Where Unions Are, Americans Aren't (Taxpayers fleeing lib run states)

[Soul Crusher]

Where Unions Are, Americans Aren't (One conclusion to draw from the Census figures)
RealClearMarkets ^ | 12/22/2010 | Diana Furchtgott-Roth



The American people have been voting with their feet, the Census Bureau announced on Tuesday, leaving states with heavy union influence and choosing to live in "right-to-work" states with higher job growth where they cannot be forced to join a union as a condition of employment.

But the National Labor Relations Board, now dominated by Obama appointees, is deaf to the preferences of voting Americans. It wants to do everything in its administrative power to tilt the playing field towards unionization-even if it means higher unemployment and lost jobs.

As a result of geographic shifts in population uncovered by the 2010 Census, nine congressional seats will move to right-to-work states from forced unionization states. Some winners are Texas, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, and South Carolina, while losers include New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and New Jersey. Over the past 25 years job growth in right-to-work states has been over twice as high as in unionized states.

Of course, Americans voted at the polls, too, electing a substantial majority of Republicans to the House of Representatives in the 112th Congress. One result: Americans will be safe in 2011-12 from enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act, a union-supported bill that would take away workers' rights to a secret ballot in union elections and impose mandatory contracts between newly-unionized firms and workers.

One reason that the Senate didn't pass the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act-the bill passed the House in 2009-is the record high national level of unemployment, which has exceeded 9% for the past 19 months.


(Excerpt) Read more at realclearmarkets.com ...

[Slapper]

Your intense attacks on unionized workers is something to behold.

Yet... corporate greed, excesses and corruption warrant very little to no attention at all.

Quite the dichotomy.

[Soul Crusher]

Your intense attacks on unionized workers is something to behold.

Yet... corporate greed, excesses and corruption warrant very little to no attention at all.

Quite the dichotomy.

Unions do nothing but greatly add cost, inefficiency, higher taxes, less productivity, to an economy already shackled by onerous layers of govt regs.   Going Union = going broke. 


Public unions espcially.  Living in Westchester - AND HAVING THE HGHEST TAXES IN THE NATION as a result of grossly overpaid public employees unions, I have zero sympathy to their arguments anymore. 

They have raped the taxpayers blind and people cant afford it anymore.   Actually I am thrilled that NY is losing 2 seats along wih MI and IL while Texas is gaining 4 seats.  .       

[Soul Crusher]

Your intense attacks on unionized workers is something to behold.

Yet... corporate greed, excesses and corruption warrant very little to no attention at all.

Quite the dichotomy.

NOTICE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR SLAPPER?

________________________ ________________________ ______

16 U.S. Cities That Could Face Bankruptcy in 2011
Posted Dec 21, 2010 06:06pm EST by Gus Lubin and Leah Goldman in Recession, Politics
Related: ^dji, ^gspc, ^tnx, tlt, tbt
Provided by the Business Insider, Dec. 21, 2010:

2011 will be the year of the municipal default. At least that's what analysts like Meredith Whitney predict, as do bond investors that have been fleeing the muni market.

There are many reasons to be worried. First, the expiration of Build America Bonds will make it harder for cities to raise funds.

Second, city revenues are crashing and keep getting worse. Property taxes haven't reflected the total damage from the housing crash. High joblessness is cutting into city revenues, while increasing costs for services.

The next default could be a major city like Detroit, or it could be one of hundreds of small cities that are on the brink. Did we leave off your ailing city? Let us know in the comments.

San Diego, Ca.

Deficit through June 2012 : $73 million

Budget in FY2011: $2.85 billion

Annualized gap: 1.7%

The city's official have tried curbing the deficit by increasing sales taxes, but residents of the city strongly oppose this and have voted it down.

San Diego already cut over $200 million over the past two years, so these cuts won't come easy.

New York, NY

Deficit through June 2012: $2 billion

Budget in FY2010: $63.1 billion

Annualized gap: 2.1%

Estimates of the NYC deficit range from $3.6 billion according to Comptroller John Liu to around $2 billion according to the Independent Budget Office. Everyone agrees that the deficit will be worse if New York state cuts aid as part of its own deficit reduction plan.

Mayor Bloomberg has already started to address the FY2012 deficit, calling for layoffs in all city agencies, closing 20 fire departments at night, and reducing services for seniors, libraries and cultural centers.

San Jose, Ca.

Deficit through June 2012: $90 million

Budget in FY2010: $2.7 billion

Annualized gap: 2.2%

After an audit of the San Jose police department, city officials found it to have too many high paid supervisors, costing the city too much money. The answer to this is converting some of those upper ranked officers to patrol positions. This could reduce the city's debt by $33 million.

Last year's deficit was $116 million, leading to brutal cuts including nearly 900 layoffs.

Cincinnati, Oh.

Deficit through December 2012: $60 million

Biennial budget FY2009/2010: $2.5 billion

Annualized gap: 2.4%

Helping the budget in Cincinnati depends largely on changes in the police and fire departments. The city can either get $20 million in concessions from the two unions, lay off 216 firefighters, or outsource the police force to neighboring city, Hamilton.

Honolulu, Hi.

Deficit through June 2012: $100 million

Budget in FY2011: $1.8 billion

Annualized gap: 3.7%

Mayor Peter Carlisle said police officers and fire fighters will be asked to make concessions in the upcoming budget and he will also end furloughs of two days per month for public workers. This will require the 2,900 officers to give back their 6% pay raises they have received in each of the past four years.

Last year Honolulu raised some property taxes to fill a huge $140 million deficit.

San Francisco, Ca.

Deficit through June 2012: $380 million

Budget in FY2011: $6.55 billion

Annualized gap: 3.9%

Mayor Gavin Newsom says this year's deficit is completely manageable. Last year's deficit approached $500 million and the city did not need to lay off any police or firemen. While Newsom's term is coming to an end, he says he and his colleagues will leave detailed options for the incoming mayor.

Last year's cuts were even larger, eliminating a $438 million deficit. The city is down to the bone.

Los Angeles, Ca.

Deficit through June 2012: $438 million

Budget in FY2011: $6.7 billion

Annualized gap: 4.4%

The Los Angeles City Administration Office plans to cut 225 civilian positions in the LAPD, reduce firefighting staffing, and eliminate a dozen positions in the City Attorney's Office and General Service Department. The deficit will only get worse unless an effort to privatize parking garages is approved. If not, the city will require more layoffs, furloughs, and curtailed hiring.

Last year's deficit was even larger, totalling nearly $700,000.

Washington, D.C.

Deficit through September 2012: $688 million

Budget in FY2011: $8.89 billion

Annualized gap: 4.4%

Council member Tommy Wells proposed tax rate increases which were voted down, but Wells says he will continue to push his proposal.  Wells' proposal seems reasonable as residents making $100,000 a year would only pay $63 more in taxes per year. This is a small price to pay that would benefit the city immensely.

Newark, NJ

Deficit through December 2011: $30.5 million

Budget in FY2010: $677 million

Annualized gap: 4.5%

Newark's deficit was $83 million before Mayor Cory Booker initiated a plan to sell city-owned buildings, raise property taxes to 16 percent and decimate the police force. Nontheless, Moody's cut Newark's rating to A3 citing its $30.5 million remaining deficit.

Detroit, Mi

Deficit through June 2011: $85 million

Budget in FY2011: $3.1 billion

Annualized gap: 5.5%

Detroit's city government has cut costs with layoffs and by leaving currently vacant positions open. Mayor Bing's emergency fiscal plan includes demolishing houses and cutting police and trash services to 20% of the city.

Last year the city council pushed through severe cuts to fill an over $700 million deficit.

Reading, Pa

Deficit through December 2011: $7.5 million

Budget in FY2010: $120 million

Annualized gap: 6.3%

One of Pennsylvania's several distressed municipalities, which receive state aid, Reading has been running an operating deficit for years. In September the city council said their deficit was bigger than expected, soaring to $7.5 million for the current year, which means they will have to borrow around $17 million from the state to pay off total debts.

Joliet, Il

Deficit through December 2011: $21 million

Budget in FY2010: $274 million

Annualized gap: 7.7%

Last year, the city increased property tax by over 12 percent and hiked water and sewer rates by 45 percent over three years to help with the deficit. The city council also cut police and public sector jobs.

Camden, NJ

Deficit through December 2011: $26.5 million

Budget in FY2010: $178 million

Annualized gap: 15%

Despite holding title of second most dangerous city in America, Camden recently received approval to lay off half of its police force.

Hamtramck, Mi

Deficit through June 2012: $4.7 million

Budget in FY2011: $18 million

Annualized gap: 17%

City manager Bill Cooper was denied permission to declare bankruptcy. He says the city is owed millions of dollars in tax dollars from Detroit from a shared facility. The state offered the city a loan to stave off bankruptcy.

Cooper says he has already cut almost everything possible, going so far as to lay off the city's five crossing guards.

Hamtramck might avoid bankruptcy, but also-broke Michigan can't afford many of these deals. That's why Gov. Rick Snyder predicts "hundreds of jurisdictions" going bankrupt in the next four years.

Central Falls, RI

Deficit through June 2012: $7 million

Budget in FY2011: $21 million

Annualized gap: 22%

Central Falls has been put in state receivership due to critical budget problems. State-appointed receiver Mark Pfeiffer thinks the best solution is for Central Falls to be annexed by its neighboring city, Pawtucket.

Paterson, N.J.

Deficit through December 2011: $54 million

Budget for FY2010: $225 million

Annualized gap: 24%

As a "last resort," Paterson is considering laying off 30 percent of its police force, said councilman Steve Olimpio. This will put 150 police officers out of work.

BONUS: Chicago, Il

Deficit through December 2011: $654 million Closed

Budget in FY2010: $6.8 billion

Annualized gap: 9.6%

Mayor Richard Daley has balanced the budget, but absolutely ruined Chicago finances from here on.

His FY2011 plan uses up nearly the entire revenue from a long-term lease of the local parking system and airport, which he passed in 2008. The multi-billion lease deal was supposed to last for decades, but it only lasted two years. The best hope for the future is building a city-owned casino.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/16-u.s.-cities-that-could-face-bankruptcy-in-2011-535744.html

[kcballer]

   More alarmist bullsh*t.  Unions whilst not all good, are an essential part of the business relationship.  Are some poorly run or misinformed?  Of course just as some business are too far the other way and hire illegals over Americans.   But at the end of the day unions are a positive thing.  To say they aren't is foolish and misguided and shows a what a troll you truly have become.

[Soul Crusher]

  More alarmist bullsh*t.  Unions whilst not all good, are an essential part of the business relationship.  Are some poorly run or misinformed?  Of course just as some business are too far the other way and hire illegals over Americans.   But at the end of the day unions are a positive thing.  To say they aren't is foolish and misguided and shows a what a troll you truly have become.

No, i understand economic reality and common sense.   Paying people more to be less productive may help some people but hurts others.


And lookat the states and cities going broke - all big union run places.  Guess why?  Union = BANKRUPTCY     

[kcballer]

okay billy minimum clone.   

[Soul Crusher]

[shootfighter1]

There is no doubt unions are bad for business growth and cost to do business....none.  We have enough worker protections now, unions aren't needed anymore like they once were.

I am sick of unequal treatment for people by the government, which is similar being unionized.  Look at government contractors vs civil servants doing the same jobs, completely different benefits and treatment...its sick. 

[Soul Crusher]

So long as we have Federal Dept of Labor, State Dept of Labor, County Department of Labor, OSHA, etc etc, here is ZERO need for unions.   

[Soul Crusher]

Pensions Push Taxes Higher
Cities Tap Homeowners for Revenue as Workers' Retirement, Health Costs Rise.Article Comments (309) more in Business ».EmailPrintSave This ↓ More.
 By JEANNETTE NEUMANN


Cities across the nation are raising property taxes, largely citing rising pension and health-care costs for their employees and retirees.

In Pennsylvania, the township of Upper Moreland is bumping up property taxes for residents by 13.6% in 2011. Next door the city of Philadelphia this year increased the tax 9.9%. In New York, Saratoga Springs will collect 4.4% more in property taxes in 2011; Troy will increase taxes by 1.9%.
 
John Crawford is director of finance in Upper Moreland, Pa., which is raising taxes 13.6%.
.Property-tax increases aren't unusual, in part because the taxes are among the main sources of local revenue. But officials say more and larger increases are taking hold. "This year we have seen a dramatic increase in our cities and towns having to increase property taxes" for pensions and other expenses, said Jack Garner, executive director of the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities.

Local officials and government workers say a confluence of factors is driving the increases, including the need to make up for staggering investment losses from the financial crisis and rising costs as more workers retire. In addition, benefit increases promised in flush times are coming due as revenue flounders, and some cities have skipped payments to their pension funds over the years.

In Illinois, towns have been raising property taxes to keep up with pension and health-care costs for several years, but the scale and scope of the increases this year are unprecedented, said Joe McCoy, a lobbyist with the Illinois Municipal League.

Representatives of government workers, including for unions, don't deny that pension costs are rising. But they blame local officials for failing to fund pensions adequately in better times.

 ."The main driver is the irresponsibility of local public officials who for years and years have not been funding their pensions," said Henry Bayer, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 union, which represents 72,000 employees in Illinois.

Many local officials say they have been trying to right their pension funds without raising taxes. They have borrowed money from reserves, trimmed services and cut back on staff.

Some cities have also pushed unions to reopen contracts in an attempt to pare benefits or raise workers' contributions for pensions and health care. They have faced stiff resistance from some unions that argue it's unfair to penalize workers for a financial crisis that isn't their fault. Others have agreed to some cutbacks.

State aid to many local governments and other revenue remain below precrisis levels. Nearly half of states reduced aid to local governments in 2010, and 20 states have proposed additional cuts in 2011, according to a December report by the Congressional Budget Office.

"Unless governments really want to squeeze essential services…there are likely to be a lot more property tax increases" across the country, said Don Boyd, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York.

Tax increases and budget cuts are raising pressure on state politicians to tame growing pension costs, and the topic has become a significant issue in elections.

Many states have already increased the retirement age and required years of service for new hires, bumped up the amount new workers pay toward their benefits and reduced annual cost-of-living increases. This month, for example, Illinois lawmakers approved legislation requiring newly hired police and firefighters to retire at age 55 instead of 50 to receive full benefits, among other changes. The governor is reviewing the bill.

The tax increases are coming to light now because many local governments plan their budgets at the end of the previous year.

In Upper Moreland, a township of about 26,000 near Philadelphia, the Board of Commissioners voted this month to raise its 2011 property tax for residents by 13.6%, the first such rise in five years. That means a $67 annual tax bump on a $135,000 home, the average value there.

Pension and health-care costs are likely to make up more than a fifth of the town's $17.8 million operating budget for next year, said finance director John Crawford, a Republican.

In 2005, Upper Moreland contributed around $100,000 to its pensions. This year, it contributed $681,000. In 2011, it will pay an estimated $1.1 million. Healthy investment returns used to cover a large portion of the town's contribution to its pension funds. Now, lower returns—coupled with higher costs as more workers retire—mean Upper Moreland is paying more.

In addition to those figures, the state of Pennsylvania annually contributes $250,000 to Upper Moreland's pensions, Mr. Crawford said. Local Pennsylvania governments only receive pension aid from the state if they make the payments to their pensions recommended by actuaries.

Upper Moreland's payments on current workers' health care were $2 million in 2010 and are estimated to reach $2.63 million in 2011, Mr. Crawford said.

"If it hadn't been for the escalating costs," in pension and health-care benefits, he said, "the board may have succeeded in going through another year without a tax increase."

Many of the same issues are hitting Philadelphia, which earlier this year increased its property tax by 9.9%, the first bump since the early 1990s. That's a $270 annual payment increase for residents living in homes valued at $100,000, said Rob Dubow, city finance director.

Philadelphia's pension fund is 45% funded—meaning its assets represent 45% of its long-term liabilities—and the city's payments are projected to increase to $600 million in 2015, up from $230 million in 2004. Actuaries recommend pension systems be 80% funded.

Rolling Meadows, a Chicago suburb, is raising its property taxes next year by 9.8%, on top of a 16% jump in 2010, due to increased police and fire pension costs, said Mayor Ken Nelson. Those increases are the largest in nearly 20 years, he said. The local police and fire pension funds are around 45% funded.

Chris Lee, a firefighter paramedic and president of the city's pension fund, says the pensions must be paid because they are "promises the city made to us."

Rolling Meadows has paid less than it should into its pension fund by relying on higher assumed rates of returns than those recommended by the Illinois Department of Insurance, Mr. Lee said. Lower annual contributions mean the fund has trouble staying abreast of ballooning costs, leading in part to the underfunding, Mr. Lee said. The city recently changed to the Department of Insurance's recommended annual contributions, Mr. Nelson said.

The 70,000-person village of Palatine, near Chicago, recently voted to raise property taxes 3.99%, the most in at least five years. That's an average increase of $40 per home. "But for the pensions, [the property tax] would not have gone up at all," said Village Manager Reid Ottesen.

The increase comes after cost-cutting steps in the past two years, including a hiring freeze and not replacing three firefighters and several police officers who retired, said Mr. Ottesen. "There is nothing left to cut if you still want to deliver the services that make you the community you are."

Write to Jeannette Neumann at Jeannette.Neumann@wsj.com

[Soul Crusher]

The First 10 City Pensions That Will Run Out Of Money
The Business Insider ^ | 10/27/10 | Gus Lubin




The first total municipal pension default happened last week: Prichard, Ala. ran out of money stopped mailing pension checks.

Hundreds of cities could be right behind. Projections by Robert Novy-Marx and Joshua Rauh [PDF] show the average city has $15,000 per household in unfunded pension liabilities. These massive liabilities are ignored by common government accounting (see chart).

Insolvency means benefit cuts or borrowing from the already-near-broke states.

Many of the 77 cities surveyed by Novy-Marx and Rauh are facing insolvency within the next decade. Other small cities like Prichard could go even sooner.


(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
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#10 Fort Worth...Unfunded liability: $2 billion Unfunded liability per household: $7,212 Solvency horizon: 2023

#9 Detroit...Unfunded liability: $6.4 billion Unfunded liability per household: $18,643 Solvency horizon: 2023

#8 Baltimore...Unfunded liability: $3.7 billion Unfunded liability per household: $15,420 Solvency horizon: 2022

#7 New York City...Unfunded liability: $122.2 billion Unfunded liability per household: $38,886 Solvency horizon: 2021

#6 Jacksonville...Unfunded liability: $4 billion Unfunded liability per household: $12,994 Solvency horizon: 2020

#5 St. Paul...Unfunded liability: $1.4 billion Unfunded liability per household: $13,686 Solvency horizon: 2020

#4 Cincinnati...Unfunded liability: $2 billion Unfunded liability per household: $15,681 Solvency horizon: 2020

#3 Boston...Unfunded liability: $7.5 billion Unfunded liability per household: $30,901 Solvency horizon: 2019

#2 Chicago...Unfunded liability: $44.8 billion Unfunded liability per household: $41,966 Solvency horizon: 2019

#1 Philadelphia..Unfunded liability: $9 billion Unfunded liability per household: $16,690 Solvency horizon: 2015