A retired California government employee collected nearly half a million dollars in pension payments last year.
asserted
employee → collect → payments
The system paying him is $153 billion short of the assets needed to cover its promises.
asserted
system → pay → promises
He gets his check.
asserted
He → get → check
The politicians who helped build this mess move on.
asserted
who → help → mess
You get stuck making the numbers work.
asserted
numbers → get → ?
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asserted
Sign → sign → California
But the bigger scandal is how California’s political leadership made these promises and left taxpayers responsible for keeping them.
asserted
leadership → make → them
Public employee unions help elect the officials they negotiate with.
asserted
they → help → officials
They recruit candidates, supply volunteers, fund advertising and turn out voters.
asserted
They → recruit → voters
Then those officials approve pay and benefits financed by taxpayers.
asserted
officials → approve → taxpayers
How hard do you suppose they bargain with the organizations that put them in office?
asserted
that → suppose → office
The United Auto Workers do not help elect Ford’s CEO.
asserted
Workers → help → CEO
The Teamsters do not finance the selection of UPS executives.
asserted
Teamsters → finance → executives
A business must negotiate a contract it can afford while remaining competitive.
asserted
it → negotiate → contract
Get that calculation wrong, and the company can fail.
asserted
company → get → ?
Government can raise taxes, cut services or push costs into the future.
asserted
Government → raise → future
Pension promises make that option convenient.
asserted
option → make → ?
Employees receive enhanced benefits, union leaders announce a victory, and politicians enjoy the applause.
asserted
politicians → receive → applause
The bill arrives years later, when somebody else holds office.
asserted
somebody → arrive → office
Gov. Gray Davis showed how it works in 1999, signing Senate Bill 400 to expand retirement benefits for state employees.
asserted
it → show → employees
Local governments followed with their own enhancements.
asserted
governments → follow → enhancements
Benefits were sweetened retroactively, increasing compensation for work already done.
asserted
Benefits → sweeten → work
The sales pitch was that investment returns would spare taxpayers substantial new costs.
asserted
returns → spare → costs
Politicians treated a booming market as permission to make permanent promises.
asserted
Politicians → treat → promises
Permanent obligations rested on forecasts nobody could guarantee.
uncertain
nobody → rest → forecasts
Then came the crashes.
asserted
crashes → come → ?
Nobody took back the promises.
asserted
Nobody → take → promises
Taxpayers covered the difference, and public budgets have been absorbing the consequences ever since.
asserted
budgets → cover → consequences
I saw this up close while handling media relations for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
asserted
I → see → Department
It never stopped astounding me: able-bodied deputies retiring at 50, then working for another law enforcement agency or a private security firm.
asserted
It → stop → agency
A pension and another paycheck made economic sense.
asserted
pension → make → sense
They were following the rules our political leadership had created.
asserted
leadership → follow → rules
Pension spiking still happens, especially among employees hired before the 2013 reforms.
asserted
spiking → happen → reforms
Double-dipping persists too, with retirees returning to government payrolls while still drawing pensions.
asserted
retirees → persist → pensions
Others are more culpable: the unions that negotiated these deals and the politicians who signed them.
asserted
who → negotiate → them
California needs competent police officers, firefighters, nurses and engineers.
asserted
California → need → officers
It also needs politicians more worried about protecting taxpayers than offending their union backers.
asserted
politicians → need → backers
Most employees contribute to their pensions, and investment earnings help finance them.
asserted
earnings → contribute → them
But many hired before 2013 still have some or all of their share picked up by their government employers.
asserted
some → hire → employers
And taxpayers cover the shortfalls.
asserted
taxpayers → cover → shortfalls
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
