This article is about the possible consequences of Citizens United related to entities like CALPERS. From the intro:
"Recall that there is a long-term campaign by conservatives and much of Wall Street to get government out of the pension/social safety net for the aged business. The most visible element is the long-standing effort to privatize Social Security. But public pensions have also been under attack. Even though financial firms make very nice living off their backs, the fees retail pays as a percent of invested assets is higher on smaller accounts.
So how does the pay-to-play litigation factor in? As David Sirota has been dutifully chronicling, first at Pando, now at International Business Times, there are lots of suspect, and in some cases, obviously corrupt, dealings between elected officials (who sometimes are also public pension fund trustees) and these retirement funds. As Lambert points out, we’ve written about one spectacular example at CalPERS, that of over $50 million of placement agent fees paid in connection with fundraising for a handful of private equity firms, that led to the indictment of and guilty plea from CalPERS’ former CEO. The criminal case against the placement agent is underway.
What do you think happens if this suit prevails? In a very short time, the political graft will be off the charts.
And what happens next? Vastly louder calls, with far more facts on their side, demanding that public pension funds be disbanded as political pork machines.
Nicely played."
...
Incidentally, the local attack on public pensions has already begun. Consider the following:
"Recall that there is a long-term campaign by conservatives and much of Wall Street to get government out of the pension/social safety net for the aged business. The most visible element is the long-standing effort to privatize Social Security. But public pensions have also been under attack. Even though financial firms make very nice living off their backs, the fees retail pays as a percent of invested assets is higher on smaller accounts.
So how does the pay-to-play litigation factor in? As David Sirota has been dutifully chronicling, first at Pando, now at International Business Times, there are lots of suspect, and in some cases, obviously corrupt, dealings between elected officials (who sometimes are also public pension fund trustees) and these retirement funds. As Lambert points out, we’ve written about one spectacular example at CalPERS, that of over $50 million of placement agent fees paid in connection with fundraising for a handful of private equity firms, that led to the indictment of and guilty plea from CalPERS’ former CEO. The criminal case against the placement agent is underway.
What do you think happens if this suit prevails? In a very short time, the political graft will be off the charts.
And what happens next? Vastly louder calls, with far more facts on their side, demanding that public pension funds be disbanded as political pork machines.
Nicely played."
...
Incidentally, the local attack on public pensions has already begun. Consider the following:
-
Sacramento City approved the Kings' stadium subsidy despite a published
warning by the County's CFO that pensions were underfunded.
- CalPERS has been stonewalling requests for information about how it funds pensions. See here, for example.
-
Finally, what happens when we have to pay for all those unfunded
infrastructure projects? Sacramento's pipes are at least as old as Los
Angeles' that have repeatedly burst recently.
Jefferson County Alabama filed bankruptcy thanks to Goldman Sachs'
"help" funding the renovation of their sewage infrastructure. And...who
is selling the Kings' bonds? That would be Goldman Sachs.
Executive
summary: Be ready for the money grab following some budgetary
malfeasance, seeking to terminate benefits that come with good jobs, or
seeking to initiate a form of governmental disempowerment.
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