The Christie Mills Retirement Village

And The Beat Goes On! (Our beating that is)

When you read the article below - don't be shocked! It's business as usual. I wrote about this very thing (http://teachersdontsuck.blogspot.com/2012/05/if-this-doesnt-piss-you-off-check-your.html) in 2012 and I guess nobody read it or nobody cared.
This was just after the much ballyhooed "Pension Reform Bill"(which "The Governor" reneged on and I think probably planned to right from the get go) was passed. Interestingly, not one word about the double dipping of cronies and the connected was in that bill. None of these inequities were even tangentially addressed.
During the time this bill was being discussed our "governor?" (I think he's still the governor in spite of the fact he's been out of the State over half of the time) was already campaigning for reelection. During this time he garnered support from numerous prominent New Jersey Democrats. If you would like to know who those Dems are and why they would jump ship and stand behind a loud mouthed, bullying oaf, the attached article and my post cited above may help to provide some of the answer.
Additionally, in 2011 there were 420,000 public employees in New Jersey. In the 2012 election Christie received 1,278,932 votes against Buono's 809,978. It's hard to understand how Buono could receive only 810K with 420K public workers with their friends and families voting with them for her?
The only conclusions that can be drawn is that few public employees actually voted or that they were actually stupid enough to vote against their own best interests and voted for Governor Porkchop. Either one of these explanations is disheartening to say the least. 

"Performance Bonuses"?

I don’t know if you will consider me to be lacking self-control, call me a liar or call me a fool but I’m back!

I can’t continue my rants at the newspaper and the television. Certainly my wife won’t listen to me so I've decided that my only recourse is to resume writing this feckless blog.

The article below is really what sent me back over the edge. It describes the fees paid to hedge funds by New Jersey pension funds. The first article shows that the contract with the hedge funds provides not only for fees but also for “performance bonuses”. Twenty percent of investment returns exceeding six percent will be paid to the hedge fund as a “performance bonus”.

Upon reading this I immediately looked up the overall average returns on the Dow, the NASDAQ and S&P for the past year. They were 7.52%, 13.4% and 11.39% respectively!

What this means is that a monkey with a dart and the Wall Street Journal would definitely earn a "performance bonus" and it would only cost the pension fund an extra banana or two not the hundreds of millions of dollars which the hedge funds received.

What competent financial manager would agree to some arbitrary number to set as a goal to obtain a “performance bonus”? Shouldn't the goal have been set to exceed the overall yearly market averages?

And why was there not a disincentive in the contract if returns fell significantly below average market returns?

These are all obviously rhetorical questions because I think I know the answers and I am quite sure you do too!

Christie - In a Class or Her Own

The man was United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey and he didn't know that the law was unconstitutional when he signed it. 

Really?

That is almost as hard to believe as his GWB "But I didn't know" ploy.

Was it incompetency or deceit? I'm voting for willful deceit. 

How about you?

Say It Isn't So Joe - Why Joe D Got in Bed With "The Governor"

And he gets to collect his pension while still working the same job !!

So much for Christie's "Pension Reform" !!

A Deal Okay - A Raw Deal

The man is a cheat and a sneak. I am sure that he knew when he signed the bill in 2012 that he would not come up with the money to fund the pension when the time came in spite of his promises. 
By not honoring the agreement which he touted, he created another opportunity to demonstrate to all his conservative buds how tough he is on unions and how willing he is to piss on public workers. He could  show how firmly he stands behind the wealthy and his donor interests. He could clearly show how his outreached hand was really there to give a slap in the face to hard working, middle class public employees rather than it being an indication of cooperation and honesty.

It's As Plain As The Nose on His Face

Kiss DB Pensions Goodbye!

Christie has two major objectives. 

(1) privatize public education to benefit his well connected cronies and friends and 

(2) privatize the pension system to benefit his well connected cronies and friends.

And it's beginning to look like both may work!

BTW -

This 'Hybrid' Pension Plan is just a foot in the door!

A "flip-flop" - How about a LIE ?

                   

            At what point do we start calling a "flip-flop" what it really is - a LIE ?

It appears "The Governor" (as he likes to call himself) does not want "to blindside our student or our seniors" but it is perfectly okay to "blindside" retirees. He is willing to openly violate a law which he himself negotiated, signed and then bragged about just one year ago. I would bet that he knew fully well when the bill was signed that the likelihood of future pension payments being made on the schedule called for was slim and none!
I am constantly amazed by the ability of politicians to stand before the public, time after time and spew lies with a straight face and then claim ignorance when they are discovered.
I know that we have experienced many bold faced lairs in the past - "I did not have sex with that woman" - "No new taxes" - "They have weapons of mass destruction" - etc, but at the rate Christie is going I think he may overtake and exceed them all.
P.S.
The "new pension reform" proposed by "The Governor" will undoubtedly be a call for a Defined Contribution Plan to replace the current Defined Benefit Plan. In other words, no more pension! It will be replaced by a 401K plan. And then the question will be: Which band of cronies will administer the 401K plan and what choices will the participants have?

PSS
I just received this email - 

 Not sure if you all got this from NJEA - I got this as a forward from a friend in Florida. Not sure why I didn't receive it.   This is an easy thing we all can do. Just a few clicks and your name and address.  Pass it on to all retired and present teachers.

 

NJEA.org - TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PENSION!
http://www.njea.org/news/2014-05-22/take-action-to-protect-your-pension

Thanks,

Rosemary

The Great "Reformer" Helps to Rob the Pension Again!

What happened to all Christie's talk about pension "abuse" and public employees getting rich in retirement on their "undeserved"pension payments?
What does this  say about the "Pension Reform" proposed by Christie and passed by Assembly Democrats? What does it say about his veracity in trying to "re-reform" the pension again this year?
Did he already have a plan in mind to "re-reform" it while he was agreeing to the original "reform"?
Was he planning to renege on future pension payments when he signed the original "reform" law?
Maybe he should hire Mr. Mastro (his personal lawyer) to investigate these possibilities (for another $1,000,000 fee paid by the taxpayers). I'm sure the investigation would find him guiltless once again?
P.S.
The Dems aren't completely blameless in pension theft either. Far from it!
Take a look at Joe D's pension deal!

Pension Funds For Sale

"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time" - Abraham Lincoln
Unfortunately, 61% of the New Jersey electorate was fooled before the election and even now according to the polls over 40% continue to be fooled. Maybe the critics of New Jersey education are right because it appears that a large percentage of the population just isn't that smart !!
 http://www.thenation.com/article/178862/pensiongate-christie-campaign-donors-won-huge-contracts

Shafting The "Select Few"

Admittedly, the past can’t always accurately predict the future but unfortunately it’s all we have got to work with.

An average teacher at the top of the salary guide in 1990 was making about $55,000 per year. Let us assume that he/she retired in 1990 at the age of sixty. If he/she started immediately after being graduated from college his/her years of teaching would be about 35. Doing some rough calculations his pension would be $35,000 (assuming the full benefits were taken without survivor benefits).

In 2014 this person would be 84. During his/her retirement inflation (as seen by the accompanying charts) has risen by an accumulated 81.64%. This means if the COLA was not in effect during this period,  the real value of the pension would have  been reduced to $18,900 (more than cut in half).

Now, it appears that “The Governor” wants to renege on his pension reform agreement which eliminated the COLA and raised contribution rates and retirement age requirements. I am sure that more tinkering will result in further loss of pension benefits even beyond what inflation will cost.

His statement “we will miss the opportunity to improve the lives of every New Jersey citizen, not just a select few” is infuriating.

Does he mean the “select few” that have faithfully made pension payments during their entire working lives while the State reneged on its part?

Does he mean the “select few” who have educated New Jersey children (including him) year after year and decade after decade?

Does he mean the “select few” that relied on the integrity of the State to fulfill its contract with them?

Does he mean the “select few” that he has chosen to demonize, bully and degrade because they failed to support his political campaigns?

PS - Speaking of a “select few” read my preceding article “George Orwell Again? - Sunday, February 23, 2014 ” and you decide who the “select few” really are!!

The Man with Two Faces

NJ. Sen. Steve Sweeney: I'll shut down government if Chris Christie reneges on pension payment

Where was he on pension theft and shenanigans in the past - Before the Christie traffic wreck ?

 Senate 2002-present, Senate President 2010-present, Democratic Majority Leader/Conference Chair 2008-09

In thirty years retirees without the COLA will be eating "Meow Mix" !
How can a contract between the retirees and the State be unilaterally altered after the fact (retirement that is) and then the action be considered legal? 
(BTW - All public employees are "required" to join the pension fund, like it or not!)
I can tell you how! 
Judge Hurd (maybe I should have spell his name with a "T"), who heard the case, experienced no alteration in his  NJ public  pension commitment nor did any other NJ judge! How then is he justified in ruling on the  elimination of  the pension benefits of others in the NJ pension system? 

Additionally, pension theft began under Whittman and continued with all governors thereafter.It was originally justified by the excess monies due to a stock market boom in the nineties.. Currently, the market is at all time highs. Why is there no excess of pension monies now? 
PS
He was Senate president when "Tenure Reform" was instituted and said not a word that I can remember while all the time it was "Tenure Elimination" that was enacted.
PSS
Not a meaningful peep from NJEA (the "powerful teacher's union") during any of this. All I ever heard was a bit of whimpering here and there!

"Government For The People" - But Which People??

Pre Election Current Events Quiz

                 Who said this and when did he said it ?

Christie Reelection Ads

Another trick to use public funds for a reelection campaign.
This is like when Whitman "borrowed" from the pension fund to lower taxes and thereby enhance her reelection efforts. Another use of public funds to pump up a reelection campaign.

And when McGreevy "back-doored" the pension by not requiring towns to contribute thereby lowering local taxes and again enhancing reelection chances.  

It seems they all figure out a way to use public monies to enhance their own image at the taxpayer expense.                                      

How Many Lies Does It Take to Make a Man a Liar ?

Am I A Conspiracy Theorist ? Maybe !

******************************************************

I had lunch with a friend last week. 
He said he had been cleaning out his filing cabinet and found this!
I found it both shocking and depressing. I have underlined some of the purported returns of the 1998 TPAF. 
I am a frequent viewer of the TV show"American Greed" on CNBC. Many of the shows are about Ponzi Schemes that are foisted on the public.
When I first looked at the returns on this pension report they immediately reminded me of the returns promised by the fraudsters shown on the aforementioned shows.
Then I began to think about this a bit more. I wonder if this these reported returns were really valid at the time or if they were artificially concocted to those seemingly impossible levels?
You might say " You must be a conspiracy theorist! "
(Well, I don't think I am a  conspiracy theorist but maybe!)
"Why would anyone want to inflated those numbers? "
Someone who wanted to "borrow" (steal) money from the fund so as to give tax breaks and thereby enhance his/her reelection chances and just might like to use these return numbers to justify the "theft", that's who !

New Jersey Pension "Deform"!

Republican Christine Todd Whitman, running on a tax-cutting platform, defeated Florio in the 1993 governor's race. To help pay for her promised tax cuts, Whitman, like her predecessor, turned to the pension fund. In 1994, at her urging, the legislature adopted another pension "reform" act that allowed her to reduce state and local contributions to the plan by nearly $1.5 billion in 1994 and 1995, according to the task force report. Florio's and Whitman's accounting changes were "the one-two punch from which the retirement system has never recovered," says Douglas Forrester, who was the assistant state treasurer under Kean.

For all the miscues, New Jersey's pension woes can't be blamed on particularly poor investment results. An examination of state reports shows that the fund's returns have more or less tracked the broad stock market's. The real problem has been the underfunding.

If union concessions, cost cutting, and higher taxes are not enough, then what? Inevitably, New Jersey and other states would turn to Uncle Sam for help. The pressure on Congress would be great. "How will they say no to state workers when they've said yes to bankers?"

(*Congress is very good at funding foreign wars, occupations and "rebuilding" - Maybe it's time to "rebuild" the good old USA!)

"The pension obligations could spark a huge problem for New Jersey," says Thomas Kean, a former Republican governor. "They must be paid because they are absolutely an obligation of the state, but as it is, the budget is balanced with chewing gum and sealing wax"

(*"must be paid" because they are an "absolute obligation" - How then can the COLA be eliminated and call the pension obligation being paid?)

Sources -

http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/12/news/economy/benner_pension.fortune/index.htm
Star Ledger - January 2013