Ahnuld gets 'is butt handed to him...

[rmcrobertson]

Our esteemed gov'nor, Mr. Schwarzenegger, just got soundly whomped on the question of taking state workers' retirement benefits through STRS away from them, and replacing everything with private 401Ks to which the State would make no contributions at all.

Heh-heh. May it be the first of many whompings.

 

[Cruentus]

Our esteemed gov'nor, Mr. Schwarzenegger, just got soundly whomped on the question of taking state workers' retirement benefits through STRS away from them, and replacing everything with private 401Ks to which the State would make no contributions at all.

Heh-heh. May it be the first of many whompings.

The fact that they would do that literally makes me sick. Please tell me that hasn't gone through...

 

[rmcrobertson]

Well, the actor tried. He got whupped on it. And me too on the "sick" part--what it was really all about, and is all about, is political and economic power, as the Gov (and I mean this in the full Mel Brooks sense) showed when he fired all the STRS commissioners who opposed him.

Nothing like a multi-millionaire actor trying to destroy a retirement system that works beautifully, has been financially sound right from the git-go, and provides a decent retirement for literally hundreds of thousands of workers.

The plan was to change the system after about 2007, so that new hires would have a vested interest in hating their seniors in the profession and the various unions would have more and more internal trouble. Nice, eh?

Actually, it's worked out as, "Nice try, Sparky," for the Gov. Whose poll numbers are plummeting. heh-heh.

 

[arnisador]

I don't know much about the retirement system changes he was promoting. Overall he's seemed to have had some success...but that's the view from Indiana.

 

[Feisty Mouse]

Our esteemed gov'nor, Mr. Schwarzenegger, just got soundly whomped on the question of taking state workers' retirement benefits through STRS away from them, and replacing everything with private 401Ks to which the State would make no contributions at all.

WOW. I'm am very glad that did not go through.

 

[ginshun]

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly is the STRS retirement program?

 

[BrandiJo]

im not sure but i think it sounds like a good idea that it didnt make it

 

[rmcrobertson]

State Teachers' Retirement System. There's a comparable plan for State workers in California.

For example: rather than Social Security (by the way, you don't get to double-dip benefits when you retire) they take a percentage from your paycheck every month in pre-tax dollars and the State matches the deduction. For me, I kick in about, oh, 475/mo. and it gets matched; the loot goes into a State fund.

You're vested after 5 years; when you retire (it usually takes around 25-30 to build sufficient equity for the benefits to be useful), you get what you've laid away on a montly basis.

I feel sure that some of you guys will complain that teachers shouldn't be allowed such largesse; well, the real question is why you AREN'T. It's a good program, a good deal and well-run financially--good all around, including good for the State for various reasons.

Yes, California's in financial trouble. One big reason: the enormous prison program, and the extravagant power of the correctional officers' union. Funnily enough, Ahnuld has gone after teachers and nurses, not them.

 

[ginshun]

Sounds like a good program.

You don't actually get to do that instead of Social Security do you? Or is it that you can choose to do it in addition to SS?

Honestly though, it doesn't sound all that much different than a 401K type plan. What is the difference, is it just that the state wouldn't match what you put in if it changed to a 401K? If that is the case, I can agee, that would suck big time.

But I can see how it would save a lot of money for the state. Thats government for you, screw the people to help themselves.

Kind of like Social Security, I am pretty sure that I will never get any back, regardless of how many 10's of thousands I will hae put in by the time I retire.

 

[PeachMonkey]

Kind of like Social Security, I am pretty sure that I will never get any back, regardless of how many 10's of thousands I will hae put in by the time I retire.

If you vote for politicians that build massive deficits while giving tax breaks to the rich, without ever repaying the "IOUs" they place in the Social Security trust fund, you'll have no one to blame for that situation but yourself.

 

[arnisador]

Yeah, prison costs are a big issue, there and elsewhere but there more than in other states.

 

[michaeledward]

Eleanor Clift, one of the true 'Liberal Media' people, has an interesting article on Governor Schwarzenegger's current crash and burn in this week's Newsweek.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7516144/site/newsweek/

April 15 - Observing from afar, I had the feeling that California’s Mr. Wonderful had lost his way politically. From a differently-abled politician who could bridge the partisan divide, Arnold Schwarzenegger had become Bush Lite, sinking in the polls and squandering the bipartisan goodwill he once had.

....

His pension reform plan is analogous to George Bush’s social-security privatization with the same disastrous reception, and his redistricting proposal to gain Republican advantage looks like Tom DeLay’s Texas all over again. Emboldened by the reception he received at the Republican Convention last summer, Schwarzenegger fell into the trap of thinking he has national potential and that he could bypass the Democratic-controlled legislature and govern by initiatives propelled onto the state ballot.

 

[arnisador]

Schwarzenegger recovering from leg break

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was recuperating in Sun Valley, Idaho, on Sunday, a day after he broke his leg while skiing there.