California Family Minute

 August 24, 2011

As the Giant Sleeps, Generations May Suffer

If you think the state leaders are anywhere close to paying down California’s debt and balancing its budget, think again. Somewhere between $500 billion and $884 billion is the projected shortfall on pension funding for California’s three largest public employee plans. One way or another, this is going to affect millions of California families, as government will attempt to expand in order to correct its error.

Former Orange County Treasurer Chriss Street knows a little something about shortfalls, as he helped the county restore its pension assets and recover from its bankruptcy. Street’s blog on the Big Government site claims the $288 billion underfunding projected by CalPERS (public employees), CalSTRS (teachers), and UCRS (UC system employees) will “metastasize” to nearly one trillion dollars, far higher than even a recent analysis by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research report, which claimed the gap between commitments and assets would amount to a measly half trillion.

Street’s projection is based on numerous local governments making plans to abandon the state system, and Street believes that realistic returns on investments will be significantly less - half of the plans’ directors’ projections. 

Who’s to blame? Street answers, “the cabal of California politicians, bureaucrats, and crony consultants that justified granting lucrative benefits to employees while failing to contribute enough to support the true pension costs.”

Currently, there are an estimated 2.6 million public employees and retirees who have guaranteed pensions, and California’s families - our children and grandchildren - will take the hit, unless we get serious right now about where we’re all headed.

Wolves are roaming about in sheep’s clothing. Yes, that sounds paranoid, but the vast majority of California’s state representatives respond with condescending snickers, believing that growing government is in everyone’s best interest. In addition, the majority also think they are irreplaceable.     

Even those elected on their commitment to fiscal conservatism have buckled, because although they have good economic theory, they lack the backbone of moral principles and have accepted “compromises” (see Arnold Schwarzenegger). Lo and behold, government is growing and personal liberty shrinking.

Get informed. Base your decisions on morals and values for the common good of all. Develop a worldview perspective. Awaken the giant - the power of the people - before the giant is held captive.