Excellent question. In asking it, Vicky pulls the covers off and exposes the actions of both parties over the past going back over 60 years. As I posted before, Minneapolis gets a peak at its future by looking at how Oregon has gone from owing $8 billion last year to $14 billion that it owes the Oregon public employees pension fund this year because of guarantees built into so that if its managers don't do well with the monies, the tax payers have to make it up, a recipe for disaster if I ever heard one. Vicky correctly asks how does the state and city pensions funds figure, as they will BOTH greatly impact on Minneapolis. The pension funds have moved beyond third rail status and have become the unexpected quicksand of American politics. When foxes are left in charge of the hen house they inevitably feast. Vicky lists the dangers that come when the dream world governs rather than the is world. The original SS bill contained private investments as a part of it. FDR killed it as he wanted the votes of all those who would be eligible plus their offspring that would be helped by that as well. Ever since, different groups have fought for their government "entitlements." History has shown that in the U.S.A., investments have always, after the ups and downs, wound up averaging going up. As long as pensions don't follow investment 101 rules, the results Vicky lists will be the results. SS and pensions have long been used to mask budgeting problems. But if corporate and state and city pension funds don't perform as intended, then the city will have social costs that would hit it like a Tsuname wave. This is not a Republican or Democratic problem, nor a liberal conservative problem, as all have contributed to it. By making SS the 3rd rail of American politics, and not touching it, too many pensions funds adopted the same wink wink dynamics. The party and political label will, however, come into play in how Vicky's pension funds are dealt with unless both sides determine to make this a common ground truly bipartisan quest for rational action of the is realm, not the dream realm, outside those labels. This is a "political-economic" war that will impact on each of us and the city far more than will the current dust-up in the middle east, as impactful, of course, as that will be. Historical footnote: as the oil price goes up, stocks go down. If the Casandras are right about Iraq, our state and city budgets will become even more impacted, if not devastated. If the rosie future types are right, oil prices will subside soon and the stock market will begin a rather remarkable climb which will greatly help the city and state budgets. We are watching one of the great rolls of history's dice in the greatest casino of them all. May all of our sevens come eleven, for the eyes up at the end of this craps table will directly determine the health of the Minneapolis table.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Victoria Heller Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2003 11:29 AM To: Mpls Forum Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Mpls] Pensions Michael Hohmann asks: ".....when will our public pensions be converted from defined benefit to defined contribution?" Vicky Heller comments: Pensions are a ticking time bomb in the public and private sectors. Example: General Motors has 175,000 current employees, and 450,000 former employees collecting pensions. One doesn't need much math to see that this ratio can't continue forever. Right now, GM owes its pension fund $12.7 billion. How many former Minneapolis employees are collecting, or waiting to collect, pension benefits? A few months ago, a listmember posted that the City currently has 6,230 full time employees (before any cuts.) I would like to know how many people are either collecting now, or waiting in the wings to collect City pensions. Government entities must be required to disclose the WHOLE truth about their pension obligations - just like publicly traded companies. There are 354 companies in the Fortune 500 that report pension data. 234 of them (66%) owe money to their pension funds....for example: Exxon - $7.2 billion Ford - $2.5 billion Delphi Automotive - $2.4 billion Delta Airlines - $2.4 billion United Technologies - $2.3 billion American Airlines - $1.9 billion Pfizer - $1.3 billion Procter & Gamble - $1.1 billion Chevron, Texaco, Pharmacia, Goodyear, and Raytheon - $1 billion each What is the corresponding number for Minneapolis - and how are we going to fix the problem? Vicky Heller Cedar-Riverside and North Oaks TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
