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Welcome

The oncoming wave of pension debt is even bigger than it seems. The purpose of this website is to provide an overview of the multiple pension crises that are about to drown America's taxpayers. Our primary focus is on California, but we also track other states, corporate pensions, social security and international trends. PensionTsunami.com is a project of the California Public Policy Center.

Latest Newsclips     last updated January 27 6:54am PST

Each day's headline summary is e-mailed to subscribers.

January 27, 2012

• Bernie Madoff, CalPERS and CalSTRS (Jon Fleischman / Flash Report)
• California Needs Retirement Benefits That Are Sustainable Long-Term, and Not an Increasing Drag on Public Budgets (editorial - Press-Enterprise)
• Modesto, California's City Council Weighs Costs of Pension 'Buyout' From CalPERS (Ken Carlson / Modesto Bee)
• Pension Reform Will Take Years in Modesto, California (editorial - Modesto Bee)
• VIDEO: California Joint Conference Committee Hearing on Public Employee Pensions Held January 25th (California Channel)
• California Settles Up With State's Prison Guards Union on $4.5 Million Debt -- Interest Free (column - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• University of California, Employees to Pay More Into Pension Fund (Ron Leuty / San Francisco Business Times)
• SEARCHABLE DATABASE: The University of California (UC) $100,000 Pension Club
• VIDEO: San Diego Tax Fighter Richard Rider Talks About California Pension Reform (XETV-TV)
• San Diego City Retirees' Health Care Deal Could Save $714 Million; Overhaul Requires Some Employee Contribution ( Craig Gustafson / Union-Tribune)
• Kudos to San Diego's City Leaders on Health Benefits Reform (editorial - Union-Tribune)
• Gov. Brown Talks Pensions at Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce (blog - Rosanna Xia and Anthony York / Los Angeles Times)
• Pensions Should Go Away for Part-Time Members of California City Councils (editorial - San Gabriel Valley Tribune)
• Bill Would Stop Pension Abuse by California National Guard (AP / San Francisco Chronicle)
• Retired Chicago City Colleges Chancellor Due $500,000 in Unused Sick Pay (Patrick Rehkamp / Chicago News Co-Op)
• Louisiana State Pension Reform Proposal Features 'Cash-Balance' Plan, Later Retirement (Jeff Adelson / Times-Picayune)
• Rhode Island State Treasurer Avoiding Risk After Pension Fund Earns 1.4% in 2011 (Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• New Jersey Pension Funds Earned 1.7% in 2011 (Stacie Servetah / Bloomberg)
• Over Past 10 Years, Hawaii's Pension Investments Ranked at the Bottom of the Pack (Nanea Kalani / Honolulu Civil Beat)
• Public Pensions Increase Investments in Private Equity (Michael Corkery / Wall Street Journal)
• The Once and Future Liberalism: We Need to Get Beyond the Outdated Ideas of 20th-Century Liberalism (Walter Russell Mead / The American Interest)
• Pension Plutocrats: Federal System Pays Outsize Rewards to Chosen Few (editorial - Post-Standard)
• Indifference Ends on Public Employees' Pay and Pensions in Canada (Howard Levitt / Vancouver Sun)
• PENSION PULSE: Anxiety Mounts Over Maturing Real Estate Loans? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)Pension Pulse: Anxiety Mounts Over Maturing Real Estate Loans? (b
• Public Pension Puffery: 12 Half-Truths That Deserve to Be Debunked in 2012 (column - Girard Miller / Governing Magazine)
• VIDEO: An Interview With PensionTsunami Editor Jack Dean on the Growing Wave of Public Pension Debt (Reason.TV)
• SEARCHABLE DATABASE: The CalPERS $100,000 Pension Club Has Grown to 12,000 Members
• SEARCHABLE DATABASE: The CalSTRS $100,000 Pension Club
• PensionTsunami.com Is Media Partner for Live Webcast on Feb 8: 'Pension Plans: A 2012 Perspective'

January 26, 2012

• VIDEO: California Legislative Committee Looks at Hybrid Retirement Plans (Nannette Miranda / KABC-TV)
• Lawmakers Urge Gov. Brown to Provide Details on His California Pension Reform Proposals (Timm Herdt / Ventura County Star)
• Tiny Return for CalPERS: Retirements at Risk? (Teri Sfora / Orange County Register)
• Fresno County Workers Need to Do the Math on Their Unsustainable Pension System (blog - Jim Boren / Fresno Bee)
• Promotions Unpopular for California Firefighters Earning Overtime (Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• San Diego County's Pension Strategist When Challenged on Risk: 'Bring It On!' (Jeff McDonald / Union-Tribune)
• Illinois' 62% Income Tax Hike of 2012 Not Enough to Keep Up With Pensions and Medicaid (editorial - Chicago Tribune)
• VIDEO: Who Will Pay Illinois' $140 Billion Unfunded Public Pension Debt? (IllinoisIsBroke.com)
• Public Employee Pensions Are Not the Enemy, Says New York Labor Union President (op-ed - Mario Cilento / New York Daily News)
• Federal Workers Owe $1 Billion in Unpaid Taxes (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• PENSION PULSE: So Much For That Big Fat Greek Payday? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)
• VIDEO: An Interview With PensionTsunami Editor Jack Dean on the Growing Wave of Public Pension Debt (Reason.TV)

January 25, 2012

• CalSTRS Reports 2.3% Earnings on Investments in 2011, Repeats Call for Help from Legislature (Dale Kasler / Sacramento Bee)
• CalSTRS Calendar Year-End Investment Returns Show 2.3% Gain (press release)
• California Legislators Spin Their Wheels on Pension Reform (editorial - Sacramento Bee)
• CalPERS 2011 Return Below Its Assumed Rate by 6.65 Percentage Points (Randy Diamond / Pensions & Investments)
• CalPERS Posts Mediocre 1.1% Return. Safe Prediction: The Annual Bonuses Won’t Be Mediocre. (blog - Chris Reed / Calwhine)
• CalPERS Earned 1.1% on Investments in 2011, Plan Assumptions Are 7.75% (blog - Mike Shedlock / Mish's Trends)
• Public Pension Battle Ahead in Orange County, California; Supervisor Says 'Financial Viability' Is at Stake (editorial - Orange County Register)
• Convicted and Fired California School District Superintendent Will Be Able to Keep His $120,000 Pension (Tony Saavedra / Orange County Register)
• San Jose, California's City Council Moves to End Its Own Pensions (John Woolfolk / Mercury News)
• Sacramento County Pension Fund Approves Raises for Top Executives; Critics Say System is Out of Touch (Brad Branan / Sacramento Bee)
• Providence Is Only No-Show at Rhode Island Local Government Pension Event (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• CHART: The Decline and Fall of the Providence, Rhode Island Pension System (blog - Ted Nesi / Wpri-Tv)
• The Real Number on New Jersey's Pensions (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• Increased Illinois Higher Education Funding Goes to Pensions (Andrew Thomason / Illinois Statehouse News)
• Two Connecticut State Senators Would Take Overtime Pay Out of Pension Calculations (Jon Lender / Hartford Courant)
• Public Pension Propaganda (3) – The Liars (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• A Redistributive State of the Union (op-ed - Michael Tanner / Orange County Register)
• Boeing Projects Smaller 2012 Profit Due to Rising Pension Costs (Susanna Ray / Bloomberg)
• PENSION PULSE: CalSTRS Returns 2.3% in 2011 (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 24, 2012

• CalPERS Earns 1.1% on Investments in 2011 (Marc Lifsher / Los Angeles Times)
• CalPERS Earned 1.1% Last Year as Stocks Declined (Michael B. Marois / Bloomberg)
• CalPERS Earns 1.1% Return for 2011 Calendar Year (press release)
• Pension Bomb: San Francisco May Be Facing Additional $100 Million Burden (Joe Eskenazi / San Francisco Chonicle)
• The Faces of the Forgotten 33% (commentary - UnionWatch.org)
• Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research Stands Behind Iindependence of December Study on California's Pension Funds (Jamie Kim / Stanford Dai
• Retirees With CalPERS Pensions Lose Part-Time Government Jobs (Gus Thomson / Auburn Journal)
• San Jose Councilman Suggests Elimination of the City’s Defined Benefit Pension Plan Under CalPERS (Judy Lloyd / Fox & Hounds)
• A Pension Numbers Game in Costa Mesa, California (Nick Gerda / Voice of OC)
• San Bernardino County Supervisors Proposing More Benefits Cuts (Joe Nelson / San Bernardino County Sun)
• City Manager of Rancho Mirage, California in Line for Generous Pension of About $190,000 (Blake Herzog / Desert Sun)
• Higher Pension Rate for New Fountain Valley Fire Chief Likely Off the Table (Justin Petruccelli / Fountain Valley Patch)
• Reader Issue of the Week: California's Public Employee Pensions (letters - Sacramento Bee)
• Oregon Public Employees Want to Stop Release of Pension Recipients' Names (Rebecca Moore / Plan Sponsor)
• Minnesota's Public Pensions: A Worse-Case Scenario (op-ed - Mark Haveman / Star Tribune)
• Federal Employees Owe $1.03 Billion in Unpaid Taxes (Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post)
• VIDEO: Can Canadians Afford Public Employee Unions Any More? (43 minutes - Gord Martineau / CityNews)
• PENSION PULSE: Teaching Hedge Funds a Lesson? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 23, 2012

• Be Honest and Tell California's Taxpayers How Much We Owe (column - Daniel Borenstein / Contra Costa Times)
• California Public Employee Unions in Denial on Pension Costs (column - Dan Walters / Sacramento Bee)
• 40,845 Workers in California’s 500+ Cities and Counties Earn $150,000 or More (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• California's Pension Clock Is Ticking (column - George Skelton / Los Angeles Times)
• Police in Bell, California Got Undeserved Disability Pensions, Investigation Finds (Jeff Gottlieb / Los Angeles Times)
• Gov. Brown Fails to Discuss California's $500 Billion in Unfunded Pension Liabilities in State of State Address (Jon Coupal / Jarvis Taxpayers Assoc)
• New Pension Forecasts for CalPERS and CalSTRS: What if Earnings Falter? (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• Pension Funds Hit by Weak Returns in 2011 Ranging Between -3% and 3% (Pensions & Investments)
• Why California's Government Officials and Government Retirees Don't Want Any Change (column - Steven Greenhut / Orange County Register)
• 3 California Cities Avoided Defined Benefit Pensions (Kendall Taggart / California Watch)
• Pension Reform Will Be a Key Issue in Orange County in 2012 (editorial - Orange County Register)
• Cash-Out for Retiring Santa Ana City Attorney's Unused Leave Time = $200,000 (Teri Sfora / Orange County Register)
• Pension Reform Ballot Measure Proposed for San Bernardino County (Imran Ghori / Press-Enterprise)
• Public Pension Propaganda (1) – What They Got Right (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• Public Pension Propaganda (2) – The Lie (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• What Is Modest About Illinois State Pensions? (letter - Daily Herald)
• Illinois Obviously Ain’t Ready for Public Pension Reform (letter - Daily Herald)
• A Meaningful New Try on Pension Reform in New York (op-ed - E.J. McMahon / Auburn Citizen)
• Teachers in Buffalo, New York Are Charging Plastic Surgery to Taxpayers (Jill Krasny / Business Insiders)
• 15,000 Federal Retirees Are Receiving Six-Figure Pensions; System Has a $674.2 Billion Shortfall (Charles R. Babcock & Frank Bass / Boston Globe)
• Fed Budget Puts Military Pension Plan in Cross Hairs; Unfunded Liability Expected to Hit $2.7 Trillion by 2034 (Pensions & Investments)
• PENSION PULSE: Private Equity’s Public Subsidy? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 20, 2012

• One Pension Half-Truth That's Actually a Quarter-Truth (column - Girard Miller / Governing Magazine)
• First Wave of Pay Raises for California State Workers to Show Up on Feb. 1 Checks (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• Costa Mesa's Public Employee Union Leaders Talk Utopia, But Their Money's on Private Equity (blog - Will Swaim / Republic of Costa Mesa)
• Why Gov. Christie Vetoed New Jersey Pension Reform Bill (editorial - The Record)
• PBGC Says American Airlines Has Paid Only $6.5 Million of the $100 Million It Was Supposed to Pay Into Employee Pension Plans (Sacramento Bee)
• Pension Plan for Canada's Members of Parliament Faces $1 Billion Shortfall, Report Says (with video - CTV)
• PENSION PULSE: Canadian MPs' Snouts in the Pension Trough? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 19, 2012

• Congress’s Six-Figure Benefits Add to $674 Billion US Pension Shortfall (Charles R. Babcock and Frank Bas / Bloomberg)
• CalPERS Discloses $250 Million Realty Loss (Dale Kasler / Sacramento Bee)
• Gov. Brown Makes Extemporaneous Remarks on California Pension Reform (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• California Democrats Split on Governor's Pension Reform Proposals (with audio - Ben Adler / California Capitol Network)
• What California Republicans Say About Gov. Brown's Public Pension Plan (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• 4,000 Fresno County Workers Will Go on Strike Starting Monday (Kurtis Alexander / Fresno Bee)
• Fountain Valley Residents Speak Out Against Reverting to More Costly Pension Formula for New Police Chief (Justin Petruccelli / Fountain Valley Patch)
• Spiking the Pension Football in Fountain Valley, California (op-ed - Roy Reynolds / Fountain Valley Patch)
• California Is No. 1 for Public Employees Getting Paid $150,000 or More (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• REPORT: Which Governments Pay Public Employees the Most? (pdf - Diana Lopez / Sunshine Review)
• Dress on Your Own Time, Officers (editorial - Orange County Register)
• Pension Reform Is Not an 'Assault' on New York's State Employees (editorial - Auburn Citizen)
• Minnesota State Employees' Severance Packages Scrutinized (MaryJo Webster / Pioneer Press)
• Illinois Private-Sector Lobbyists Stand to Collect Public-Sector Pensions (Better Government Association / Chicago Sun-Times)
• Illinois House Speaker Forms Special Pensions Committee (Lynne Marek / Chicago Business)
• Is the Real Divide in the US Today Between Unions and … Everybody Else? (Liz Peek / The Fiscal Times)
• GOP Pres. Candidates Running as Outsiders Get Taxpayer-Paid Pensions; 'It's Immoral' Says Ron Paul (Kristin Jensen & Margaret Talev / Bloomberg)
• PENSION PULSE: Caisse, CPPIB Still Buying Brazil's Boom? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 18, 2012

• New York's Gov. Cuomo Proposes Radical Pension Reform, Says 'We Can No Longer Sustain the Current System' (Erik Kriss / New York Post)
• US Treasury Dips Into Federal Employees' Pension Funds to Avoid Debt (Rachelle Younglai / Reuters)
• Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Says Feds Should Bail Out Failed States, Cities and Counties 'For a Mere $900 Billion' (blog - Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit)
• Beyond Costa Mesa: The Pension Fight Has Legs, Walks Upright (blog - Will Swaim / Republic of Costa Mesa)
• Public Employee Pensions a Hot Topic as San Diego Tea Party Grills Mayoral Candidate in Forum (Craig Gustafson / SD Union-Tribune)
• Garden Grove, California's Overtime Tab Grows; Nearly a Third of City's Workers Collected $100,000 (editorial - Orange County Register)
• San Luis Obispo County Teachers Offered Early Retirement (AnnMarie Cornejo / The Tribune)
• Real Pension Reform on Tap in New York? (blog - E.J. McMahon / Public Sector Inc.)
• A Breath of Hope: New York's Governor Cuomo Starts to Cut Public Employee Pension Costs (op-ed - Josh Barro / New York Post)
• Pension Reform Still on New York City Mayor Bloomberg's Agenda (Lisa Colangelo / New York Daily News)
• Public Employee Pensions Loom as a Huge Problem in Illinois (Kevin McDermott / St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Wife of Convicted Rhode Island Councilman Can Collect Pension Under 'Innocent Spouse' Clause (Mark Reynolds / Providence Journal)
• Public Employee Pension Funds Lead Private Equity Boom (blog - Steve Malanga / Public Sector Inc.)
• Analysis: Higher Pension Burden Makes Developed Market Countries Decreasingly Creditworthy (Peter Apps / Reuters)
• PENSION PULSE: Canada's Housing Bubble About to Burst? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 17, 2012

• After Bell, Santa Ana Had Top-Paid City Employee in California (Teri Sfora / Orange County Register)
• Federal Debt Climbs Past Annual GDP (blog - Emily Skarbek / MyGovCost.org)
• San Diego Mayoral Debate Includes Pension Humor (Craig Gustafson / UT San Diego)
• POLL: Should Elected Officials in Policy Making Positions Be Taking Public Pensions? (UT San Diego)
• Ban Double Dipping by West Virginia's State Employees (editorial - Wheeling News-Register)
• The American Economy, as Seen in a Twinkie (editorial - St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Are European Pensions Causing Financial Crisis? (Denisova Olga / The Voice of Russia)
• PENSION PULSE: Chopping Down Hedge Fund Fees? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 16, 2012

• Orange County's Local Governments Made More Than $100 Million in Pension Payments That Employees Were Supposed to Pay (Teri Sforza / OC Register)
• Do CalPERS and CalSTRS Help Loot Companies Through Their Investments in Private Equity? (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• 17 Members of California's Congressional Delegation Are Double-Dippers -- Collecting a Pension in Addition to Their Pay (Matt Clark / UT San Diego)
• Menlo Park, California City Council OKs Changes to Pension Benefits for New Hires (Barbara Wood / The Almanac)
• New Jersey Homeland Security’s 18 Double-Dippers Nab $9 Million in Public Pensions (Mark Lagerkvist / New Jersey Watchdog)
• Not a Chicago City Employee, Ex-Illinois State Senator Is Denied a $50,000/Year City Pension (Tim Novak / Chicago Sun-Times)
• Determined to Be Free (commentary - Paul Jacob / Common Sense)
• GM Could Launch Retiree Pension 'Buyout' to Reduce Its $22 Billion in Unfunded Liabilities (David Shepardson / Detroit News)
• PENSION PULSE: Greece Faces Crucial Week? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 15, 2012

• Sacramento, California's Deficits Driven by Public Employees' Failure to Contribute to Their Own Pensions (blog - Troy Senik / Public Sector Inc.)
• New Marin County Pension Chief Willing to Work With Pension Reform Group (Nels Johnson / Marin Independent Journal)
• Overtime Will Add $46,000/Year to Chicago Transit Authority Employee's Pension (Jon Hilkevitch / Chicago Tribune)
• PENSION PULSE: Quelle Horreur! France Goes Soft-Core? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 14, 2012

• America's Forgotten 33% – The Private Sector Taxpayers Who Support Non-Taxpayers and Government Workers (UnionWatch.org)
• Legislative Analyst Fails to Give California Pension Reform Group's Proposals a Fair Reading (op-ed - Mike Genest / Sacramento Bee)
• New Citizens' Pension Reform Group Launched in Sunnyvale, California (Alia Wilson / Sunnyvale Sun)

January 13, 2012

• California's Public Pension Costs Must Be Addressed by Government or Likely Will Be Addressed by an Angry Electorate (Joel Fox / Fox & Hounds)
• Pension Double-Dipping in California Needs to Sunset (editorial - Sacramento Bee)
• Stop Lucrative State Public Employee Pensions for Part-Time Local Elected Officials (editorial - San Gabriel Valley Tribune)
• VIDEO: US Senator Orrin Hatch Wants Feds to Reform Pensions (interview - Steven Malanga on Varney & Co. / Fox Business)
• Judge Refuses to Dismiss CalPERS Lawsuit Against Moody's, S&P (Dale Kasler / Sacramento Bee)
• California's Other Deficit: At $10 Billion, It's Big Bucks (Greg Lucas / Capitol Weekly)
• Good News on Pensions for Stanislas County; Pension Fund Will Lower Contribution Request (Ken Carlson / Modesto Bee)
• Ojai, California Council Moves to Eliminate Lifetime Health Benefits for Future Council Members (Anne Kallas / Ventura County Star)
• Paso Robles School District Likely to Target Teacher Salaries to Reduce Costs; State Takeover Possible (Patrick S. Pemberton / The Tribune)
• Sacramento Looks to Cut Its Payment for Employee Pensions (Ryan Lillis / Sacramento Bee)
• Cut in Benefits for Other San Bernardino County Officials Proposed (Imran Ghori / Press-Enterprise)
• Laguna Beach Police to Begin Paying Toward Their Pensions (Claudia Koerner / Orange County Register)
• Virginia Governor Wants State Workers to Pay 1% More Toward Their Pensions; Union Calls It a 'Pay Cut' (Olympia Meola / Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• 5% of Patients Account for Half of Health Care Spending (Kelly Kennedy / USA Today)
• PENSION PULSE: The Surprising Strength of Canada's Pension Funds? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 12, 2012

• A Resolution for 2012: Fixing California’s Public Pension Problems (op-ed - Dan Pellissier / Capitol Weekly)
• California Pension Reform Financial Backer Explains Rationale (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• BREAKING: Europe's $39 Trillion Pension Risk Grows as Economy Falters (Rebecca Christie and Peter Woodifield / Bloomberg)
• California Pension Reform Group Says Attorney General's Pension Reform Summary Is 'Grossly Misleading' (Teri Sfora / Orange County Register)
• California Pension Reform Backers Say Attorney General Wrote False Statements About Ballot Measures (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee):
• California Attorney General Heeds Her Union Overlords, Waterboards Democracy on Pension Initiative Ballot Descriptions (blog - Chris Reed / Calwhine)
• California Attorney General Kamala Harris’ Misuse of Power on Pension Ballot Measure Summaries (blog - Steven Greenhut / CalWatchdog)
• Can California Voters Recoup Excessive Pay, Benefits and Pensions From Current Public Employees? (John Eastman / Fox & Hounds Daily)
• California's Gov. Brown Pushes Cap & Trade Pension Grab (Wayne Lusvardi / CalWatchdog)
• Weak Stocks Mean More of a Pension Hit to San Francisco's Taxpayers (Chris Roberts / NBC)
• Cities in Sacramento Region Pick Up $35 Million of Employees' Pension Tab (Phillip Reese / Sacramento Bee)
• Half of Sacramento's Deficit Could Be Wiped Out by Pension Reform, Says City Manager (blog - Ryan Lillis / Sacramento Bee)
• California Assembly Committee Kills 'No Pensions for Part-Time Politicians' Bill (Cindy Rhodes / Diamond Bar Patch) )
• Los Angeles Mayor’s Deferral of $100 Million in Personnel Costs Is OK With City Controller (blog - Paul Hatfield / Village to Village)
• New York City's Actuary Said to Seek Lower Pension-Fund Rate of Return of 7% From 8% (Martin Z. Braun and Cristina Alesci / Bloomberg)
• Passing the Bucks on New York City's Pensions (Josh Margolin / New York Post)
• The Actuary as Fall Guy in New York City (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• Central Falls, Rhode Island's Pension Pacts a Boon for Bond Market (Paul Burton / The Bond Buyer)
• A Deal With Public Employee Unions Could Avert Detroit Takeover (Caitlin Devitt / The Bond Buyer)
• Illinois Governor Finally Admits It: Time for a Public Pension Fix (editorial - Chicago Sun-Times)
• Illinois Bond Spread Triples After Rating Is Cut by Moody’s to Lowest-Rated State (Brian Chappatta / Bloomberg)
• High Pension and Healthcare Costs Contribute to Hostesss Brands' Bankruptcy Filing (Mae Anderson / Associated Press)
• Even the Swiss May Have to Take Pensions Cuts (Mark Cobley / eFinancialNews)
• PENSION PULSE: Europe’s $39 Trillion Pension Risk? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 11, 2012

• More Public Pension Truths for California and Why You Should Be Very Angry (Larry Sand / Union Watch.org)
• Feds Need to Be Involved in State Pension Crisis Says New Report by US Sen. Orrin Hatch (blog - Steve Malanga / Public Sector Inc.)
• READ THE REPORT: 'The Pension Debt Crisis That Threatens America' (pdf - 14 pgs)
• Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch Trumpets 'Extraordinary' Rhode Island Pension Reform (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• California Pension Reformers Criticize Attorney General for a 'Grossly Misleading' Description of Their Ballot Measures (Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• Governing Magazine Column Blasts 'Pension Puffery' in California (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• Gov. Christie’s Plan for Public Employee Sick Pay Is Good for New Jersey (op-ed - Ann Richardson / Ocean City Gazette)
• Illinois Governor Vows to Take on Pension Reform to Boost State's Credit Rating (Monique Garcia / Chicago Tribune)
• Ban Florida's State College and University Employees From the State Legislature? (blog - Randall Holcombe / Independent Institute)
• What Do Newt Gingrich and Public Pension Accountants Have in Common? A Belief in a Free Lunch (Jeffrey Brown / Forbes)
• White House Proposes Half-Percent Pay Raise for Federal Workers (Brian Koenig / The New American)
• PENSION PULSE: Wither Canadian and US Pensions? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 10, 2012

• California's 'Wall of Debt' Is Really a Mountain; Unfunded Pensions and Healthcare Top the List (column - Dan Walters / Sacramento Bee)
• California Pension Reform Group Critiques Attorney General's Title and Summary of Ballot Initiatives (press release - California Pension Reform)
• University of California Salary Criticisms Fuel Student Protests (Scott Martindale / Orange County Register)
• California's Public University Systems Offer Up Lame Excuses for High Salaries (op-ed - Bruce Maiman / Sacramento Bee)
• SEARCHABLE DATABASE: The University of California (UC) $100,000 Pension Club
• Lawsuit Seeks to Block June Vote on San Diego Pension Reform Measure (Craig Gustafson / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego Cops to Get Dressed on Own Time After US Supreme Court Declines to Hear Appeal (Greg Moran / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Leaders in Ventura County, California Whiff on Meaningful Pension Reform (op-ed - Dick Thomson and David P. Grau / Ventura County Star)
• Gina Raimondo Math Convinces Rhode Island of America’s Prospects With Debt (Michael McDonald / Bloomberg)
• VIDEO: Comments by Rhode Island State Treasurer Gina Raimondo on Pension Reform (Manhattan Institute)
• Where the $4.3 Billion for Rhode Island’s Pension Fund Will Come From (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• Who Knew? 80% Target for Pension Funds Is Just an Urban Legend (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• Lawmaker to Push Further Changes to Oklahoma Pensions (Sean Murphy / Business Week)
• Watertown, New York's Rising Pension Costs Could Justify Increased Tax Levy (Timothy W. Scee II / Newzjunky.com)
• Ilinois Governor Asks Legislative Leaders for Pension Panel Appointments (Ray Long / WGN-TV)
• Ending Public Employee Pensions Among Ideas Headed to Mayor of Houston, Texas From Task Force (Chris Moran / Houston Chronicle)
• Kentucky Faces a Crisis Over Its Public Pension System (op-ed - Jim Waters / Journal-Courier)
• Welfare State Redistributes Wealth From Workers to Nonworkers in Form of Pensions and Medical Care for Retirees (op-ed - George Will / OC Register)
• PENSION PULSE: Hedge Funds On Track For Another Poor Year? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 9, 2012

• Berkeley, California's City Manager Is Not Unique Retiring With a Bigger Pension Than His Salary (column - Daniel Borenstein / Contra Costa Times)
• Double-Dipping CEO of Sacramento County Collects $458,000/Yr Between Pay, Pension (Brad Branan / Sacramento Bee)
• What Was CalPERS' Role in Preventing Cuts in Public Pensions During Vallejo's Bankruptcy? (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• California's Finance Officials Should Face the Truth on Public Pension Promises (op-ed - David G. Crane / Sacramento Bee)
• The Curious Case of California's David Crane (blog - Joe Mathews / NBC)
• A Public Pension Fix: Will California Legislature Ever Get in Gear? (editorial - San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Pension Election Rhetoric to Ramp Up in San Diego (Craig Gustafson / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Former Superintendent of Beverly Hills School District Unlikely to Lose His Pension Even If Convicted (Britney Barnes / Los Angeles Times)
• Retiring Los Angeles County Public Employees Get $48 Million for Unused Time Off (Jack Dolan / Los Angeles Times)
• New Jersey's Little Dippers Worse Than Double Dippers (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• Retiree Benefit Costs Loom Large Over Schools in St. Paul, Minnesota (Mila Koumpilova / Pioneer Press)
• Public Pension Reform Should Be a Top Priority for New York (editorial - Auburn Citizen)
• Illinois Becomes Moody’s Lowest-Rated US State With Debt Downgrade Due to Pension Under-Funding (Brian Chappatta / Bloomberg)
• Illinois' Public Pension Loopholes Must Be Plugged (editorial - Journal Courier)
• Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense' Was Originally Published on This Very Date 235 Years Ago (commentary - Paul Jacob / Common Sense)
• In California's Gold Rush Country, Golden Years Lose Their Luster (Esmeralda Bermudez / Los Angeles Times)
• Bad Year for Pensions Ends Badly: Deficit for 100 Largest Corporate Pensions Reaches a Record $464 Billion, Says Milliman (Sacramento Bee)
• More Retirees But Fewer Doctors, Thanks to Government (Patrick W. Hisel, MD / KevinMD.com)
• Courage Is Needed to Tackle Montreal's Far-Too-Generous Pensions (Bill Tufts and Lee Fairbanks / The Gazette)
• Fears of Chaos in Ireland's Public Sector as 6,500 Staff Prepare to Retire (Anne-Marie Walsh, Tom Brady and Edel O'Connell / Independent)
• Japan Says It Needs Consumption Tax Rate of 17% to Cover Social Security Costs (Hideo Kamata / The Yomiuri Shimbun)
• PENSION PULSE: Are Earnings Expectations Too Low? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 7, 2012

• PENSION PULSE: Europe on the Brink? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 6, 2012

• Public Pension Puffery: 12 Half-Truths That Deserve to Be Debunked in 2012 (column - Girard Miller / Governing Magazine)
• The State Worker Blog's Top 10 of 2011: No. 1 -- The Little Hoover Commission's California Pension Reform Report (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• California Cites Are Picking Up Employees' Share of Pension Contributions (blog - Troy Senik / Public Sector Inc.)
• Contract for Azusa, California's City Manager Could Signal Greater Employee Contributions Toward Retirement (J.D. Velasco / San Gabriel Valley Trib
• 277 Garden Grove, Califonia City Worker Salaries Exceed $100,000/Year (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• Illinois Gov. Quinn Signs State Pension Reform Law Aimed at Curbing Abuses (Sophia Tareen / Chicago Tribune)
• Illinois Public Pensions in a Pickle; Unfunded Liability Grew by About $7 Billion in Fiscal 2011 (Yvette Shields / The Bond Buyer)
• Rhode Island Miracle Explained: How a Liberal State Reformed Its Public Pensions (editorial - Wall Street Journal)
• Democrat Raimondo's Rhode Island Public Pension Reforms Are Remarkable (op-ed - Josh Barro / Washington Examiner)
• Public Pension Reform Tops List for Rhode Island Cities; Liabilities Run to a Combined $2 Billion (Paul Burton / The Bond Buyer)
• Not Even Corporate Managers Believe Their Own Equity Return Assumptions (blog - Barry Ritholtz / Ritholtz.com)
• How to Understand the Enormous Growth of the Federal Government (op-ed - Tom Elia / Washington Examiner)
• Government Job Cuts Hit Record High in 2011 (blog - Mary Ann Milbourn / Orange County Register)
• Shell Is Last of UK's Big Companies to Scrap Gold-Plated Defined Benefit Plan for New Hires (Phillip Inman / The Guardian)
• Canadian Public Pensions a Fat Target for Conservatives (op-ed - John Ivison / National Post)
• PENSION PULSE: Will Job Gains Help Pensions' Funding? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 5, 2012

• California Pension Reform Debate Is About to Heat Up (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• Orange County's Government Agencies Paid $2 Billion to Pick Up Employees' Contributions Toward Pensions (blog - Teri Sforza / Orange County Re
• Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa Delays Payment of $100 Million in Personnel Costs (David Zahniser / Los Angeles Times)
• San Jose, California's City Council Members Issue a Call to Cut Their Own Pensions (John Woolfolk / Mercury News)
• The State Worker Blog's Top 10 of 2011: No. 2 -- Gov. Jerry Brown's Pension Reform Proposal for California (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• LIVE WEBCAST TODAY: Rhode Island State Treasurer Gina Raimondo to Be Honored for Pension Reform Efforts (Public Sector Inc.)
• Providence Retirees’ Sue City, Which Claims Overriding Public Purpose in Moving Public Safety Retirees to Medicare (Tom Mooney / Providence Journal)
• Illinois' Growing Penson Costs Put Squeeze on State Budget (Doug Finke / State Journal-Register)
• Illinois: Ill and Annoyed (commentary - Paul Jacob / Common Sense)
• 'Double-Dipping' Debate Resumes in Ohio (David Eggert / Columbus Dispatch)
• PENSION PULSE: The First Black Swan Of 2012? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 4, 2012

• 10 Fallacies Used to Justify Public Employee Pensions (blog - Richard Rider / Salon)
• CalSTRS: State Sponsored Thievery Continues in Plain Sight (Larry Sand / UnionWatch.org)
• Why Public Employee Pensions Are So Rich (op-ed - Andrew G. Biggs and Jason Richwine / Wall Street Journal)
• The New Year Is a Good Time for Marin County to Tackle 'Unsustainable' Public Pensions (editorial - Marin Independent Journal Editorial)
• Riverside County, California's Elected Officials and 2,000 Others Get Extra Retirement Benefit (Duane W. Gang / Press-Enterprise)
• California Pension Reform Initiatives: More Expensive Than Doing Nothing? (blog - Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• Costa Mesa Department Heads Agree to Pay More Toward Their Pensions (Joseph Serna / Daily Pilot)
• Public Pension Term: 'Airtime' (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / The Conservatory)
• The Pension Tsunami Smashing Into State and Local Governments Is the Product of Political Corruption (commentary - Paul Jacob / Common Sense)
• Pension Apartheid Gulf Grows in UK Between Private and Government Retirement Plans (Becky Barrow / Daily Mail)
• PENSION PULSE: This Year's Biggest Bet? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 3, 2012

• Happy New Year, Suckers! Pay Up: Your Share of the Public Pension Crisis Is Now $424,500 (Frank Keegan / Franklin Center)
• California Democrats Won’t Tolerate Dissent on the Issue of Public Pension Reform (blog - Steven Greenhut / CalWatchdog.com)
• California's Pension Reform Initiatives: Would Costs Go Up or Down? (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• Public Pensions Will Likely Be a Hot Issue in California in 2012 at State and Local Levels (Duane W. Gang / Press-Enterprise)
• Legislative Debate in California in 2012 to Revolve Around Fiscal Crisis, Including Pension Reform (Don Thompson / Sacramento Bee)
• In Costa Mesa's Pension War, Union Leaders Fail Basic Finance Quiz (blog - Will Swaim / Republic of Costa Mesa)
• The State Worker Blog's Top 10 of 2011: No. 5 -- GOP Pension Plan (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• Pension Changes Imposed on Riverside County, California's Largest Public Employee Union (Duane W. Gang / Press-Enterprise)
• Judge's Ruling Clears Way for Fraud Suit Against Former CalPERS Official (Marc Lifsher / Los Angeles Times)
• Poll: Is CalPERS' Investment Strategy Suspect? (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• California's Public Pension System Is Not in Crisis, Union Official Claims (op-ed - Lee Saunders / San Francisco Chronicle)
• Public Employee Unions: The Year in Review (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / The Conservatory)
• New Jersey Prosecutors Employ 125 Double-Dipping 'Retirees' at a Cost of $8.6 Million/Year (Mark Lagerkvist / New Jersey Watchdog)
• Retirees Accept Pension Cuts in Central Falls, Rhode Island's Bankruptcy (John Clark / Total Bankuptcy)
• Will the Pension Reform Roar From Rhode Island Reach Illinois? (editorial - Daily Herald)
• The Massachusetts Miracle: How Cutting Health Care Costs and Trimming Pensions Can Save a State (op-ed - Robert DeLeo / New York Daily News)
• New York Unions File Lawsuit Over State's Increase in Amount Retirees Must Contribute Toward Their Healthcare (PlanSponsor)
• Pensions, Promises, Perfidy and the US Postal Service (column - Paul Jacob / Townhall.com)
• HUMOR: Dave Barry's '2011 Year in Review' (column - Dave Barry / Miami Herald)
• Discipline and Tough Choices Are Needed to Solve Saint John, New Brunswick's Pension Crisis (John Chilibeck / Telegraph-Journal)
• PENSION PULSE: Another Bumpy Year Ahead? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

January 2, 2012

• PENSION PULSE: Only One thing You Can Control in Life? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 31, 2011

• PENSION PULSE: Double-D Trouble Ahead? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 30, 2011

• University of California Regent Crane Ousted for Telling Hard Truths About Pensions (editorial - San Francisco Chronicle)
• Why Public Sector Union Reform Is a Nonpartisan Issue (UnionWatch)
• Debt-Ridden Stockton, California Is a Battleground for Police Union and City Hall (Diana Marcum / Los Angeles Times)
• SIEPR Report Finds California's Public Pensions Are Underfunded (Kurt Chirbas / Stanford Daily)
• The State Worker Blog's Top 10 of 2011: No. 6 -- Niello's Proposed Pension Initiative (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• VIDEO: The Progressive Case for Public Pension Reform Made by Rhode Island Treasurer Gina Raimondo (Dylan Ratigan Show / MSNBC)
• 5 Rhode Island Cities and Towns That Could Go Broke in 2012 (Dan McGowan / GoLocaProv)
• Threat of Pension Tsunamis Has Michigan State and Local Governments Shoring Up Fiscal Futures (editorial - Saginaw News)
• New York Gov. Cuomo’s Challenge: Runaway Pension Checks (op-ed - Ed Cox / New York Post)
• New York State Teachers Pension Fund Won't Release Names (editorial - New York Post)
• VIDEO: Congress’ Growing Disconnect With American Families (Gerri Willis / Fox Business)
• Jobless Tap Social Security Disability Benefits as Unemployment Runs Out (Damian Paletta and Dionne Searcey / Wall Street Journal)
• British Government Reveals 'Alarming' Shortfall in Private Sector Pensions (James Hall / The Telegraph)
• PENSION PULSE: Did Pensions Get Clobbered in 2011? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 29, 2011

• Fresno County, California's Pension Costs Could Squeeze Services; Payouts Expected to Hit $184 Million (Kurtis Alexander / Fresno Bee)
• GRAPH: Fresno County's Rising Pension Costs (Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association / Fresno Bee)
• California's Treasurer and Controller Must Nail Down Public Pension Numbers (editorial - Fresno Bee)
• A California City Manager Gets Pension Reform Religion (Wayne Lusvardi / CalWatchdog.com)
• (Late) Predictions for California Pension Reform in 2011 (column - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• Abuse and Flaws Call for Reform of California's Public Pensions (op-ed - Doug Crosse / Ventura County Star)
• California Cities Gone Wild (blog - Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• California's Double-Dipping Retired Public Employees Eyed by Gov. Brown (Lewis Griswold / Fresno Bee)
• The State Worker Blog's Top 10 of 2011: No. 7 -- California Pension Reform Plans Unveiled (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• Audit Finds Possible 'Pension Spiking' in Montebello, California (blog - Abby Sewell and Jessica Garrison / Los Angeles Times)
• 'Air Time' Is One of the Reasons State Pension Liabilities Have Gone Through the Stratosphere (Gerri Willis / Fox Business)

December 28, 2011

• Legislative Analyst Releases Review of California Pension Reform Group's Two Ballot Measures (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• LAO Says Ballot Proposals to Cut California's Long-Term Public Pension Costs May Wind Up Increasing Them Short-Term (Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• Barron's Slams CalPERS' Political Investing (blog - Steven Greenhut / Public Sector Inc.)
• CalSTRS Admits to Funding Nightmare That California Media Long Ignored (blog - Chris Reed / Calwhine.com)
• CalSTRS Admits Its Funding Must Increase by Billions Annually (UnionWatch)
• CalSTRS Admits It Needs Billions More of Taxpayers' Money to Backfill Pension Promises (Steven Greenhut / Public Sector Inc.)
• Out of the Mouths of CalSTRS (blog - Steven Greenhut / CalWatchdog.com)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: California's Public Pension Overhaul Minefield (Monte Wolverton / Los Angeles Daily News)
• Pension Reform Among Top Stories of 2011 in Marin County, California (Marin Independent Journal)
• San Marcos, California Finally Confronts Reality on Public Employee Pensions (editorial - San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Christmas Messages in the Public Employee Union’s War on the Residents of Costa Mesa (blog - Will Swaim / Republic of Costa Mesa)
• Public Employees in 21 States Can Pay to Add Years to Their Work Time, Costing State Pension Funds Millions (Thomas Frank / USA Today)
• States Try to Fix Their Miscalculations Over 'Air Time' Purchases (Thomas Frank / USA Today)
• US State and Local Public Pension Funds Drop 8.5% as Stocks Slide (William Selway / Bloomberg)
• Stock Losses Hit Public Pensions in Third Quarter (Lisa Lambert / Reuters)
• Rhode Island Senate President Open to Local Pensions Fix -- and $2 Million Bailout of Central Falls (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• As Americans Get Poorer, Members of Congress Get Richer (Amy Bingham / ABC News)
• No Hard Times in Congress: Representatives’ Net Worth More Than Doubles While American Median Slips (editorial - Orange County Register)
• Pensions Remain a Contentious Issue for Automakers (Joseph Szczesny / Oakland Press)
• PENSION PULSE: Differential Accumulation and Threat of War? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)
• PensionTsunami.com Named Media Partner for Knowledge Congress' Live Webcast in February: 'Pension Plans: A 2012 Perspective' (press release)

December 27, 2011

• Stanford Report: California's Public Pensions a Half-Trillion in the Hole? (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• California Pension Reform Hindered by Limits of Contract Protections, But These Limits Could Soon Be Tested (Daniel Borenstein / Contra Costa Times)
• CalSTRS' CEO Confirms That California Taxpayers May Have to Increase Funding by $3.8 Billion a Year for 30 Years (Jack Ehnes / CalSTRS)
• Gov. Brown Must Put a Price Tag on California Pension Reform (op-ed - Eric Hogue / Sacramento Bee)
• California's Pension Numbers Need to Be Nailed (editorial - Sacramento Bee)
• California's Public Pensions Need to Be Fixed, But Not Gutted (op-ed - State Treasurer Bill Lockyer / Sacramento Bee)
• Missing Opportunities: How CalPERS Focused on the Wrong Objectives (editorial commentary - Thomas G. Donlan / Barron's)
• California Gov. Brown’s Hybrid Pension Proposal: New Trend Among States (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• California's Public Pensions: Reform, Repair, Reboot (Rick Cole / New Geography)
• Pension Reform Crusader David Crane Steps Down Today as University of California Regent (The Buzz / Sacramento Bee)
• Imposing Labor Terms a Game Changer in Relations Between Union and San Bernardino County, California (Joe Nelson / San Bernardino County Sun)
• Southern California's Tri-City Healthcare District CEO Gets $15,000 Pay Raise (Aaron Burgin / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• New Federal Workers Starting at Much Higher Pay Than in Past (Dennis Cauchon / USA Today)
• Chicagoans Keeping an Eye on Unprecedented Pension Cuts in Central Falls, Rhode Island (Pat Cassidy / WBBM Newsradio)
• Illinois' Public Pensions Face Public Relations Crisis (column - Doug Finke / Peoria Journal Star)
• Connecticut State Pensions, Part 1: Overtime Inflation Pervades State Pension System (Jon Lender / Hartford Courant)
• Connecticut State Pensions, Part 2: Recent Retirees Raking in More (Jon Lender / Hartford Courant)
• Nevada Newspaper Prevails in Lawsuit; State's Public Pension Fund Must Turn Over Retirees' Information (Martha Bellisle / Reno Gazette-Journal)
• Rhode Island Lawmakers May Advance Local Pension Overhaul; Cities and Towns May Gain Power to Revamp Their Pensions (WPRI-TV)
• Longer Lives One Reason Why Unfunded Liability of Arkansas Pension Fund Rose Half a Billion Dollars Last Year (Michael Wickline / Democrat-Gazette)
• A Detroit Bankruptcy Would Be Long and Costly (Leonard N. Fleming / Detroit News)
• Florida Legislators Target Extra Pension Benefits for Police, Firemen (Laura C. Morel / Bradenton Herald)
• Idaho Judges' Hefty Pensions Under Fire (John Miller / Idaho Statesman)
• Don’t Go After Military Pensions, Say Army Officers (op-ed - Darrell Driver, Jin Pak and Kyle Jette / New York Times)
• 2009 Medicare Trustees' Report Put the Unfunded Medicare Liability at $89 Trillion (Walter E. Williams / LewRockwell.com)
• The Differences Between Private Sector Greed and Public Sector Greed (Michael Bargo Jr. / American Thinker)
• As Kodak Struggles, Eastman Chemical Thrives (Ernest Scheyder and Liana B. Baker / Reuters)
• China's Pension Funds Wrestle With Large Deficits (Caixin Online / Market Watch)
• Bengal Mulls Social Security Net for Hooch Traders (IBN)
• VIDEO: Belgian Firemen Hose Ministry Building in Protest Over Pension Reforms (EuroNews)
• PENSION PULSE: Dangers Of Machine Readable News? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 26, 2011

• PENSION PULSE: US Economy, a Bubble About to Burst? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 25, 2011

• PENSION PULSE: Merry Crisis, Happy New Fear? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 24, 2011

• PENSION PULSE: Volatility Minces Returns? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 23, 2011

• Glendale, California Faces a $205 Million Unfunded Pension Liability, $103 Million Healthcare Obligation (Brittany Levine / Glendale News-Press)
• Montclair, California's Council Votes to Continue Firefighters' 6% Contribution to Their Pensions (Jannise Johnson / Contra Costa Times)
• Sierra Madre, Calfornia's City Council Votes to Raise Pension Contribution of Police Officers to CalPERS (Laura Monteros / Sierra Madre Patch)
• Brea, California City Council Gives Back Raise in Benefits That It Accidentally Gave Itself in June (Tony Saavedra / Orange County Register)
• Weekly Pension Update for States (Bob Williams / State Budget Solutions)
• Members of Texas Congressional Delegation Collect Thousands in State Pensions ( Tim Eaton / Austin American-Statesman)
• Wyoming's Unsustainable Public Pension Plans Are Driving Businesses Out of the State (Maureen Bader / Canada Free Press)
• Detroit: Group Vows to Fight Takeover; Reducing Costs of Pension and Health Benefits Is Top Priority of Governor (Steve Neavling / Detroit Free Press)
• Detroit, Michigan City Council Refuses to Share the Sacrifice (column - Jack Lessenberry / Windsor Star)
• Yet Another Pension Committee for Illinois? How About a Commitment? (editorial - Chicago Tribune)
• If Bloomington, Illinois' Pays Least Allowable Amount Into Pensions It 'Will Have Another Pension Crisis' Within 8 Yrs (Rachel Wells / Pantagraph)
• Stop Cheating Social Security With Payroll Tax Cut (editorial - Chicago Tribune)
• Social Security Payroll Tax Cut to Cost Homebuyers $5,000 (blog - Mary Ann Milbourn / Orange County Register)
• Why Not Abolish Social Security Payroll Taxes Altogether? (blog - Nick Gillespie / Reason)
• Low-Income Workers Benefit From 401(k) Plans (Andrea Davis / Employee Benefit News)
• Screen Actors Guild Members Push for Independent Investigation Into Charges of Pension Plan Embezzlement (Brent Lang / Reuters)
• British Pension Deal Eases Fears of Public Employee Strike (Reuters / New York Times)
• Russia's Bureaucrats Costly and Too Numerous, Says Report (Vedomosti / Moscow Times)
• PENSION PULSE: Clawing Back Wall Street Pay? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 22, 2011

• Even Public Employees Want California Pension Reform, Poll Finds (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• Despite $2.1 Billion Pension Fund Deficit, San Diego City Retirees Get Extra Payment Again (Craig Gustafson / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego Councilman's Task Force to Look at Potential Pension Changes (Craig Gustafson / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Public Employee Pension Plans Look Toward Rate of Return (Stephen C. Fehr / Stateline.org)
• Rhode Island Muni Outlook Unlikely to Gain as Economy Sags and Pension Liabilities Rise, Moody’s Says (Michael McDonald / Bloomberg)
• Moody’s Says Local Rhode Island Pension Plan Costs Are 'Reaching a Crisis Point' (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• Next Up: Reforming Rhode Island's Local Pension Plans (op-ed - Gina M. Raimondo / Providence Journal)
• Detroit's Debt Crisis Even Worse Than Thought; Ballooning Pension Costs a Major Cause (Paul Egan & Steve Neavling / Detroit Free Press)
• South Carolna Legislators Won’t Be Able to Retire, Stay in Office, and Collect Higher Pension Checks (Adam Beam / The State)
• Report Finds Canada's Unfunded Liability for its Public Pension Plans Totals $227 Billion -- $80 Billion More Than Reported (C.D. Howe Institute)
• READ OR DOWNLOAD THE REPORT: 'Ottawa’s Pension Gap: The Growing and Under-reported Cost of Federal Employee Pensions' (pdf - C.D. Howe Institute)
• 24-Hour Public Sector Strike to Protest Pension Reform Hits Belgium Trains, Traffic (Washington Post)
• Hungary's Top Court May Rule on Pension Fund Nationalization Case (Zoltan Simon / BusinessWeek)
• PENSION PULSE: 2011, Year of Stasis? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 21, 2011

• Berkeley, California Retired City Manager's Annual Pension Will Exceed His Former Salary (Carolyn Jones / San Francisco Chronicle)
• Riverside County, California's Interim CEO Will Be Paid $15,000/month on Top of a $233,000 Annual Pension (SWRNN)
• Costa Mesa, California Reports Budget Surplus, Still Has $255 Million Unfunded Pension Liability (Sean Greene / Orange County Register)
• California’s Public Employees Earn $102,000 Per Year on Average Compared to $57,000 by Those of Us Whose Taxes Sustain Them (UnionWatch)
• 42 California State Nurses Were Paid $1 Million Each Over a Six-Year Period (Judy Lloyd / Fox & Hounds)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: Projected Savings from Gov. Jerry Brown's Pension Reform Plan (Lisa Benson / Orange County Register)Editorial Cartoon: Gov. Jerry
• VIDEO: Pension Problem Is 'About Math, Not Politics' Says Rhode Island Treasurer Raimondo (Squawk Box / CNBC)
• VIDEO: Rhode Island Union Retaliates Against Charity, Poor People for Supporting Pension Reform Legislation (Alexandra Cowley / ABC 7)
• In Pontiac, Michigan Just About Everything Must Go as City Puts Assets Up for Sale (Kathleen Gray / Detroit Free Press)
• Illinois Governor Sets Up Panel to Examine State's Troubled Pension System (Monique Garcia / Chicago Tribune)
• Kill '3-High' Formula for Calculating Ohio's Public Employee Pensions (column - Bertram de Souza / Youngstown Vindicator)
• Two-Thirds of Oregon's Top 100 Pension Recipients Are in Higher Education (Dennis Thompson / Statesman Journal)
• Postal Service Should Adapt, Not Angle for a Bailout (op-ed - Congressman Darrell Issa / Press-Enterprise)
• Baby Boomers Push Back Retirement Six Years (Lee Barney / Employee Benefit News)
• PENSION PULSE: All Pension Reform Roads Lead to Rhode Island? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 20, 2011

• California Legislators Need to Bring Escalating State Retirement Costs Under Control (editorial - Riverside Press-Enterprise)
• State Treasurer Lockyer's Head-In-The-Sand Approach to California's Severe Public Pension Problem (editorial - Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
• California Cities Bet on Risky Pension Bonds (Wayne Lusvardi / CalWatchdog)
• How Government Unions and Their Allies on Wall Street Are Destroying California (UnionWatch)
• Judge Questions Why Bell, California's Former Police Chief Isn't Facing Corruption Charges (Jeff Gottlieb / Los Angeles Times)
• Cuts for the Already Retired: Pension Deal in Rhode Island Could Set a Trend (Mary Williams Walsh / New York Times)
• Pensions Chopped But Investors Paid in Central Falls, Rhode Island (column - Michael Corkery / Wall Street Journal)
• The Central Falls, Rhode Island Pension Test (blog - Daniel DiSalvo / PublicSectorInc)
• Moody’s Outlook Is Down for Rhode Island Cities and Towns Due to Growing Cost of Retirement Benefits (GoLocalProv)
• Is Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s $92,376 Pension the Harbinger of a Major Fiscal Crisis? (Suzy Khimm / Washington Post)
• Ohio's Public Pension System Cannot Be Sustained Without Major Changes (column - Bertram de Souza / Youngstown Vindicator)
• New Mexico Considers Minimum Retirement Age Before Retirees Can Receive Benefits (Rebecca Moore / PlanSponsor)
• Top 100 Illinois Teacher Salaries for 2011: Phys Ed Teacher Heads List With $203,154 (Bill Zettler / Champion News)
• Dupage County, Illinois Board Members Opt to Keep Their Pensions (Andrew Schroedter / Daily Herald)
• Chelsea, Massachusetts' Housing Boss Was Rarely on the Job But Collected $360,000 Annual Salary (Sean P. Murphy and Andrea Estes / Boston Globe)
• Congress Ends 2011 With Record-Low 11% Approval (Gallup)
• American Airlines Pensions Stir Debate (Susan Carey / Wall Street Journal)
• Canada in a Public Pension Danger Zone (Diane Francis / Financial Post)
• Russian President Medvedev May Raid Pension Fund to Build Roads (Roland Oliphant / The Moscow Times)
• PENSION PULSE: Illinois' TRS Going For Broke? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 19, 2011

• California's Public Pension Funds Are Placing Risky Wagers at Taxpayer Expense (column - Daniel Borenstein / Contra Costa Times)
• Outgoing Board Member Rips CalPERS' Below-Median Earnings (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• There's an 82% Chance That California's Public Pension System Will Run Out of Money (Gus Lubin / Business Insider)
• Stanford Report Shows Who Leads on Pension Reform, And It's Not California (editorial - Redding Record Searchlight)
• If Only California's State Treasurer Bill Lockyer Was as Hard on CalPERS as on Stanford's Pension Researchers (blog - Chris Reed / Calwhine)
• VIDEO: Dead Retired California Public Employee Receives $7.7 Million in Government Pension Payments (David Spady / Americans for Prosperity)
• Sacramento Area Gov'ts Cut From the Bottom While Adding to the Top; Now Pay More Six-Figure Salaries (Phillip Reese & Loretta Kalb / Sacramento Bee)
• Letter Writers Prefer California Pension Reform and Spending Cuts to Higher Taxes (letters - Contra Costa Times)
• San Luis Obispo County Pension Plan Getting on Track (Bob Cuddy / The Tribune)
• Escondido City Council Turns Down Potential 15% Pay Raises for Themselves (David Garrick / North County Times)
• San Diego County Pension Fund Firing Case Has Gap in Hearing Tape (Jeff McDonald / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Contra Costa Pension System Sues County Over Wage, Benefit Cuts (Lisa Vorderbrueggen / Contra Costa Times)
• Presidential Candidate Rick Perry Is Double-Dipping in Texas (Maria Recio / Star-Telegram)
• Rick Perry Drawing $92,000 Annual Pension on Top of His Governor’s Salary (T.W. Farnam / Washington Post)
• Texas Governor Rick Perry's Pension Problem -- And Ours (column - David Boaz / Huffington Post)
• Perry 'Retires' to Boost Pension Pay; Will Also Be Eligible for Social Security and Lifetime, State-Provided Health Care (Jay Root / Texas Tribune)
• Texas Gov. Rick Perry Is a Poster Boy for Public Pension Excesses (Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic)
• Texas Governor Rick Perry’s Double-Dip: 'Good Estate Planning'? (blog - Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• Illinois State University Opens Its Public Pension System to Private Education Groups (Jodi S. Cohen & Jason Grotto / Chicago Tribune)
• Illinois' Teachers Pension Fund -- Only 43% Funded -- Goes Higher-Risk With Investments (Lynne Marek / Chicago Business)
• Chicago Pols Are Bankrupting Illinois With Bailouts for Their Hometown (Allysia Finley / Wall Street Journal)
• Chicago's Departments Overachieve at Their Cutting Costs; Under-Funded Pensions Still 'A Ticking Time Bomb' (Abdon M. Pallasch / Chicago Sun-Times)
• Associated Press Says State Governments Have Shed Thousands of Public Employees (Erik Schelzig / The State)
• Torrent of Bad Financial News Flows Out of Europe (Shawn Pogatchnik / Sacramento Bee)
• PENSION PULSE: Hedge Funds On The Ropes? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 17, 2011

• PENSION PULSE: The Hitchens Ethos? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 16, 2011

• California's Public Pension Plans Should Assume Realistic Rates of Return (op-ed - Joe Nation / Sacramento Bee)
• Even the Dim Light of Phony Accounting Numbers Reveals the Certain Catastrophe of the Public Pension Crisis (Frank Keegan / Franklin Center)
• It Should Be Clear by Now That Politicians Will Not Voluntarily Reduce Government or Government Debt (op-ed - David Malpass / Wall Street Journal)
• Could Pension Cuts in California Boost Government Hiring? (Joe Mathews / Fox & Hounds)
• California's Million-Dollar Nurses Illustrate US Payroll Struggle (Michael B. Marois / Bloomberg)
• How Illinois Became the Worst State in the Nation for Public Pension Debt (Jason Grotto and Ray Long / Chicago Tribune)
• CHART: Illinois State's Growing Public Employee Pension Problem (Chicago Tribune)
• Ex-Illinois Lawmaker Nearly Doubles His Pension With One Month of Work (Jason Grotto and Ray Long / Chicago Tribune)
• Time Magazine Should Have Named Rhode Island's Treasurer as Person of the Year (editorial - Tom Dennis / Grand Forks Herald)
• Rhode Islanders Aren't the Only Ones Enamored With Their Pension-Reforming State Treasurer, Gina Raimondo (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• Group Recommends 3-Year Freeze on Mississippi Retirees' Pension COLA to Deal With $12 Billion Funding Shortfall (Elizabeth Crisp / Clarion Ledger)
• Stop Building West Virginia's OPEB Liability (editorial - Wheeling News-Register)
• West Virginia's Public Insurer OKs $5 Billion Retiree Cost Cut (Lawrence Messina / MSN Money)
• Canada's Great Pension Divide: Public Servants Have Good Ones, The Rest of Us . . . (column - Kelly Egan / Ottawa Citizen)
• VIDEO: Interview With Canadian Pension Reformer Bill Tufts on Ottawa's $80 Billion Understatement of Its Pension Debt (Anita Sharma / Sun News)
• Finance Committee for Canada Calls for a Review of Public Pensions (op-ed - Bill Tufts / Exchange Magazine)
• PENSION PULSE: The Norwegian Butter Crisis? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 15, 2011

• Stanford Study Finds San Jose's Pension Plan Is Unsound (John Woolfolk / San Jose Mercury News)
• CalPERS' New $500,000,000 Computer System Still Not Working Properly (Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• California Pension Disaster Looms Nearer: New Study Finds Big 3 Retirement Funds Short $498 Billion (editorial - Orange County Register)
• Solution to California's $500 Billion Pension Problem Will Have to Involve Current Workers, Says Author of Study (Dan Stober / Stanford University)
• California's Public Pension Costs Are Soaring, Says Report (San Jose Mercury News)
• New Study Says Californians Are on the Hook for $500 Billion in Public Employee Pension Funds (Kimberly Dvorak / Examiner)
• Californians -- Including Public Employees -- Support Pension Reforms (Central Valley Business Times)
• CalPERS Responds to the Stanford Pension Study (press release)
• CalSTRS Responds to the Stanford Pension Study (press release)
• Sonoma County Pension Officials Agree to Release More Data (Brett Wilkison / Press Democrat)
• San Diego County Pension Officer Raised Risk Issues, Got Fired (Jeff McDonald / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• California Pension Debate: State Treasurer Lockyer Joins Team Maviglio, Abandons Credibility, Past Reputation (blog - Chris Reed / Calwhine)
• San Joaquin County Public Employees' Pension and Health Costs to Rise (Zachary K. Johnson / Stockton Record)
• San Bernardino County Proposes Cuts to Specialized Peace Officers' Salary and Benefits (Josh Dulaney / San Bernardino County Sun)
• Illinois Union Bosses Could Still Double Dip Into Public Pensions (Benjamin Yount / Illinois Statehouse News)
• Fight for New York City Public Employee Pension Info Goes to Court (column - Jeremy Boyer / Auburn Citizen)
• Major New York News Media Support Empire Center in Pension Disclosure Case (press release - Empire Center)
• Poll Finds 61% of Voters Back New Rhode Island Pension Reform Law (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• Montana Judge Hears Case on State Employee Pay Data (Charles S. Johnson / Missoulian)
• Michigan State Workers to Get Back 3% Taken From Pay for Retiree Health Care (Paul Egan / Detroit Free Press)
• Study Proposes 3-Year Freeze on COLAs Paid to Mississippi Government Retirees (Emily Wagster Pettus / Sun Herald)
• AUDIO: Fearing Pension Reform, Teachers Retire Early in Ohio (Ida Lieszkovszky / WVIZ Radio)
• Wall Street’s Odd Couple of Pension Funds and Private Equity Firms (Steven M. Davidoff / New York Times)
• Greek Public Employees Walk Off the Job to Protest Pension and Pay Cuts (Associated Press / CNBC)
• PENSION PULSE: Extreme Volatility Confounding Investors? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 14, 2011

• Stanford Study Pegs California Pensions' Shortfall at $500 Billion (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• California's Public Pensions Must Be Curbed, Says Stanford Study (Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• Public Pension Reform Will Make 2012 the Most Intense Year in California Politics Since Prop 13 (op-ed - John Dickerson / Ukiah Daily Journal)
• AUDIO: Pension Share of California's State Budget Is Likely to Triple, According to New Study (Steve Milne / Capital Public Radio)
• Website Compares California's Pension Obligations to State's General Fund Spending (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• VIDEO: Stanford Study Says CalPERS Is in Big Trouble (Brooke Holmquist / KION-TV)
• California Public Pension Shortfall Nears Half a Trillion Dollars (blog - Troy Senik / Public Sector Inc)
• Stanford Think Tank: California's Pension Costs Are Skyrocketing (Juliet Williams / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• New Study: With Giant Pension Debts, California Is Screwed (Eric Savitz / Forbes)
• READ OR DOWNLOAD the Stanford Study: 'Pension Math: How California’s Retirement Spending Is Squeezing the State Budget' (pdf - Joe Nation / SIEPR)
• California State Treasurer Lockyer Quits Stanford Pension Advisory Panel in Protest (blog - Patrick McGreevy / Los Angeles Times)
• California Treasurer Resigns From Stanford Think Tank’s Public Pension Study Advisory Panel (column - Mark Calvey / San Francisco Business Times)
• CalPERS Surprise: Smaller Contribution Rate Hike for Local Government Plans Than Expected (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• Special-Risk Pensions for Lottery Agents? (editorial - USA Today)
• Pension-Abusing Public Employees Make Tax Hikes a Tough Sell to California Voters (op-ed - Thomas D. Elias / San Jose Mercury News)
• Don't Blame Public Employees' Pensions, Says President of AFSCME (op-ed - Gerald W. McEntee / USA Today)
• California Legislators Need to Curb the Growing Cost of Public Pensions (editorial - Press-Enterprise)
• Pension Changes Come Up for City Council Discussion in Oxnard, California (Gretchen Wenner / Ventura County Star)
• PENSION PULSE: Calipensionfornication? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)
• CalPERS to Webcast Board Meetings Live (Bill Silverfarb / San Mateo Daily Journal)
• CalPERS Earns $695 Million Profit From Investment Fund (Dale Kasler / Sacramento Bee)
• Modesto City Council Member Hawn Vows Progress on Pension Reform (letter - Modesto Bee)
• California Actuarial Advisory Panel Releases Disclosure Guidelines for Public Pension Systems (Dan Oney / PublicCEO.com)
• Demotions, Pay Cuts Ordered for Executives of Orange County, California (Tony Saavedra / Orange County Register)
• Reforms to Kansas City’s Four Pension Systems Should Help Everyone (editorial - Kansas City Star)
• Kansas Pension Study Commission Member Questions Governor's Role in Deliberations (John Hanna / Wichita Eagle)
• Rhode Island Makes Public Pension Reform Happen; State's Treasurer Shapes Up System (Paul Burton / The Bond Buyer)
• Virginia's Public Pension Fund Is Short $20 Billion (Steve Contorno / Washington Examiner)
• Older Employees Hesitant About Virginia Public Pension Reform (Bill McMorris / Virginia Statehouse News)
• South Carolina Legislators Give Initial OK to Public Pension Reform (Seanna Adcox / BusinessWeek)
• Slaying the OPEB Dragon: Retired Public Employee Medical Costs Can Be Tamed, But It Requires Effort (column - Girard Miller / Governing Magazine)
• PENSION PULSE: Hedge Fund Redemptions Surging? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 13, 2011

• PPIC Poll: 83% of Californians Say the Amount Government Is Spending on Public Employee Pensions Is a Problem (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• PPIC Poll Finds Support for Overhaul of California's Public Employee Pensions (Michael Gardner / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• 64% of California's Government Workers Favor 401k-Style Defined Contribution Plans for New Hires, PPIC Poll Finds (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• READ OR DOWNLOAD the New PPIC Poll (pdf - see pages 4, 15 and 30 for pension questions)
• Stanford Group to Release New Estimates Today of Unfunded Liabilities for CalPERS, CalSTRS and University of California (press release)
• Rhode Island's Landmark Pension Reforms Will Test Contract Law (column - Girard Miller / Governing Magazine)
• Voters Side With Gov. Jerry Brown on California Pension Reform (column - Dan Walters / Sacramento Bee)
• California Controller Updates Online Database of Pay, Pension Benefits for 674,000 City & County Employees (Lisa Vorderbrueggen / Contra Costa Times)
• San Jose Needs to Continue Bargaining on Pension Reform (editorial - San Jose Mercury News)
• Merry Christmas From the the Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (Jack Humphreville / CityWatch LA)
• University of California Clerks' Union Agrees to Two-Tier Pensions (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• Converting Kansas' State Employee Retirement System to a 401(k) Plan Seems Like a Reasonable Move (editorial - Lawrence Journal World)
• Facing an $8.3 Billion Shortfall, Kansas Pension Woes Likely to Linger (John Hanna / Wichita Eagle)
• Kansas Pension Study Commission Accomplishes Little (op-ed - Ed Trimmer / Winfield Daily Courier)
• Taunton, Massachusetts' Retiree Pensions in Line With Salary Stats (Charles Winokoor / Taunton Daily Gazette)
• New York State's See-No-Evil Public Pension Fund Guardian (blog - E.J. McMahon / Public Sector Inc)
• Four Reporters May Have Saved Illinois' Pension Abuse Legislation (editorial - Chicago Tribune)
• Illinois Taxpayers Get Soaked by Layers and Layers of Government (editorial - Chicago Tribune)
• ObamaCare's Early Retiree Subsidy Program Out of Money Already (blog - Peter Suderman / Reason)
• Poll Finds Little Love for Big Gov; 64% of People Surveyed Said Big Government Is Biggest Threat to the Country (M.J. Lee / Politico)
• PENSION PULSE: Most Misunderstood Asset Class Today? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 12, 2011

• Gallup Poll Finds Fear of Big Government at Near-Record Level of 64%; Democrats Lead Increase in Concern (Elizabeth Mendes / Gallup)
• Will Public Employee Pension Plans Run Out of Money? (column - Girard Miller / Governing Magazine)
• How Wall Street Bought the Public Employee Unions (CIV FI)
• Public Employees' Retirement Ages Are Coming Under Greater Scrutiny (Don Thompson and Julie Carr Smyth / ABC News)
• VIDEO: Warning: Pension Tsunami About to Hit California (3 mins - David Spady / Americans for Prosperity)
• Funeral Inspectors Get Sweetened Public Pensions in California (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• Pensions Aren't the Only Public Employee Costs Breaking the Bank in California (Brian Calle / City Journal)
• California Cities Ought to Reform Public Employees' Special Pay (editorial - Orange County Register)
• CalPERS' Bid to Trim an Absurdly Generous Pension Fails, Resulting in a $7.7 Million Settlement (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: Who Represents the Taxpayers? (Cagle / Hartford Courant)
• New Jersey Attorney General’s Double-Dipping Agents Collect $14 Million in State Pensions (Mark Lagerkvist / New Jersey Watchdog)
• Illinois' House Democrats Try to Weaken Pension Reform Legislation (Ray Long / Chicago Tribune)
• VIDEO: Private Sector Unions Get a Dose of Reality on the Cost of Pensions and Health Care (David Spady / Americans for Prosperity)
• PENSION PULSE: Hedge Funds' Fading Star? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 11, 2011

• PENSION PULSE: Last Chance to Save the Euro? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 10, 2011

• PENSION PULSE: Portugal Raids Pension Funds? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 9, 2011

• California Court Vests Retirees' Implied Medical Benefits -- An Opening Skirmish in OPEB Disputes (column - Girard Miller / Governing Magazine)
• Exposing the Pension Elephant -- and Other Shenanigans -- in Los Angeles (Jack Humphreville / CityWatch LA)
• San Jose Will Try to Cut Pensions for Current Public Employees (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• States Expand Lucrative Public Employee Pensions to More Job Categories (Thomas Frank, USA Today)
• Congressional Republicans Draw Attention to a Public Pension Deficit Estimated from $600 Billion Up to $3 Trillion Nationwide (Lisa Lambert / WNEP-TV)
• How California's Congressional Delegation Can Help State's Municipalities on Pension Issue (editorial - San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Virginia's Official Solution to the Public Pension Crisis: Lie, Cheat, Deceive (Frank Keegan / Franklin Center)
• 7 Retired City Employees in Ann Arbor. Michigan Are Collecting Pensions Above $100,000 a Year (Ryan J. Stanton / AnnArbor.com)
• 234 New Jersey Mayors Endorse Gov. Christie's Plan to Alter Public Employees' Sick Leave and Vacation Benefits (Tom Hester / NewJerseyNewsroom.com)
• Former New Jersey Governor and Ex-MF Global CEO Jon Corzine: 'I Simply Do Not Know Where the Money Is' (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• VIDEO: Blagojevich Corruption Price Tag for Illinois Taxpayers Is in the Billions (Chuck Goudie / WLS-TV)
• Payroll Tax Cut: What About Social Security? (Jeanne Sahadi / CNNMoney)

December 8, 2011

• San Jose Pension Reform Measure Addresses the Need to Reduce the Cost of Pensions Promised to Current Workers (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• San Jose, California a Step Closer on Pension Reform Vote (Jim Christie / Reuters)
• Jerry Brown Serious on Pension Reform; Senator Co-Chairing Committee in Hurry-Up Mode (column - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• 41% of California Voters Think Public Employee Pensions Are Too High, Poll Finds (Brian Joseph / Orange County Register)
• Poll Finds Majority of Voters Support California Pension Reform (Leticia Ordaz / KCRA-TV)
• California Lawmakers Pander on Reforming Public Employee Pensions (editorial - Fresno Bee)
• Larkspur, California Shifts Funds to Pay Expensive CalPERS Fees (Chris Rooney / Twin Cities Times)
• Cities' Public Employees Gorge on Special Pay in California (Brian Calle / CalWatchdog)
• Public Pension Vote in Rhode Island Shows Changing Political Times (John Gramlich / Stateline.org)
• Texas Pension Reformers Warn of Looming Breaking Point, Cite Governments' 'Actuarial Bullshit' (Mark Lisheron / Texas Watchdog)
• Phoenix, Arizona's City Pension Changes Proposed; Employees Would Pay More, Taxpayers Less (Craig Harris / Arizona Republic)
• Feds' Illinois Pensions Probe Focuses on 11 Chicago Union Officials (with video - Jason Grotto / Chicago Tribune)
• How Benefit Enhancements Drive Up Public Employee Pension Costs in Illinois (Bill Zettler / Champion News)
• Blagojevich Won't Collect $65,000 Illinois State Pension, But Will Get $15,000 Federal Pension (Ray Long / Chicago Tribune)
• Public Employee Pensions Cost Iowa City Millions (Asmaa Elkeurti / Daily Iowan)
• Investment Returns for Alabama Teachers' Retirement System Trail Most Public Pension Funds Nationwide (David White / Birmingham News)
• TV AD: Wisconsin's Lt. Governor Says Public Employees Are a Drain on Taxpayers (blog - Steve Bartin / NewsAlert)
• 437 Staffers Make Six-Figure Salaries at National Education Association (RiShawn Biddle / Dropout Nation)
• Social Security: Tax-Holiday Tricks Only Undermine Social Contract (column - Amity Shlaes / Bloomberg)
• VIDEO: 80 Is the New 65 for Retirement in the Private Sector (The Street / Yahoo Finance)
• Portugal to Use Pension Funds to Reduce Its Deficit (Retirement Income Journal)
• PENSION PULSE: A Tale of Two Funding Reports on the State of Corporate Pension Funding? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 7, 2011

• California Voters Give Edge to Gov. Brown's Pension Overhaul Plan in New Poll; Say Public Pensions Are 'Too Generous' (Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• GRAPH: Results of Field Poll on Gov. Brown's California Pension Reform Proposal (Mitchell Brooks / Sacramento Bee)
• More Californians Say Public Employee Pensions Are Too Generous (Marisa Lagos / San Francisco Chronicle)
• STATISTICAL DATA From the Field Poll on California Pension Reform (Sacramento Bee)
• Labor's Response to the Latest California Field Poll on Pension Reform (blog - Jon Ortiz / Sacramento Bee)
• San Jose City Council Votes 6-5 to Place Pension Reform on California's June Ballot (John Woolfolk / San Jose Mercury News)
• San Jose City Council Votes to Put Pension Reform Measure on Ballot; Public Employee Unions Vow Legal Fight (William Ferguson / Examiner)
• FACT SHEET: San Jose's Proposed Pension Reform Ballot Measure (pdf - City of San Jose)
• Police Chief Retirements Impact Nearly a Third of California Cities (Greg Welter / Oroville Mercury-Register)
• VIDEO: Contra Costa County Workers Argue Against Pay, Benefit Cuts (Laura Anthony / KGO-TV)
• Marin County Supervisors Support Governor's California Pension Reform Plan, But Critics Wonder: What's Next? (Nels Johnson / Independent Journal)
• VIDEO: 4,000 Fresno County Employees Get Their Pay Cut (Gene Haagenson / KFSN-TV)
• Police, Firefighters Appeal for Public Support as Newport Beach Seeks Higher Pension Contributions (Mike Reicher, Lauren Williams / Los Angeles Times)
• Vice Mayor of Beverly Hills, California Says 'Current Pension Structure Is Not Sustainable' (Marie Cunningham / Beverly Hills Patch)
• Sacramento's Top City Managers Agree to Pay Share of Their Pensions (Ryan Lillis / Sacramento Bee)
• Orange County Board of Supervisors Sets Bad Precedent on Bonuses (editorial - Orange County Register)
• As Presently Structured, California May Be Insolvent (guest column - Al Checchi / CityWatch LA)
• Californians Are on to the Con of a Vast Public Administrative Elite Paid Well Above Counterparts Elsewhere (Victor Davis Hanson / National Review)
• Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's Legacy: Billions in Record Debt (Mike Flannery / Fox Chicago News)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: American Airlines' Union Baggage (Ramirez / Orange County Register)
• PENSION PULSE: Hedge Funds Still Raking in the Bucks? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 6, 2011

• Public Pension Fight Docks in Newport Beach, California (Mike Reicher and Lauren Williams / Daily Pilot)
• Costa Mesa, California's Firefighters Should Contribute More Toward Their Own Pension Costs (op-ed - Gary Monahan / Daily Pilot)
• Learning How to Speak Pension (column - Scott Herhold / San Jose Mercury News)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: A Jerry Brown Christmas in California (Meyer / Orange County Register)
• San Diego Pension Measure Headed to June Ballot, For Now (Christopher Cadelago / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Sacramento, California's City Officials Set Right Tone With Pension Concession (editorial - Sacramento Bee)
• Lawsuit Seeks to Invalidate 2 Key Oregon Supreme Court Decisions on State Pension Benefits (Jonathan J. Cooper / The Republic)
• 130+ Benefit Increases Since 1970 Are the Major Cause of Illinois' Huge Unfunded Pension Liability (Bill Zettler / Champion News)
• Illinoyed: Businesses Are Threatening to Leave the State With the Worst-Funded Public Pensions (editorial - The Economist)
• New Jersey Attorney General's 23 Double-Dippers Retire for One Day, Then Collect Pensions for Life (Mark Lagerkvist / New Jersey Watchdog)
• 13 Rhode Island Local Pension Plans Are in Worse Shape Than State's (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• Should Nevada Public Emloyees Be Allowed to Serve in the Legislature? (David McGrath Schwartz / Las Vegas Sun)
• Presidential Candidate Perry Stocked Boards of Texas Teacher Pension Fund With Political Allies (Steve McGonigle & James Drew / Dallas Morning News)
• Are Many Public Sector Workers Retiring Sooner? (blog - Daniel Disalvo / Public Sector Inc)
• 5 Solutions to Public Pension Problem: Plan Design Isn’t ‘One Size Fits All,’ Foundation Says (Danielle Andrus / AdvisorOne)
• The Clearest Explanation Yet of Why GASB's Public Pension Accounting Rules Are Garbage (blog - Jeffrey Brown / Center for Business & Public Policy)
• READ OR DOWNLOAD: 'Logical Implications of GASB's Methodology for Valuing Pension Liabilities' (pdf - Robert Novy-Marx / University of Rochester) )
• Municipal Distress: Slow-Moving But Inevitable as the Cost of Pensions and Healthcare Crowds Out Key Services (David Johnson / Business Insider)
• Ohio Congressman Seeks to Expand Probe Into Delphi Pensions (Thomas Gnau / Dayton Daily News)
• VIDEO HUMOR: Bloomberg Report Reveals the US Government Loaned Banks $7.7 Trillion in Secret Bailout Funds (Jon Stewart / The Daily Show)
• Many Americans Have Little to No Savings as Retirement Looms (Matt Krantz / USA Today)
• Canada's Students and Taxpayers Are on the Hook for Generous Pension Promises Made to Faculty, Staff (Margaret Wente / Globe and Mail)
• PENSION PULSE: Euro Unwinding Fast? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 5, 2011

• California: 'The Big State That Can't' -- or Won't (column - Steven Greenhut / Orange County Register)
• BREAKING: Rhode Island Residents Petition Federal Government for Help With State Pension Crisis (press release)
• Gov. Brown's California Pension Reform Proposal: Local Workers Will Pay More (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• California Legislators Dither and Pander on Pensions (editorial - Sacramento Bee)
• Success of Gov. Brown's Tax Plan Hinges on Reform of California's Public Pensions (editorial - Press Democrat)
• More Hearings Ahead for California Legislature's Pension Reform Committee? (blog - Torey Van Oot / Sacramento Bee)
• San Jose's $100,000 Pension Club Is Rapidly Growing (John Woolfolk / San Jose Mercury News)
• San Jose Unions Urge Pension Talks (John Woolfolk / San Jose Mercury News)
• Pension Promises WILL Be Broken (blog - Meep / The Conservatory)
• Pension Reformers Take on Marin County Supervisors Tuesday (Nels Johnson / Marin Independent Journal)
• Newport Beach, California's Police and Fire Unions Object to Paying More Toward Their Own Pensions (Jon Cassidy / Orange County Register)
• One-Third of Southern California's Santa Margarita Water District Employees' Pay Tops $100,000/yr (blog - Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• California Is 'The Worst-Run State in the Country' (24/7 Wall St.)
• Op-Ed Asks, Why Can’t California Be More Like Rhode Island? (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• Illinois Lawmakers Question Unintended Results of Pension Tinkering ( Chris Wetterich / State Journal-Register)
• Joe Biden and the Myth of Local Government Layoffs (op-ed - Steven Malanga / Wall Street Journal)
• American Airlines Pensions -- Underfunded by $10.2 Billion -- Are a Rich Target in Bankruptcy Proceedings (Mitchell Schnurman / Star-Telegram)
• VIDEO: Who Will Pay American Airlines' Pensions? (Gerri Willis / Fox Business)
• Postwar Care Bills for Wounded Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans Are Soaring (Chris Adams / Sacramento Bee)
• PENSION PULSE: Prosecuting Wall Street? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 3, 2011

• PENSION PULSE: Hank Paulson's Crony Capitalism? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 2, 2011

• California Legislators Give Jerry Brown's Pension Reform Plan a Tepid Reception (Torey Van Oot / Sacramento Bee)
• California Gov. Brown Defends His Pension Reform Proposals Against Critics, Calls CalPERS a Ponzi Scheme (blog - Patrick McGreevy / Los Angeles Times)
• Gov. Brown Prescribes 'Castor Oil' to Remedy California's Pension Costs (Michael B. Marois / BusinessWeek)
• 'There's No Divorce With a Defined-Benefit Pension Plan,' Says California Gov. Brown (David Bienick / KCRA-TV)
• Gov. Brown's California Pension Reform Proposals Face an Uphill Battle (Michael J. Mishak and Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles)
• CalPERS and CalSTRS See Potential Obstacles in Gov. Brown's Pension Reform Plan (blog - Patrick McGreevy / Los Angeles Times)
• Gov. Brown's California Pension Musings: From Ponzi to Castor Oil (blog - John Myers / KQED Radio)
• California's Public Pension Costs Rob Education (op-ed - Assemblyman Don Wagner / Orange County Register)
• California Pension Reform Will Free Up Dollars for Schools (op-ed - Assemblymember Kristin Olsen / Turlock Journal)
• Feeling Soaked by the Irvine Ranch Water District as It Lavishes Ratepayer Cash on Itself (editorial - Orange County Register)
• AUDIO: Democrats Who Want Higher Taxes Should Overhaul California's Pensions, Says Governor (Ben Adler / Capitol Public Radio)
• AUDIO: California Lawmakers' Reputations at Stake on Pension Reform, Says Governor (John Meyers / KQED Radio)
• AUDIO: Complete Audio of Yesterday's Legislative Hearing on California Governor's Pension Reform Proposal (UCLA Faculty Association)
• San Jose's Deficit Estimate Slashed as Pension Costs Fall, But Mayor Says Reform Initiative Still Needed (John Woolfolk / San Jose Mercury News)
• Public Employee Millionaires (blog - Steve Malanga / Public Sector Inc.)
• COLA Means $796,871 Pension for Providence, Rhode Island's Ex-Fire Chief if He Lives to 100 (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• 11 Amazing Facts About Illinois Public Employee Pensions (Bill Zettler / Champion News)
• Retired for a Month, Hudson County Cop Gets $750,000 in New Jersey State Pension Checks (Mark Lagerkvist / New Jersey Watchdog)
• Numbers to Trust on New Jersey Pensions (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• Arnold Foundation Offers Proposals for Public Pension Reform (Rebecca Moore / PlanSponsor)
• READ OR DOWNLOAD the Policy Paper: 'Creating a New Public Pension System' (pdf - Josh B. McGee / Arnold Foundation)
• Storm Clouds Ahead: Why Conflict With Public Employee Unions Will Continue (Issue Brief - Daniel DiSalvo / Manhattan Institute)
• PENSION PULSE: A 'Damp Squib'? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

December 1, 2011

• Hearing on Gov. Brown's California Pension Reform Proposal Is Today; Watch Live Webcast at 1:00 PM PT (blog - Micaela Massimino / Sacramento Bee)
• VIDEO: Gov. Brown's Pension Reform Plan for California Is Facing Huge Hurdles (Sharokina Shams / KCRA-TV)
• Gov. Brown Faces Hurdles on California Pension Reform Proposal (Sharokina Shams / KCRA-TV)
• There Aren't Enough Private-Sector Millionaires to Support All the New Public-Sector Millionaires Being Created (op-ed - Lawrence Mone / NY Post)
• Gov. Brown Appoints Two Democrats to CalSTRS Board (blog - David Siders / Sacramento Bee)
• Two Named to CalSTRS Board by Governor Have 'Financial Expertise' (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• The State of California Pensions (blog - Meep / The Conservatory)
• Los Angeles Pilots Steer for $374,000 a Year While Long Beach Profits (Christopher Palmeri and Rodney Yap / Business Week)
• Emergency Manager Appointed by Governor to Take Over Operation of Flint, Michigan (Karen Pierog / Reuters)
• American Airlines Bankruptcy May Cost Workers $1 Billion in Pension Benefits (Jim Snyder / Business Week)
• American Airlines Workers Face Pension Plight (Jilian Mincer / Reuters)
• The American Airlines Union Warning: Another Bankruptcy Due to Labor Costs (editorial - Wall Street Journal)
• PBGC to Take Over Philadelphia Orchestra Pension Plans (Tara Cantore / PlanSponsor)
• 2010 Census Shows More Elderly Than Ever Before in the US (Sally Holland / CNN)
• PENSION PULSE: Money For Nothing and Risk For Free? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

November 30, 2011

• Gov. Brown's Pension Reform Plan to Get California Lawmakers' Scrutiny at Hearing Tomorrow (blog - Dan Smith / Sacramento Bee)
• The Ugly Truth About Public Pension Reform in Sonoma County (op-ed - Jack Atkin / Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
• San Diego Wins Ruling on Pension Legal Fees; Tentative Decision Denies Former Board Members Nearly $5.5 Million (Craig Gustafson / Union-Tribune)
• Modesto, California Resident Holding 2 Offices at Once (Ken Carlson / Modesto Bee)
• California Assembly Fattening Paychecks for Some Employees (Jim Sanders / Sacramento Bee)
• Big Pay Raises for University of California Executives (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• Weekly Pension Update for States (Bob Williams / State Budget Solutions)
• Sheriff and Two Deputies in Warren County, New Jersey Double-Dip $245,000 Plus Pay (Mark Lagerkvist / New Jersey Watchdog)
• Sheriff of Sussex County, New Jersey Plays Santa to His Three Double-Dipping Undersheriffs (Mark Lagerkvist / New Jersey Watchdog)
• Barrington, Rhode Island Taxpayers Will Save $2.27 Million Next Fiscal Year With the State's New Pension-Reform Law (William Rupp / Barrington Patch
• VIDEO: Utah State Senator Talks About Pension Reform in New Hampshire (Grant Bosse / New Hampshire Watchdog)
• Illinois Legislature Passes Bill Targeting Public Pension Flaws (Kevin McDermott / St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Illinois Lawmakers Target Union Leaders But Fail to Address $85 Billion Pension Debt (Ray Long, Monique Garcia, Jason Grotto / Chicago Tribune)
• After Illinois Politicians Enabled Brazen Corruption, Union Officials Looted Their Members' Retirement Funds (editorial - Chicago Tribune)
• PENSION PULSE: Pump Up The Jam? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

November 29, 2011

• Union Pension Fight Moves to California (blog - Abby W. Schachter / New York Post)
• Comparing California and Michigan: The Real Pension Truth Squad Weighs In (blog - Chris Reed / Calwhine)
• Contract Allows Temporary San Mateo County Manager to Make $100 an Hour While Drawing Pension (Bonnie Eslinger / Daily News)
• Merge Public Pension Funds and Social Security (CIV FI)
• 'A Comedy of Errors' Torpedoed Providence, Rhode Island's Pension Fund Leaving the System 34% Funded (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TVv)
• Central Falls, Rhode Island's Retirees and Bankruptcy Receiver Reach Tentative Pension Deal (John Hill / Providence Journal)
• VIDEO: Central Falls, Rhode Island's Retirees Reach Agreement; Deal Would Restructure Existing Pension Plan (Dan Carpenter / WPRI-TV)
• New York's Gov. Cuomo Wants to Raid State Pension Funds for Political Purposes (editorial - Wall Street Journal)
• New Jersey's Disability Pension Bogeyman (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• Utah State Senator Daniel Liljenquist to Present Pension Reform Ideas to New Hampshire Lawmakers (Associated Press / The Republic)
• Pension Double Dipping in Illinois Could End Soon (Benjamin Yount / Illinois Statehouse News)
• VIDEO: Illinois House GOP Boss and Union Lobbyist Go Back and Forth About Double Dipping and Pension Reform (Illinois Statehouse News)
• Dept. of Pension Reform: A National Issue, Now South Carolina's Cities Are Wading in (blog - Ben Szobody / Greenville News)
• Sale of Pension Income Targeted by US Sen. Tom Harkin (Leslie Scism / Wall Street Journal)
• 2 Million Public Sector Workers to Strike in the UK (Economy Watch)
• PENSION PULSE: Banksters Take It All? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

November 28, 2011

• San Jose's Rising Pension Costs Are Unsustainable and Pose a True Fiscal Emergency (column - Daniel Borenstein / Contra Costa Times)
• Cash-Strapped California Cities Want Public Employees to Contribute More to Their Own Pensions (Catherine Saillant / Los Angeles Times)
• California Court Ruling Could Make It More Difficult for State, Local Governments to Cut Spending on Retirees' Health Care (Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• Pension Reform in San Jose Requires IRS Help (editorial - San Jose Mercury News)
• Gov. Brown Must Seek Near-Term Pension Savings for California (editorial - Press-Democrat)
• Do California's Public Pensions Still Work? (with audio - Katie Orr / KPBS Radio)
• Nearly Half of Irvine Ranch Water District's Workers Are Paid $100,000 or More (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)
• Bell, California Official Who Had Been Paid $422,000 a Year Will Lose Job in Leadership Shake-Up (Jeff Gottlieb / Los Angeles Times)
• Modesto Councilman-Elect Must Decide Whether to Resign From Stanislaus School District Board (Ken Carlson / Modesto Bee)
• Marin County Reviews Spending Comparison Data (Nels Johnson / Marin Independent Journal)
• Warwick, Rhode Island Facing a Pension Meltdown; 92.5% of All New Tax Revenue Over Past Decade Went to Benefits (Russell J. Moore / GoLocalProv)
• Pension Reform Was Easy – Rhode Island’s Bigger Problem Is Health Care Costs (blog - Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
• Rhode Island Makes Pension Reforms (Tom Dennis / Grand Forks Herald)
• Illinois Lobbyist Who Qualified for Teacher Pension After Substituting 1 Day Also Got Free College Tuition for Kids (Ray Long / Chicago Tribune)
• Release of Oregon Pension Data Spurs Calls for Reform (column - Dennis Thompson / Statesman Journal)
• PBGC Announces Maximum Insurance Benefit Increases for 2012 (PlanSponsor)
• PENSION PULSE: Europe's Real 'Contagion' Threat? (blog - Leo Kolivakis)

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