The $215,000 Man Blurts Out “Pension Reform”
The other day we had a look at Pat McKinley’s ballot statement and something surprising popped up. Well, not really. Squeezed into the middle of his I-riddled statement was the curt phrase “I will work to reform public employee pensions.”
That’s a vague assertion, and frankly it’s hard to believe when it’s coming out of the mouth of one of the pension system’s most noted abusers – a double-dipping bureaucrat who pulls down well over two hundred grand per year in retirement thanks to a ridiculous 3-at-50 pension system that’s now bringing the city to its’ knees.
So what does McKinley mean by “pension reform” anyway?
It’s hard to tell at this point. That’s good for Pat; bad for the rest of us. You see, as long as he can keep all this pension reform talk clouded in empty platitudes, he can pretend to be a reformer and maybe nobody will notice that he hasn’t promised to really change anything.
So Pat, here’s the gauntlet: You need to commit 100% to serious pension reform. That means two things:
- A mandatory 401(k)-style plan to replace the defined benefit for all new hires
- Current safety employees must pay the full 9% towards their own retirement, as required by state law.
Take a look at our city’s unfunded pension liability and do the math. Any lesser reform will amount to nothing more than a laughable gesture to taxpayers, ensuring that even more pain awaits us down the road.
Nice. The FPOA is pretending to steer clear of McKinley, but we know he’s a union cop and he’s snuggling up to Bankhead… another pension-boosting RINO cop.
Well, no attempt by the FPOA “pretending” to steer clear of McKinley that I’ve heard of.
Also, Travis, the FPOA negotiated the 9% in lieu of past pay raises. Give the FPOA a 9% raise, and then take the 9% back.
And speaking of everyone here who LOVES beating on police, what have YOU done in your life Travis that warrants your lofty status as inquisitor-in-chief?
Did you inherit a bunch of property from your parents and then somehow come to the conclusion that you are a land baron? Oh wait, wrong F’er.
Travis, Travis, you hate the police, you always have. Outside of your little circle-jerk fest here on the F site, your credibility is just about zero.
“what have YOU done in your life Travis that warrants your lofty status as inquisitor-in-chief?”
How about being a citizen and a tax payer. In America that used to be enough to question the doings of our government. But now the Public Safety Cartel wants one thing known: we work (and will keep working ’til we’re 70+) so they can “retire” at 50 and start a second income. And if we don’t like it we can just sit down and shut up because they’ve got all the chips in this game.
BTW TrueFriend, TheRealJohnAdams, JustAGuyInFullerton, etc, why don’t you stick to one name? We won’t respect you any less.
Harpoon is that really you, or are you a fake Harpoon?
The Harpoon is back!
I don’t hate police at all. I’ve got plenty of cops as friends, actually. Nice try though.
Travis, I have talked to your friends, and they say you hate the police. Nice try, though.
And Joe, **I** pay taxes too (and I’m assuming you do too). That’s like saying that since Travis breathes oxygen, that makes him an authority.
I didn’t say he didn’t have the right to speak, of course he does. What makes him QUALIFIED to be the inquisitor-in-chief? That’s the question.
Is that the one and only Harpoon? Are you back? I thought you were dead or in prison in Japan?
Reports of my demise were greatly exaggerated.
McKinley promises pension reform??? Ha ha ha ha ha ha hs ha!! If he is serious, then he is admitting that his own pension is part of the problem. More likely, he is just betting that the voters are too stupid to remember why the problem exists at all. Which is he being, disingenuous or hypocritical? Do we want someone with either of these qualities on our council?
You got me. I hate bad cops. I like good cops. The rest, I appreciate what they do but I’m not willing to bankrupt my city so they can retire as millionaires. Make sense?
Wow, Harpoon, so let me see, this site relishes anonymity, and someone is recording IP addresses? There goes the whatever shred of credibility this site had and everything that Bushala has stood for.
Recording? No. Just checking. I like to know what people are saying under various aliases. That idiot is still anonymous. And so are you, Bleed the Freak and TheRealJohnAdams II, etc.
Well, Tony “slumlord” Bushala always said that this site will be anonymous. Sounds like you are violating that by checking IP addresses. Once again, shows the reliability and trustworthiness of the so called leaders of this rag. Well done.
Hey idiot, check out the meaning of the word “anonymous” before you use it next time.
A little collidge would help.
No need for someone who has been in the hen house to sit on the dais.
Mr. McKinley: Why do you need the job as Councilmember? Too much free time on your hands?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Stop, you’re killing me!
“If you don’t support massive pension entitlements, you hate cops.”
I expect to see a lot more of this tripe in the coming months. Bring on the union talking points. It won’t do you any good. I sense panic amongst the unionites.
Hey Cop sucker, well I hate other cops who won’t do their job when they think that it will benefit someone who knows and speaks about the gross pensions that co-beneficiaries like McKinley foisted on our dumb ass City Council. Yeah, I’m talkin about you asshole. I can’t wait til you turn 50 soon so we can replace you with a good cop who’s whole life work doesn’t hinge on keeping the pension spike in place and has chumed his friends and the people who supported him just because they want to see an equitable pension system in America.
Take that you dirty cop. What you gonna do about it, go get a free drink downtown?
True Fried, aka-TheRealJohnAdams, aka-JustAGuyInFullerton= GED cop who has a “entitlement” complex-hey, tell us something we don’t know.
Dear Mr. Kiger,
From the Taxpayer’s perspective, your suggestions are hardly enough. Changing the pension Plan only for new employees will do nothing for 20-30 years until they retire, and the 9% contribution from current employees puts only a mild dent in the huge unfunded liability when the total costs are 40-50% of salary.
What we need is a reduction in the pension formula from 3% to 2% of pay for all FUTURE years of service for CURRENT (yes CURRENT) workers. And, we need to roll back the 3% to 2% when it applied to years of service prior to the change in the formula,
Either that our outsource everyone …. as we’ll be bankrupt for sure.
TL,
I would love to reduce the formula for future years of service, but I doubt that would make it through California courts.
To reduce our future obligations to current employees, salary adjustments are really the only lever we have left. Perhaps 9% is just a start.
Travis, You’re certainly correct on the VERY small chance of reducing the pension formula for future years of service (at least until to bottom falls out completely) for current workers.
That’s why we can and DO get to the same place via outsourcing. Outsourcing ends “employment” relationship” with the state and therefore ends further pension growth …. same as a “hard freeze” in pension-speak.
Granted, the regular police isn’t a good place to start, but Corrections certainly would be …. and BILLIONS (yes Billions) could be save if all corrections functions throughout California was outsourced.