, blockbuster stories in modern America is the alliance between public sector unions and the speculative banking industry. It is a story saturated in greed, drowning in delusion, smothered and marginalized by an avalanche of propaganda – paid for by taxpayers who fund both the public sector unions and the public...
By Edward Ring
Proposal: A Fair Public Union Pension Settlement
Proposal: A Fair Public Union Pension Settlement
Numerous cities have filed for bankruptcy in recent years, and many more cities are on the brink. The reason is untenable union wages, and more importantly untenable pension promises. Sampling of Bankruptcy News Vallejo, California March 2009: Judge Rules Vallejo Can Void Union Contracts Los Angeles, California January 2010: Mayor of Los Angeles Says “Bankruptcy is Not...
By Mike Shedlock
A Member of the Unionized Government Elite Attacks the CPPC
A Member of the Unionized Government Elite Attacks the CPPC
Shame on You! I am appalled to see your “quick facts” focus almost exclusively on public pensions. This is not the stuff of an independent, non-profit think tank. It is clear to me that you are pursuing an “agenda includes opposing … health-care and climate-change regulations, reducing union protections and minimum wages, cutting taxes and...
By Edward Ring
Desert Hot Springs, California, Facing Bankruptcy
Desert Hot Springs, California, Facing Bankruptcy
Add Desert Hot Springs, CA to the list of California cities in dire straits due to poor management, union wages, and ridiculously unaffordable pension promises. Please consider Another U.S. city mulls bankruptcy due to soaring wages and pensions A resort town in California warned on Tuesday that it will run out of money by March due...
By Mike Shedlock
Scranton Faces Bankruptcy, Unions Want to Raise Taxes
Scranton Faces Bankruptcy, Unions Want to Raise Taxes
It is truly pathetic watching politicians flop like fish out of water trying to prevent something that was clearly inevitable long ago. Please consider Moody’s warns of bankruptcy in Scranton as city faces $20 million budget gap. Moody’s warned investors that Scranton could be facing the threat of default or bankruptcy thanks to a $20 million...
By Mike Shedlock
Rolling Stone Magazine: Attacks Wall Street, Gives Public Sector Unions a Pass
Rolling Stone Magazine: Attacks Wall Street, Gives Public Sector Unions a Pass
When people think of Rolling Stone magazine most only think of music. The reality is that Rolling Stone is very influential in the politics of young people. It is the print version of the Daily Show. One of Rolling Stone’s top political writers is Matt Taibbi. He garnered national attention towards the end of the...
By Bill White
Union Controlled Illinois Politicians Consider Tax Increases to Fund Pensions
Union Controlled Illinois Politicians Consider Tax Increases to Fund Pensions
Editor’s Note: This post by regular UnionWatch contributor Mike Shedlock documents the latest bad news for the Illinois Teachers Retirement System. And of course, union-controlled Illinois politicians have a solution: More taxes in one of the most overtaxed states in America. Like many if not most pension reformers, Shedlock advocates a scrapping of defined benefit...
By Mike Shedlock
Union Right-to-Work Myths Dispelled
Union Right-to-Work Myths Dispelled
The UAW has put together a flier on right-to-work “facts” which it is handing out to members. The pamphlet’s facts are wrong. I’ll stay away from some of the statements that are more nuanced — for example: the UAW says the law requires them to provide services for all employees in a union shop but neglects to...
By Jarrett Skorup
Public Sector Unions Win Again – Illinois Braces for Another Tax Increase
Public Sector Unions Win Again – Illinois Braces for Another Tax Increase
Illinois “Progressives” (a single word to describe “economically illiterate public union sympathizers”) want to pick your pocket once again. The Progressives want to hike the Illinois 2015 top tax rate from 3.75% to a whopping 9%. Moreover the income tax rate will go up on a sliding scale for everyone making over $18,000. Promises, Promises...
By Mike Shedlock
BART Strike is a Teachable Moment
BART Strike is a Teachable Moment
Reactions from the press and public to the BART strikes this year have been overwhelmingly negative. In one of the safest Democratic strongholds in the U.S., there is serious talk of outlawing future BART strikes. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 19th, “That discussion has already begun, in letters from California lawmakers...
By Edward Ring