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October 29, 2016 at 1:33 PM #802783October 30, 2016 at 1:28 AM #802820CA renterParticipant
[quote=FlyerInHi]We should change state laws to make easier for munipalities to go bankrupt.
BG, i thought you support Trump. He likes to renegotiate contracts when debt holders from a position of strength to force them to take pennies on the dollars. If we can force pensioners to take less, then we have more money for services. What’s not to like about that?[/quote]
Clearly, you’re not thinking things through, Brian. If we made it easier for states and municipalities to go BK, what do you think that would do to bond rates? While the shills for the capitalists would like you to think that public employees are the problem, the majority of the fraud, corruption, and graft happens between public entities and private contractors. For large projects (and for regular spending, if there’s a deficit), govt entities almost always require bond funding. IMO, this could easily end up making things worse for these govt entities, not better.
October 30, 2016 at 7:34 AM #802822AnonymousGuest[quote=CA renter][quote=FlyerInHi]We should change state laws to make easier for munipalities to go bankrupt.
BG, i thought you support Trump. He likes to renegotiate contracts when debt holders from a position of strength to force them to take pennies on the dollars. If we can force pensioners to take less, then we have more money for services. What’s not to like about that?[/quote]
Clearly, you’re not thinking things through, Brian. If we made it easier for states and municipalities to go BK, what do you think that would do to bond rates? While the shills for the capitalists would like you to think that public employees are the problem, the majority of the fraud, corruption, and graft happens between public entities and private contractors. For large projects (and for regular spending, if there’s a deficit), govt entities almost always require bond funding. IMO, this could easily end up making things worse for these govt entities, not better.[/quote]
Brian never mentioned states going bankrupt.
There’s that reading comprehension problem again.
Brian mentioned renegotiating contracts – something Trump advocates as one of his strengths – and pointed out that that BG’s support for Trump is inconsistent with her position on pension policy. A reasonable and valid observation.
In typical fashion you respond with yet another vague irrelevant accusation. You go off on some hysterical tangent about bond rates and “fraud, corruption, and graft” in contracting.
Property taxes, the fed, graft, … you’re all over the place, blaming everybody and everything for the pension crisis.
Despite your lack of focused arguments, the roots of the pension problem are simple to identify. The culprits are the actual players involved: public-sector unions and the lawmakers who receive their support.
October 30, 2016 at 8:36 AM #802825CoronitaParticipantI love this thread… It’s the thread that keeps giving.
One one side, we have two pension recipients, that are huge proponents of our fed/state continuing to pay the say level of benefits even if it means bankrupting the state..
On the other side, we have one that owns rental property(maybe properties) because he inherited it from his parents, and spends all day posting blogs about public pension crisis, peak oil .and yet talks about his “work building on what his parents built”…
No wonder this country is going down the tubes….No one wants to really work and make hard choices anymore.
October 30, 2016 at 2:20 PM #802834bearishgurlParticipant[quote=harvey] . . . Brian mentioned renegotiating contracts – something Trump advocates as one of his strengths – and pointed out that that BG’s support for Trump is inconsistent with her position on pension policy. A reasonable and valid observation. . . . [/quote]It’s not “inconsistent.” I have no idea if NAFTA contracts are renegotiable as I don’t know anything about NAFTA law. I know it is part of Trump’s platform, but that is not why I support him. Whether or not he is successful in doing that (should he win the election), it won’t bring any more jobs back to SD County. We didn’t lose any jobs to China or MX. Your reading comprehension must be lacking, pri_dk. I’ve posted here numerous times that I’m a “single-issue voter” in this election. I want obamacare repealed and replaced yesterday. If a border wall is actually successfully completed in a Trump Administration, that would icing on the cake (and especially a big boon to CA’s finances).
HOWEVER, I DO know a thing or two about public pension law in CA. There HAVE been municipal bankruptcies in CA filed in recent years. Ask yourself how those cases turned out. I didn’t bother to check on PACER to peruse these cases but if the following articles are any indication, these cities’ pensioners didn’t give up a penny of their pensions after their cities went BK and some of them had to give up part or all of their healthcare allowances as retiree healthcare (or HC allowances) aren’t part of many public union contracts and if they are, they aren’t guaranteed (under certain conditions) by CA law.
http://www.newsmax.com/US/bankruptcy-vallejo-california/2013/10/01/id/528659/
It appears from the first article that City of Vallejo had to refile for BK two years after conclusion of their first BK case because they were still having problems meeting their pension obligations (small city). However, they will NOT be attempting to renegotiate with their retirement assn(s) in their refile because they KNOW they won’t be successful. City will cut more fat out of current employees’ benefits and more retirement benefits from its yet unvested workers to continue to meet its obligations until such time as its pensioners (pensioners at the time of its first BK filing) all pass away.
My position on (CA) public pension policy is consistent with the law. And so are all the BK judge’s positions on this subject. pri_dk, I’ve given you (and NSR and several others here) the opportunity to lobby your representatives to bring forth legislation which chips away at this body of law. You’ve had YEARS now to do so, yet you are still complaining. I literally spoon-fed you and your anti-public pension brethren on this board more than enough statutes to get you started on developing a cogent conversation with your representative(s) in effort to convince them to take action. You can’t blame ‘lil old me that CA public pensions are still in place after all these years when YOU failed to DO anything positive towards reform. Most of this body of law was already in place before I was even vested!
Your complaints on this subject are old news. It’s time to put up or shut up. Are you listening, phaster??
October 30, 2016 at 2:23 PM #802835bearishgurlParticipant[quote=flu] . . . No wonder this country is going down the tubes….No one wants to really work and make hard choices anymore.[/quote]Got a question for you, flu. Do you intend to work FT when you’re 55? What about at age 60? How about 65??
October 30, 2016 at 2:35 PM #802836FlyerInHiGuestBG, if your position is consistent with the law, then work with what we have now. Stop advocating for tax increases to shore up pensions.
If you want to change laws to increase property taxes, then I can equally advocate changes to force pensioners to take less. Trump’s position is to force creditors to take less because you can. I would love to put Trump in charge of a bankrupt municipality.
October 30, 2016 at 2:53 PM #802840bearishgurlParticipant[quote=FlyerInHi]BG, if your position is consistent with the law, then work with what we have now. Stop advocating for tax increases to shore up pensions.
If you want to change laws to increase property taxes, then I can equally advocate changes to force pensioners to take less. Trump’s position is to force creditors to take less because you can. I would love to put Trump in charge of a bankrupt municipality.[/quote]Where did you get the idea I ever advocated for tax increases? My particular pension fund IS “shored up.” It was done by creating another lower (more scantily benefited) retirement tier for unvested recent hires.
I’ve always been willing to work within the law. Yeah, I don’t agree with the passage of Props 58 and 193 but I don’t see how they can be successfully repealed, given the “voter class” in CA all expect gubment largesse for themselves. It’s been that way ever since I can remember.
CA property owners with ultra low assessments likely outnumber those who have market rate assessments (or close to it). And, due to the existence of Props 58/193, the “ultra-low assessment group” is growing larger every single month.
October 31, 2016 at 4:07 AM #802877CA renterParticipant[quote=harvey][quote=CA renter][quote=FlyerInHi]We should change state laws to make easier for munipalities to go bankrupt.
BG, i thought you support Trump. He likes to renegotiate contracts when debt holders from a position of strength to force them to take pennies on the dollars. If we can force pensioners to take less, then we have more money for services. What’s not to like about that?[/quote]
Clearly, you’re not thinking things through, Brian. If we made it easier for states and municipalities to go BK, what do you think that would do to bond rates? While the shills for the capitalists would like you to think that public employees are the problem, the majority of the fraud, corruption, and graft happens between public entities and private contractors. For large projects (and for regular spending, if there’s a deficit), govt entities almost always require bond funding. IMO, this could easily end up making things worse for these govt entities, not better.[/quote]
Brian never mentioned states going bankrupt.
There’s that reading comprehension problem again.
Brian mentioned renegotiating contracts – something Trump advocates as one of his strengths – and pointed out that that BG’s support for Trump is inconsistent with her position on pension policy. A reasonable and valid observation.
In typical fashion you respond with yet another vague irrelevant accusation. You go off on some hysterical tangent about bond rates and “fraud, corruption, and graft” in contracting.
Property taxes, the fed, graft, … you’re all over the place, blaming everybody and everything for the pension crisis.
Despite your lack of focused arguments, the roots of the pension problem are simple to identify. The culprits are the actual players involved: public-sector unions and the lawmakers who receive their support.[/quote]
Once again, your reading comprehension problem is rearing its ugly head, Pri. People on this blog have been advocating for both municipalities and states to have an easier path to BK, so I was addressing the “pension crisis” issue from a broader perspective. Unlike you, I also know that it was the state employees who pushed for the enhanced benefit formulas, lower retirement ages, etc. that helped contribute to the pension problems. The municipalities had to follow because they were losing employees to the state (and counties) after spending a small fortune on recruiting and training those employees.
And, unlike you, I know that all of these issues are interrelated. Public employees are not the only ones responsible for the financial problems at the state and local levels, not by a long shot. These are problems with a long history, and there have always been (and will always be) multiple stakeholders where government spending is concerned, and there are multiple causes of the financial difficulties being experienced at all levels of government — most of them having nothing to do with public employees.
The reason Prop 13 passed (because, unlike you, I was actually living here at the time, and remember all the ads and the discussions regarding this proposition), was because people didn’t want to be taxed out of their homes; the marketing for it focused on elderly people on fixed incomes who were going to be “taxed out of their homes” if Prop 13 didn’t pass. Unfortunately, as with many propositions, people didn’t read the fine print or look at who was behind the proposition — Howard Jarvis. Who was Howard Jarvis? He was a long-time anti-government, anti-tax crusader…and he was also the president of the Apartment House Association of Los Angeles/executive director of the Los Angeles Apartment Owners Association.
Ultimately, it was business interests who were behind Prop 13. It’s these very business interests, including owners of rental properties, who should not be getting the Prop 13 subsidy. It should also not be extended to the heirs of long-time owners.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf0j49n3r4/entire_text/
http://www.salon.com/2013/09/15/the_california_tax_protest_that_inspired_the_tea_party/
None of my points are vague or irrelevant; it’s just that you are unable to comprehend complex issues (like how the government really works, or why some people oppose immigration, etc.) because you rely on the regurgitation of spoon-fed propaganda and short, mindless memes to form the basis of your opinions.
And Brian didn’t just reference “renegotiating contracts.” He specifically mentioned bankruptcy.
Trump’s inability and/or refusal to follow through on his contractual obligations are the very reason why he’s not been able to access loans via more traditional channels (see, it all goes back to my point about bond rates and the ability to borrow). It’s also the #1 reason why intelligent people doubt his ability to successfully fulfill is duties as POTUS. Trump is a complete and utter failure (albeit a tenacious and resilient failure).
October 31, 2016 at 5:10 AM #802878CA renterParticipant[quote=phaster][quote=CA renter]Instead of posting pictures of lame cartoons, try responding to why we should take from those who worked (public sector employees) to give to those who don’t (wealthy commercial, industrial, and residential landlords; owners of vast tracts of land, etc.).
If we were to stop subsidizing the land owners (not referring to a single primary residence, as that is why Prop 13 passed by such a large margin, and I do not believe in taxing people out of their homes), the “pension crisis” in California would mostly disappear.
YOU are the beneficiary of thousands of dollars of theses subsidies every year because you inherited your parents’ rental units. Why do you think a cop, firefighter, or teacher should give up the pensions that they have earned so that we can maintain these exceedingly profitable — AND TOTALLY UNEARNED — subsidies to YOU?[/quote]
there’s nothing illegal or unethical about inheriting property and prop 13 IMHO is a spurious and tangential topic, but what the hell i’ll play along
i’ll be the first to admit i’m lucky to have a legacy which allows me some financial breathing room, and because of that i’m a pretty chill landlord who has never raised a tenant’s rent once they are in (kind of keeping with my parents management tradition), and appreciate prop 13 making costs predictable with respect to property taxes
as for how the market values RE (like an apt rental) I have no control over that, since it’s a global marketplace that is influenced by among other things the feds dual mandate to keep unemployment low and keep inflation in check @ around 2% (as explained in a planet-money podcast)
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/09/30/496136504/episode-727-you-asked-for-it-again
as I see things, prop 13 is an economic moderator to keep TPTB in check and seems to have come about because TPTB were unable to moderate things in the first place
BTW seems your rants/proposals about “reforming” prop 13 are kinda like the rest of your economic analysis,… WORTHLESS DELUSIONS!!!!!!!!!!!! (took me all of two minutes of googling to find a study, with simple statement in the summary section that disproves a belief I’ll bet you’ve held for decades)
[quote=publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu]
…This study was undertaken to review the split roll proposal and to assess the prospective impact on the state economy if a split roll tax regime were adopted……Overall, this study finds that a split roll property tax regime would have a significant and detrimental impact on the state’s economy, especially at a time when the California economy is struggling…
on the other hand various news articles about the local public pension fund management seems dubious at best and more akin a con job on the public @ large (according to a text book that examined the topic)
[quote]
Handbook of Frauds, Scams, and Swindles: Failures of Ethics in Leadership (edited by Serge Matulich, David M. Currie)Though SDCERS investments were earning well above the 8 percent rate of return estimated by the system actuaries, under normal conditions investments surpluses are required to make up for below-average returns in other years to achieve the average rate of return. Therefore, unless the actuaries’ estimates are grossly incorrect, in the long run true “surplus earnings” are impossible. The use of surplus earnings for the purposes other than maintaining the pension system, such as to expand existing benefits should be viewed as a loan from the system THAT WILL REQUIRE REPAYMENT IN THE FUTURE.
page 286
looking at the bigger picture which you seem to miss from the beginning, like YEARS AGO, long, long, long before I found this forum to get a feel of what locals thought about the local economy
[quote=phaster]
October 22, 2016 – 8:30am
[quote=CA renter]
October 9, 2016 – 1:07amBTW, you’re not educating or informing anyone of anything. The pension issue was beaten to death LONG before you ever came into the picture.
[/quote]really???
http://piggington.com/how_will_unfunded_pensions_affect_economy?page=5#comment-262974
http://piggington.com/how_will_unfunded_pensions_affect_economy?page=6#comment-264989
[/quote]what seems applicable here is something I first heard and learned about as a kid “The Parable of the Talents”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_talents_or_minas
as I see things inheriting rental property, is akin to being given an opportunity to build upon my parents “talents” in that by managing things legally and ethically (as I was raised) I’ve been able to share various “talents” w/ those less fortunate
from what I gather from your prior posts, you lack many vital “talents” needed to solve problems, for example NOT understanding middle school math concepts which is necessary to understand various economic problem(s), BTW NOT understanding middle school math concepts is what can cause economic problems in the first place
then there are questions of group ethics and individual morals of taking responsibility, etc., etc. (basically is the system better or worse off now, or in terms of “talents” is a majority benefiting or just a select few and were actions intentional or not)
[quote=sandiegoreader.com]
Did an unwritten city policy result in death?
“Public servants only care about their pensions.”In April 2011 Farhad Bastani, a resident engineer for the City of San Diego, watched drivers punch their accelerators the moment they arrived at the newly widened section of Camino Del Sur, near the intersection with San Dieguito Road in Black Mountain Ranch.
The high speeds and high road elevations near Lusardi Creek concerned him. He feared drivers wouldn’t see pedestrians who were crossing Camino Del Sur to access the popular Santaluz hiking trails until it was too late.
The following day he met with one of his supervisors, Lisa Adams, to report his findings.
During his four years working as a field engineer for the City of San Diego Bastani had discovered other safety issues. In that time, he had learned the department’s unwritten policy for reporting any safety issues; do so verbally and refrain from mentioning them in any emails. Email, according to a 2013 email from then-supervisor David Zoumaras, could potentially make the city liable in case any lawsuits are filed.
Three months later, on August 30, 2011, Lawrence Farry was driving over 80 miles per hour on Camino Del Sur, near the intersection with Haaland Glen. Meanwhile 56-year-old Joan Milazzo, her husband Paul, and her sister, who had all been hiking the Del Sur Canyon Trail, were midway across Camino Del Sur walking to pick up the other side of the trail.
Farry saw the two women crossing but was unable to stop. His red Nissan Altima struck and killed Joan Milazzo. Her husband watched from a few feet away.
Bastani saw the emergency vehicles at the scene of the accident. In an email on the following day Bastani told his supervisor, Mike Arnold, about the accident. “…I heard a lady was injured there. I should mention that I have noticed some problem[s] in traffic control implementation and [the subcontractor] was aware of that.”
Arnold was not pleased. “Reporting to me this accident is unrelated to your duties as a city inspector,” Arnold wrote. “Please do not report on such events in the future. In addition, any concerns you have regarding traffic control or anything else related to your project should be brought to the attention of the project manager and the appropriate city staff, but not in this context.”
…Bastani says the problem goes much deeper than a fear of legal culpability. He says the problem is with municipal government as a whole. “Many of the managers and supervisors only have a title of public employee, but the only thing on their minds is attending work for eight hours a day, collecting their pensions and retirements. The concept of public service is one of their last priorities”…
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2016/oct/26/city-lights-public-servants-only-care-pensions/
[/quote]https://twitter.com/vosdscott/status/439478516447334400/photo/1
essentially before a problem can be solved (or kept from becoming worse), one must admit a problem exists (much like a drug addict or alcoholic isn’t going to pull out of a nosedive dragging family and friends down with them, until the addict admits there is a situation that needs to be corrected), secondly the problem must be fully understood (which in this case means using math that reflects reality, not just numbers pulled out of thin air which make a proposal sound good)
life is a game of chance, sometimes people get lucky being born to parents who provided an environment that stimulated/encouraged intellectual curiosity and left a financial legacy along w/ moral guidelines to hopefully do some good, in other cases people are not so lucky, guess the only thing I know is pretty certain is because neither condition (listed above) exists, things WRT public pensions are going to get a hell of a lot worse[/quote]
Wow. You win the award for delusional, rambling posts; and your sense of entitlement is breathtaking. You were lucky enough to have parents who were in the right place at the right time, and it sounds like they made some good decisions. That’s great, and there is nothing wrong with that, nor with you inheriting what your parents worked for. The problem is with taxpayers subsidizing your profits to the tune of thousands of dollars each and every year. You did NOTHING to earn this subsidy, and the only reason you’re getting it is because other equally-situated people with generally more economic and political power than the average citizen changed the law so that you could obtain this subsidy by inheriting property from your parents. Just based on your posts, I’d guess this subsidy is in the $7,000-$15,000 range, every single year.
Of course, I’m not even counting the subsidy you received when you didn’t have to pay cap gains taxes on the assets you’ve inherited since you got to step-up the costs basis at the time of inheritance.
Again, how in the world do you think you should be more entitled to this Prop 13 subsidy (not to mention the cap gains subsidy) — that you didn’t do a single thing to earn — than the people who have worked for many decades for their pensions (and whose pension income is taxed at the standard “earned income” rate, even if their money comes from long-term gains and qualified dividends)?
Just answer that — and leave the ridiculous cartoons, memes, and other junk out of your response.
October 31, 2016 at 5:56 AM #802882flyerParticipantCAr, as you know from my posts over the years, both my wife and I come from families who have owned properties here for over a century, many of which we have inherited, and we both realize our good fortune (wrt real estate) was simply based upon being related to people who happened to be at the right place at the right time and who had the vision and the means to create a successful enterprise that we have continued to develop.
That said, I completely understand how there are many aspects of this situation wrt to property taxes, etc., that seem unfair to other taxpayers, and I can understand how there would be interest in legislating change. To that, I can only say that I believe that anyone in our same position would have taken advantage of these opportunities just as we have, but, perhaps it is time to reevaluate the situation from a different vantage point, and I wish you the best on your crusade.
October 31, 2016 at 6:17 AM #802883FlyerInHiGuestCAr, you,re conflating everything and it’s not helpful in solving problems.
Some municipalities mismanaged their finances and deserve to go bankrupt. There is a process for that.
The state is a sovereign and cannot to bankrupt. But the state can change the laws and redo contracts.
If in the process bond holders lose money, then they’ll be more careful lending in the future. i don’t support raising taxes to pay for past budgets.
October 31, 2016 at 7:54 AM #802886AnonymousGuest[quote=CA renter]The reason Prop 13 passed (because, unlike you, I was actually living here at the time, and remember all the ads and the discussions regarding this proposition) […][/quote]
LOL, how old were you in 1978?
The hilarious part of your rants on property taxes is that I agree with you: Property tax laws in CA unfairly favor inheritance. After all – as you constantly like to remind the Piggs – not all of us were born here. But that shouldn’t make us second class citizens, right?
You also seem to be missing the point that nobody on this thread has claimed they are entitled to to any favorable tax treatment, nor has anybody even defended the existing tax policies. That’s a concept that you injected into the conversation through a combination of projection and reading comprehension failure. Nobody is even arguing with you about tax policy, and yet you continue to rant.
The property tax issue has nothing to do with the pension crisis – other than the fact that you see raising someone else’s taxes as as a band aid solution. And you have not presented any data (i.e. numbers) that supports the idea that your “robbing Peter to pay Paul” proposal would even come close to providing adequate funds.
As an aside, I do suggest you come up with a consistent position on your claims about the importance of “research.” On another other thread you are claiming expertise about Turkey and the complexities of thousands of years of Middle Eastern culture – just because you did some googling. Have you ever been to Turkey?
But on this thread you claim there’s no way someone could understand one well-documented law in California unless they actually lived here when it was passed.
It’s cute, in a pathetic way, how you regularly flip-flop the standards in order to declare yourself smarter than everyone else.
November 1, 2016 at 4:54 AM #802926CA renterParticipant[quote=flyer]CAr, as you know from my posts over the years, both my wife and I come from families who have owned properties here for over a century, many of which we have inherited, and we both realize our good fortune (wrt real estate) was simply based upon being related to people who happened to be at the right place at the right time and who had the vision and the means to create a successful enterprise that we have continued to develop.
That said, I completely understand how there are many aspects of this situation wrt to property taxes, etc., that seem unfair to other taxpayers, and I can understand how there would be interest in legislating change. To that, I can only say that I believe that anyone in our same position would have taken advantage of these opportunities just as we have, but, perhaps it is time to reevaluate the situation from a different vantage point, and I wish you the best on your crusade.[/quote]
Flyer, there is nothing unethical about accepting a subsidy that is legally available to you. I’ve also benefited from Prop 13 on inherited property, and stand to benefit even more in the future.
I’m just trying to point out to some of the folks here that we need to eliminate the subsidies, for which there is no legal or moral justification, from those who never earned them *before* we break a contract with people who have worked for and earned what was promised to them.
The people who benefit from these unearned subsidies are the last people who have any right to criticize those who’ve worked for what they’ve earned (though I have always advocated for some changes that would shore up many of the weaknesses in the public pension systems).
November 1, 2016 at 5:18 AM #802927CA renterParticipant[quote=FlyerInHi]CAr, you,re conflating everything and it’s not helpful in solving problems.
Some municipalities mismanaged their finances and deserve to go bankrupt. There is a process for that.
The state is a sovereign and cannot to bankrupt. But the state can change the laws and redo contracts.
If in the process bond holders lose money, then they’ll be more careful lending in the future. i don’t support raising taxes to pay for past budgets.[/quote]
Brian, I’m not conflating anything. Multiple people have suggested making it easier to allow cities and states to go BK. As a sidenote, BG already pointed out that a city’s going BK does not guarantee that pensions would be renegotiated. It’s even more likely that bondholders would take the primary hit, so borrowing costs would become extremely burdensome if BK were made easier. And it’s possible to allow states to go BK, but that would require Congress to amend the federal BK code. Of course, the issues with access to capital and borrowing costs would apply to the states, as well.
I guess the question is more about whether or not someone is actually concerned about the financial health of government entities, or if they are more concerned about “getting revenge” on those who organized and fought for their rights as workers, while the private sector employees bought the propaganda about unions being a negative thing and global competition/free trade a good thing, and lost a tremendous amount of economic and political power as a result.
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