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Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John who wrote (36863)	9/7/2010 6:04:37 AM
From: GROUND ZERO™	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 103300

Why is Petraeus protecting the koran? He's gone too far with his ridiculous rules of engagement... if some people want to burn that camel shit book, then let them and welcome to the real world, it's time those moslums get over it already and get a taste of reality... foxnews.com GZ

To: John who wrote (36863)	9/7/2010 11:22:18 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 103300

The Union Liable Posted 06:58 PM ET Bailouts: State employee pension funds are trillions of dollars underwater. Some analysts believe taxpayers will be forced to make up the shortfall. But they shouldn't have to. They didn't create the problem. A study from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University released last month found that public-employee pensions in as many as 31 states will be in deep trouble by 2030. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce believes the unfunded liability for these governments could be as high as $3 trillion. With a train wreck on the schedule, policymakers have a choice before them: They can either make the hard decisions, or simply go even deeper into taxpayers' pockets. Given that their poor choices are what created the problem, they'll likely take the easy route, one researcher believes. "Assuming states don't start defaulting on their bonds and other debts, it seems that taxpayers will be footing most of the multitrillion dollar bill for the pension promises that states have already made to workers," Kellogg associate professor Joshua Rauh said. Stepping into this swamp is the Chamber of Commerce. It has plans to hold another meeting to discuss the problem and says this round will include representatives from organized labor, a group left out of a previous meeting on this same subject. The Chamber is free to invite whom it will, but we don't see what the unions have to offer. Under what circumstances, if any, would unions agree to anything other than a taxpayer-funded bailout designed and implemented by Washington? No, we can't think of any, either. Simply put, such a bailout would be an outrage. Not every state is in trouble. Many have funded and managed their employees' pensions the right way. It's wrong for taxpayers in those states to be made liable by Washington for mistakes made by lawmakers in other states. Bailouts also carry the risk of moral hazard. As long as state and local lawmakers can avoid facing the consequences of their poor policies, they will repeat their mistakes. Only when they are held responsible will they learn to avoid those errors. While lawmakers are a big part of the problem, the unions that will have a seat at the Chamber's table are culpable as well. They have demanded benefits far in excess of public employees' value and ensured that they would receive these benefits by pouring money and resources into Democrats' campaigns. In California, for instance, firemen are retiring at 52 with $150,000-a-year pensions. With firefighters' life expectancies reaching beyond 82, according to California Public Employees' Retirement System data, they will receive pensions for nearly as many years as they worked. Across the country in Florida, the story is just as appalling. A 52-year-old police officer with 30 years on the job earning a final salary of $94,000 a year could collect a lump sum of $832,000, reports the Miami Herald, and an annual pension of $92,000. No forward-thinking person would ever consider arrangements such as these as fair, practical or financially responsible. They are clearly unsustainable and have the potential to strangle an economy, even one as strong as our own. Unions were never meant to be agents of economic ruin. But that's what they've become. Though weak in the private sector, they have enough strength in the public sector, where they were once prohibited, to cause severe harm. Rather than bail them out, Washington needs to find a way to make them pay for their runaway appetites.