Teacher Pension Plans Could Trigger Next Big Bailout Crisis

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Let them all take the hit rather than be bailed out. They never bailed out the pilots of all the airlines that went belly up and gave back only a nickle or a dime for every dollar they were supposed to get from their company's pension funds. They didn't get rescued by the Fed's Pension Fund Guaranty Agency (or whatever it's called) either. The government just kept giving the airline exec's a pass when they kept under funding the pension funds. In fact they even let Frank Lorenzo pocket one fund that actually had a surplus, then declared bankruptcy and the pension funds never paid out what they were supposed to. NO bailouts for the teachers pension funds!

Dave of FL 2:46AM April 24, 2010

In my humble, yet suprisingly correct, opinion, the nation needs to lance society's ponzi scheme boils and rid itself of putrid, yellow-green, entitlement puss.

David of ID 12:58PM April 23, 2010

The proven facts are tax cuts have always increased revenues into the gov..Then as now the politicans couldn't quit spending.They must quit spending promised money.They must quit expanding gov. and making more promises until they can live up to ones already given.If people have paid into a pension fund the money should be there,if it's not somebody else spent it,misused it,stolled it or made bad investments.It's all who you trust with your money.I prefer to trust my wife.I darn sure prefer not to trust the gov.or union pension funds.
We're running out of payers into the S.S. system,it is another unfunded promise,they spent OUR money.

Hunter of WI 7:04PM April 22, 2010

Cut salaries and benefits for all public employees; local, state and federal, by 10% - NO EXCEPTIONS.
Numerous studies have shown that public employees are paid about 40% more than employees in the private sector. Cuttin' the slop in their trough by 10% would still leave them over paid and under worked.

R.L. Schaefer of CA 3:57PM April 22, 2010

I don't know where the money went at various individual plans, or whether the definition of "broke" at some of them is merely a projection they'll go dry at some time in the future---maybe far in the future. They say Social Security is "broke", you know, but it has a valid collectible account receivable of about two trillion, owed to it by the payers of income tax who borrowed the trust fund to give themselves income tax cuts from 1981 to 2003.
As for "fixing" the plans, if you can muster the political will to just cut all the teacher pensions, fine, do it. If you can't, then you will need to raise the money. But feathering the old teachers' nests nicely while starving the new ones in some two-tier deal is both unfair and a good way to ruin schools even more than errant administrations have already done.

Muser of NM 9:26AM April 22, 2010

The thing is even if the tax payers could shoulder another bail out. If you dont get to the cause of the problem. What is to change.What I find interesting is the question " where did all the money go" We live in a world that suffers from the disease or more. No accountability, no common sense, no responsibility. just a giant need to gain more. Not through hard work or good business plans. Not through imagination and development. The more I see of this the more disgusted I become. Politicans, wall street,banking, insurance, unions, administraters. All of them looking to be fed larger undeserved portions. No one makes consessions.Then again who can blame them. Theres a serious lack of leadership on both sides of the isle and the table. People in $3000.00 suits flying private planes talking about the working class they milk over and over. It just gets old.

odie of NY 1:31AM April 22, 2010

What are some of your true plans and thoughts on how to fix the system? The gov. now has 2 trillion dollars in unfunded pension plans.The state of Ca. alone is over 500 billion behind in unfunded pensions
The bigger question is ,is where did their money go? UAW pension fund bankrupt,who spent it? Where and who spent the money or misused it?The goverment,the union bosses,who??Why should the taxpayers bail them out?I'm trying to save for myself and family.What gives them the right to take mine and your money to bail them out? What gives them the right to take our money? How can you blame republicans? Unions ALWAYS vote for democrats.Kinda like goverments done right with S.S. fund.Ha!!

Hunter of WI 11:44PM April 21, 2010

"A study just released by the Foundation for Educational Choice and The Manhattan Institute"
I guess you can always rely on these folks, right? I believe you can, but not for the reasons you do.

Christopher Hobe Morrison of NY 7:08PM April 21, 2010

to agree to having their defined-benefit pensions replaced with defined-contribution plans (while their elder counterparts keep the old gravy train) they are not smart enough, as a group, to be teaching your children. Basically, expect your Republicans (like Roff here) to be, in effect, seeking to staff your schools with "haven't-got-a-clue" temps. (Maybe they'll want to appropriate public money for some TV ads to improve the image for school teacher recruiting as the fix for the downside, or something like that.)
You want to fix teacher pensions? Fine. Fix 'em all. Just slam 'em. You haven't got the guts or the voter will to do that? Then shut up. But two-tier crap in the schools? Let's hope your budding new educators are not that stupid. If they are, your schools will be going downhill faster than you think.

Muser of NM 6:49PM April 21, 2010