SINGAPORE SOLVES WELFARE – WHY CAN’T U.S.?

What we can learn from Singapore

http://townhall.com/columnists/johncgoodman/2013/09/21/what-we-can-learn-from-singapore-n1705789/page/full

Townhall – John C. Goodman – 9/21/2013

Click the link to read this entire article – ONE NATION ACTUALLY SOLVED PROBLEMS!!

In 1984, Singapore instituted a revolutionary idea: a system of compulsory saving for medical expenses. That was the same year my colleagues and I at the National Center for Policy Analysis introduced the idea of Health Savings Accounts in this country.

After almost three decades, Singapore has now come to the attention of a lot others, including a book by Brookings, and a whole slew of posts by bloggers.

At the risk of disappointing you, Singapore does not have a free market for health care. What it does have is an alternative to the European/American welfare state, in which private saving and private insurance do what employers and governments do in other countries. The Singapore philosophy is:

• Each generation should pay its own way.

• Each family should pay its own way.

• Each individual should pay his own way.

• Only after passing through these three filters, should anyone turn to the government for help.

If the United States adopted a similar approach to public policy, there would be no deficit problem in this country.

A shift from the public to the private sector. The most important thing Singapore has accomplished in health care (in contrast to all the other developed countries) is an enormous shift of money and power from the government to the private sector. Since 1984, the Singaporean government's share of the nation's total health care expenditure dropped from about 50% to 20%. When you stop to think about it, that's incredible.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country

PUBLIC PENSIONS ARE ‘SERVICED BY THE PUBLIC’

Packing on the pensions:  WI reps collect state retirement on the federal dime

http://watchdog.org/98511/packing-on-the-pensions-wi-reps-collect-state-retirement-on-the-federal-dime/?roi=echo3-16465382609-14011160-ac462223e5be9315bacc14e6c6b34b2c

Wisconsin Reporter – M. D. Kittle – 7/30/3013

WI legislators collect thousands from the public when they no longer work.

 

READER COMMENT:  I sincerely wish every damn one of them, regardless of party, would cease to describe their occupation of elected office, particularly federal office, as "public service." Rather, it is more accurately described as "getting serviced by the public." Let's significantly cut back on the perks, salary, and genuflecting these folks routinely receive, making it true public service, and then observe who steps up to the plate. The current climate attracts and maintains a ruling class of pompous, elitist, arrogant horse's asses who recognize actual work by way of their observations thereof at a distance.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

IS INSOLVENCY IN DETROIT’S FUTURE?

IS INSOLVENCY IN DETROIT’S FUTURE?

Detroit emergency manager says city ‘clearly insolvent’

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/13/us-usa-detroit-emergencymanager-idUSBRE94C0YD20130513

Reuters – Nick Carey and Steve Neavling – 5/13/2013

"The City of Detroit continues to incur expenditures in excess of revenues despite cost reductions and proceeds from long‐term debt issuances," Orr wrote. "In other words, Detroit spends more than it takes in - it is clearly insolvent on a cash flow basis."

Legal experts indicated the declaration of insolvency is important because the city cannot make a bankruptcy filing without an official declaration of insolvency.

Pension payments to city workers are one of the largest drains on the city's finances. Detroit will make $31 million in pension payments this year, but will defer another $108 million. The city also has $5.7 billion in unfunded retiree benefit obligations, more than previous estimates, the report found.

To catch up on pension and health benefits to retirees, the city would need to spend $339 million, about a third of its fiscal 2013 revenues, Orr estimated. Orr said a city task force was reviewing actuarial assumptions Detroit uses to estimate its obligations.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

FINALLY -- TRANSPARENCY -- AND BAD NEWS

ILLINOIS PROPERTY TAXES ARE ONLY GOING UP BECAUSE OF DEBT RACKED UP BY ELECTED POLITICIANS AND GENEROUS PENSION BENEFITS

Cook County, Illinois Treasurer warns U.H. Homeowners and Retirees of local debt hazards

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2012/12/18/cook-county-illinois-treasurer-warns-u-s-homeowners-and-retirees-of-local-debt-hazards/

Forbes - Larry Bell - 12/18/2012

Cook County, Illinois Treasurer Warns U.S. Homeowners And Retirees Of Local Debt Hazards

Maria Pappas has been Cook County Treasurer since 1998. Her office oversees the finances of the 19th largest government in the United States and collects more than $11 billion annually from property taxes on 1.8 million parcels. She served two terms as a Cook County Commissioner before becoming Treasurer.

While much public attention is directed to national, state and large-city debt issues, Treasurer Pappas warns homeowners and taxpayers to pay careful attention to mounting local public debt in their communities. She is in a solid position to know, having conducted studies of alarming debt conditions across her county’s approximately 2,200 taxing districts.

Maria Pappas: The picture isn’t pretty. Almost everyone’s focus is primarily upon finances of the federal or state governments. Few pay attention to local governments.

In May, 2012, the collective debt reported by the local primary taxing agencies in Cook County was more than $140 billion! To put that in context, the total debt-per-household in the City of Chicago was $87,720, and $35,774 in the suburbs. Since local governments cannot print money, they rely on property taxes as their main revenue source to operate.

Homeowners might be able to give their homes to their children, but that future generation won’t be able to afford to keep them because of the property taxes, which have doubled over a 10-year period.

I asked the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2009 for a “Debt Disclosure Ordinance” authorizing my office to collect all this financial information that would provide the answers. Now, when these local governments report their numbers, taxpayers can easily find them on my website at www.cookcountytreasurer.com.

How does your reporting system work?

It’s simple: by the last Tuesday in December, every taxing district uploads its data to a secure website. Voila! The information is immediately available for the public to view. The site enables taxpayers to then “drill down” into each agency listed on the bill.  Visitors can click an icon next to each agency and see budgeted revenues, the amount of money collected from the property owner, outstanding debt (including pensions), the 10-year levy history, and the percentage of levy change over 10 years. Visitors can also click a link to view the Annual Financial Report as provided by each taxing district in PDF format.

Fiscal problems are a problem in every different type of local government: townships, villages, school districts, park districts, fire protection districts, sanitary districts, school districts, libraries and more. Taxpayers are on the hook for the debt that each of these governments continues to amass.

States overwhelmingly receive the majority of federal government money as compared to what is distributed to local governments.

The financial situation is bad right now for all local governments, no matter the size. I can’t imagine how future generations will be able to afford it.

The Gail Borden Library in suburban Elgin reported $23.7 million in debt and another $11 million in pension liability.

Why your town is going broke

http://teapartyeconomist.com/2013/01/30/why-your-town-is-going-broke/

Tea Party Economist – Gary North – 1/30/2013

Voters will simply tell the town councils to declare bankruptcy. The elected officials will do this.

When it’s a showdown between voters and ex-unionized pensioners, the pensioners will lose.

The union members who worked all their lives for less money in order to collect fat pensions will get stiffed.

How many votes do the unions have? Not many.

Will voters sacrifice their homes to pay off old city debts? Not a chance.

Will bondholders get stiffed? Of course. How many votes do out-of-town bondholders have locally?

The Great Default is coming. Be prepared.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

DELPHI PENSIONERS OUT OF LUCK

BECAUSE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION USES INCOMPLETE DATA

Obama campaign, Treasury rely on incomplete GAO report to defend Delphi decision

http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/09/obama-campaign-treasury-rely-on-incomplete-gao-report-to-defend-delphi-decision/

Daily Caller – Matthew Boyl – 8/9/2012

Despite GAO’s affirmation that its report is incomplete, however, the Treasury Department has cited it in the administration’s defense. Obama’s re-election campaign has also claimed the GAO report exonerates the administration, likely because of the brewing scandal’s potential to be become politically disastrous for the president in November.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

WISCONSIN RETIREES FACING REDUCED PENSIONS

Poor performance for public pensions could cost taxpayers big-time

http://www.wisconsinreporter.com/poor-performance-for-public-pensions-could-cost-taxpayers-big-time
Wisconsin Reporter – Ryan Ekvall – 7/24/2012

If the lower than assumed investment returns hold until the end of the 2012 calendar year, WRS will pay out smaller pension checks paid to retirees so that it doesn’t fall below established funding ratios.

Beginning May 1, 2012, for example, 96,000 pensioners took a 7 percent decrease in their pension checks due to the fund’s actuarial loss in 2011.

The Department of Employee Trust Funds changed the assumed rate of return to 7.2 percent, from 7.8 percent, in March 2011. The fund’s five-year return on investment is 2.1 percent.

Economists in the pension world say a public pension fund’s assumed rate of return should reflect the guaranteed nature of pension benefits. That would require public pension operators to assume a rate more in line with a long-term U.S. Treasury bond, currently less than 3 percent.

Moody’s Investor Services, the global credit rating agency, recently proposed valuing public pension funds like their private-sector counterparts, which would make the rate equal to that of a high grade corporate bond — currently 5.5 percent.

Using those more conservative rates of return, WRS is underfunded between $30 and $60 billion. It is nearly fully funded using looser pension accounting standards.

The Badger State’s public pension system is viewed as a model of high-performance compared to many states with massive unfunded liabilities. Those states would look much worse if examined under market-value standards.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

WE NEED TO KNOW THE REAL NUMBERS IN PUBLIC PENSION FUNDS

New Standards Could Cost Wisconsin’s Vaunted Public Pension System

http://www.wisconsinreporter.com/new-standards-could-cost-wisconsins-vaunted-public-pension-system

Wisconsin Reporer – Ryan Ekvall – 6/26/2012

The Government Accounting Standards Board, or GASB, took steps Monday to make reporting of public pension plans more transparent and more in line with private-sector accounting methods. “The new standards will improve the way state and local governments report their pension liabilities and expenses, resulting in a more faithful representation of the full impact of these obligations,” said GASB Chairman Robert H. Attmore in a statement.

Also, unfunded pension liabilities will be reported on public employers’ balance sheets, where they previously were included in the footnotes. The changes come amid heated debate in the pension world over how to calculate future liabilities – pension checks.

Nationally, with the new rules, pension systems move from 76 percent funded to 57 percent funded, according to the Center for Retirement Research, underscoring the public pension crisis hiding beneath the surface of accounting gimmicks.

“Here we are today’s taxpayers, elected officials, employees. We’re taking all the rewards and passing on the risk,” said Jeremy Gold, a public pension actuary and economist. “When we got higher returns (in the 1990s), we simply lowered tomorrow’s costs. The problem now is we’re lowering today’s costs. If the risk pans out, great. But if those risks go bad the future is going to pay for it.”

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com