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Subscribe to RSSA small town official convicted of misappropriating $60,000 for golf and massages says he'll fight the move by California's public employee pension fund to reduce his annual pension by $425,000 -- arguing it's "elder abuse."
"This is clearly a case of elder abuse," Bruce Malkenhorst, 77, told the Orange County Register. "I’m from an era where you made as much as you could for as long as you could."
The California Public Employees' Retirement System said this week that Malkenhorst, who had been the city manager for Vernon, would now receive $9,654 a month, after the pension fund preliminarily concluded that his $45,073 a month pension was "illegally based on unpublished pay rates, overtime and an inflated longevity allowance."
That's $115,848 a year instead of some $540,000.
The fund, known as Calpers, said Malkenhorst's new pension would go into effect unless he provided documentation justifying his previous retirement payments from Vernon, which were the largest in the state's history.
"Vernon's reporting and documentation has failed to comply with the legal requirements necessary to justify these payments," Calpers Chief Executive Officer Anne Stausboll said in the statement. "We fully intend to pursue recovery of all overpayments where we can."
Calpers said it would also deny six other Vernon officials all or part of their pensions on similar grounds.
Vernon is a tiny industrial town near Los Angeles with a population of just over 100, which has for years been the focus of investigations regarding misappropriation of public funds and voter fraud.
Similar scandals have engulfed the neighboring town of Bell and provoked widespread public outrage.
Malkenhorst, who earned $600,000 a year before his conviction, pleaded guilty last year to misappropriating public funds. He was ordered to repay $60,000 as well as a $10,000 fine, and did not received prison time.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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republican or democrat. we can all agree this is a serious problem. elected officials should make the median income of the people they govern.
Population just over 100, and he got paid $600K per year? WOW!!! Where did all of that money come from? What did a town that small need a "city manager" for? They aren't even a city, hehe.
BTW, I thought our elected officials in the US Virgin Islands were overpaid. This is three to four times what they are paying themselves.
These crooks illegally gave themselves multiple positions and collected full salaries for each of them in order to inflate their salaries to get these ridiculous pensions. The entire thing is based on fraud and they should be in jail, not collecting these absurd pensions. The $115,848 is more than generous and this idiot should just take it and keep his mouth shut before they go after him to recover all of the excess fraudulent salary he paid himself while he was still working and pursue prison time to boot.
lastwave, I agree!
It doesn't matter what 'party', this is beyond the pale!
Talk about 'entitlement', this man should be ashamed...........
A thief is a thief is a thief....
If wishes were horses then beggars would ride.
Cuttng his pension was/is not elder abuse. What I find interesting is that up until reading this article, I thought there is no place for elder abuse in a functioning society. Apparently I was wrong. (Some "elders" apparently really do deserve it).
is anyone really surprised?.... and honestly...if you could have gotten contracts like that, you would have signed them also...
yes it is way over paid.... and yes you would do it if you could also....
the world is a tough sad place to live at this time...this makes it clear
Here's hoping the greedy SOB dies soon and collects nothing. That would be Karma.
Sadly, this attitude of entitlement is very prevalent amongst many (not all) public servants. They scheme and connive to appropriate more and more public money to lavish on themselves. Just remember back to the GSA scandal. This is why I cannot condone raising anyone's taxes until waste and fraud is effectively delt with. Why should anyone be expected to contribute to such a culture of corruption? In my own opinion, any public servant who defrauds the people they serve should forfeit their pension.
@Shosyn no I would not have done that. I was taught a little thing called morals apparently you weren't.
When you're an elected offical..and being paid more then the president of the USA....no doubt you're crooked and those that approved it are crooked too!
He will not get the big $$ but he will not spend a day in jail....welcome to wimpy America!!
This pos needs to pay back eery dime of this money, and he shouldn't be getting no more than $3200 a mth on his pension plan.
This is why I strongly believe we need to end all pension plans for government officials. They are robbing the taxpayers that pay for these bogus and fixed pension plans for life off the backs of the poor.
Just put his sorry azz on SS and let him collect $1200 a mth and give him medicare, and put him in some low income senior citizen complex.
Isn't this one of the entitlements Conservatives are always screaming to cut?
What this guy deserves is a jail cell at best. I like the Chinese method better, just take him down the street, stand him up in front of a wall, and boom, your rid of this type of thief.
This is the mindset of a lot of our elected officials....."you made as much as you could for as long as you could....(off the the taxpayers $$$)" and to heck with you because cutting my pension is sticking to me, an Elderly person.
Well, Mr. Maklenhorst....TOO BAD they don't take ALL of your pension and then you could live off Social Security. I..D..I..O..T.
No wonder California and the small cities are going BANKRUPT.
Gov.Moonbeam created this monstrocity of the California Pension System the first time he was Governor....It's quite befitting that California will collapse under the weight of all those pensions on his return ..Karma, baby, Karma
This is just a sampling of what all politicians feel entitled to. No matter what party it is them living fat off of us. : ( And living very well. The ultimate con game.
Sounds like the government needs to seize his assets and send his ass to prison along with anyone else who participated in this disgusting abuse of tax payers monies. Politicians (with the exception of the Governor and Lt. Governor) should not earn any more than the median income of a worker in their elected state or receive any more health benefits than those received by a member of their National Guard or Reserve members. Public service should never have been about how much money you could make but rather what you could do to make the lives of your constituents better.
@anti trust proponant,population of 100 is wrong. Vernon is a good size area in the East LA area. It does have a good size population. I don't know why, if they don't know the facts about something like population, they just through out erronious imformation. I've noticed though it seams to be the trend lately, especially with people under 30. I guess there must had been a Fad that I missed. Excuse me, Trend.
6dogs, you're wrong. The population of Vernon was 112 in the 2010 census. This is public information.
And this fool should be in jail for the rest of his life. He should be thankful that he has such a lavish retirement even after the drop in pay. '
The retired city managerm who is 77 yrs old and had been collecting his pension for some time, stated
That era he also claims to be from also believed in the firing and imprisonment of those who euphemistically "misappropriated" funds which would mean he isnt entitled to ANY pension. He stole those funds no matter what words are used to describe it ... and he stole those funds from the taxpayers who entrusted him, by electing him. Any overage should have either been refunded to the taxpayers or played forward to reduce fututre taxation, not be pocketed by himself and his cronies (6 others in his office are also being charged) through fraud.
His theft alone should have been grounds for termination ... termination retroactively as of the point he stole those funds, which would mean he no longer has any pension, owes all he has collected back to the town coffers and any/all of his pay he received as of that theft, reimbursed to the town.
In his era (the one he was raised in), and as is currently a part of today's society like it was back then, anyone who steals from his employer is both immediately dismissable and a criminal deserving of prison time. His is even much more serious since it isnt a kid reaching into the till for some cash, but an elected official breaching a public trust of taxpayer funds.
The only elder abuse here is the abuse heaped on the un-elected elderly citizens of Vernon. Why aren't they receiving some $ back?
I think Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars said "Vernon, California: you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villiany, we must be cautious" or something like that, right? lol Did you notice he said "I'm from an era where you made as much as you could......" not "EARNED as much as you could" ?
This is the America we have created, exhalted by the supremes court decision citizsens united that allows coorporations to be people. Not long before we are told by them that when told we are hungry that we can eat bread.
Why am I not surprised? If people really want to start getting things under control, then we need to start with those we elect to public office.
1. They have to immediately cut there staffs back, no senator or congressman/woman can have more than 2 aides and one of those is part time and fills in when the full time one is off sick or on vacation.
2. They have to set their salaries back to the last time there was a balanced budget. Why should you get to give yourself a raise with my money dammit? All raises are to be put on the ballot during a national election and voted on by the people, that means every 4 years we will decide if you deserve a raise or not.
3. The office that they hold is NOT a full time job, they come to Washington to do the peoples business and then go HOME to their regular jobs.
4. They have to participate in the same programs that we do, Social Security, Medicare. No special health insurance, pension plans, retirement plans. How dare you expect us to pay for your indulgences, that is Political Welfare and I for one am sick of paying for the deadbeat do nothings on the Hill.
5. Get the hell out of our private lives, out of our bedrooms, out of our relationships. It is NOT your damn business so scram!
Lets start there and then we can make decisions for the rest of our future in a sound financial matter.
All of your congress in Washington is on a pension, try all you want on gettting rid of it but your congress will not get rid of theirs and they get the best pension of all. GOP can cry all they want but they have the biggest scam of them all in congress
"I'm from an era where you made as much as you could for as long as you could."
This is exactly what's wrong with America today. For over 40 years the government has been relentlessly expanding, with lazy bureaucrats and union thugs snatching up every penny of taxdollars they can. What they can't get now they steal from tomorrow by leaving future generations saddled with enormous debt. In the federal government the problem is even worse because it has the magic ability to create new money out of thin air thanks to the Federal Reserve and fiat currency, which amounts to just another tax as everyone else's dollars decline in value.
No he's not from an era where you made as much as you could for as long as you could, not at 77 years of age.
Sure, if you're a Spanish King shortly after the discovery of the New World, or Sir Francis Drake, but he's not that old, and no it's not " ELDER ABUSE", to trim down his pension.
Another reason why CA is a 's..th..e'!! What kind of system is it that allows payments like this to public officials? No wonder the state is bankrupt!
If a cop gets fired for malfeasence, he loses his pension, What makes this greedy thief special.
Shyaka is called CURPT POLITICIANS..... Of course the Tea Party will think it is just fine.....
Where did it say this guy was part of the Tea Party, or even Conservative, for that matter? Public service employees usually equals union, so where do you get the Tea Party crap from???
Hey Shosyn, not everyone is morally bankrupt like you. I don't believe in stealing from anyone even if I can so don't include the rest of us in your corruption. I know widows who have worked all their lives either outside the home or as a full-time homemaker and support system for the family and they are existing on peanuts while abominations like this guy are out there stealing from the people whose tax dollars should be providing medical care and room and board for those widows. My mother-in-law lives in CA and has heart disease, diabetes, and other health issues and cannot work even if she wasn't almost 70 y/o. She has worked all her life as has her husband and they have paid into the system all those years confident that they would be ok. Not. She is a widow and she often has to make a choice between food, bills or medicine. As much money as there is in CA I cannot understand how CA is in such a mess. Or maybe it's because of greedy, thieving politicians and government employees......
I don't understand why you righties always try to somehow hang this kind of thing on the unions. The only people who have the clout to pull off this kind of thing are upper management, political appointees, or elected officials. They are not union. Unions represent the peons of civil service and are not resposible for this kind of abuse of the system. Unions have written contracts covering all their compensation and benefits which are public documents open to public scrutiny. When you don't have open union contracts you get this kind of monkey business. It's time to quit this silly demonizing of unions. The way things are going there will soon be no unions and if you think that is a good thing, you are in for a very big surprise.
Elected politians are not part of unions, the person working behind a govt office might be, Unions represent the workers, not the thugs in management who have brainwashed some of you idiots
All you libtards who think that unions aren't corrupt or have too much power aught to come to New York sometime. A place where teachers are virtually impossible to fire even after very innappropriate conduct, construction workers get paid over $45 an hour just to make labels and wave organge flags, and cops can pull in well over $100,000.
Deville 100k?, you sweating that while romney and friends eliminate jobs and rake in millions?
my heart bleeds for you. "I’m from an era where you made as much as you could for as long as you could." Absolutely correct in your statement- IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR YOU IDIOT NOT PUBLIC!
Really!! My poor mother along with many, many elderly live on less than $30000.00 a year. Much less. These government people are babied and should by cut off from everthing except their own retirement funds, and SS like everyone else.
I wonder if he is collecting Social Security, too?
Of course he is! Now I need a violin for him...
Government employees entitled to a CalPers pension do not contribute to SS and are thus not entitled to SS retirement benefits.
And here I thought I was doing so good with my $900.00 a month pension check.. That poor man ,just how is he going to live on $9700.00 a month ?
This another example of why California is in such dire straits for money. His pension was CUT by $425,000. My heart really bleeds. He ends up with$9,654 a month. A lot of people do not make even close to that for their jobs. Really just too bad for him!
There should be a czar at the state level who can over see what these small cities and towns are doing with taxpayer monies. Remember what happened in Bell---This kind of garbage is happening all over California, and other states. This clown should be rotting in jail. He should have all of his personal assets, including his house, taken away. He is a thief.
The last thing we need is another layer of gov't watching over other gov't officials. It's about time Americans stand up and demand to know what our elected are doing and getting paid. Force them expose all pay and perks during reelection. They have become a group of leaches just squeezing every $ they can before they retire or get voted out.
It is all addressed here - term limits, earmarks, pensions, an incentive to grow the economy, etc. This is geared to the federal Congress, but could serve as a model for State and Local bodies as well. You can learn more if you Google "unaffiliated Solutions for America."
PROPOSED CONTSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT XXVIII
(CONGRESSIONAL REFORM)
SECTION 1:
Congress, having been seated for over two centuries, has passed an adequate number of laws, and therefore, shall pass no further law without deleting a current standing law.
Congress shall pass no law to which it, itself, is not subject; nor shall they pass any law specific to Congress. Any benefit, current or future, available to members of Congress must be available to the People.
Congress shall pass no law for which it has not arranged funding, nor may it pass legislation requiring the States to perform acts which is unfunded by the federal treasury.
Congress may pass no law which is more than one hundred pages in length, nor may it add "riders" or "earmarks" to any proposed legislation. Any member who votes for a bill verifies by their vote that they have both read and understood the pending legislation.
SECTION 2:
Congressional service shall be limited two two-year terms for Representatives, and two six-year terms for Senators. Tenure by Representatives shall not count against them if they are elected to the Senate.
Congress shall be paid at a rate equal to no more than twice the national average pay of the private sector worker. Annual raises, or deductions from their base pay scale, shall be tied to the rise or fall of Gross National Product. New base-rate pay scales shall be established during January of each Congressional election year.
Congressional members shall be eligible for a housing stipend which shall be no larger than the percentage difference between lodging costs in Washington, DC and a similar dwelling in their home district.
Members of Congress shall receive no government pension, since this service is public service, performed for the good of the People, for patriotic purposes.
Congressional members shall be allotted an operating expense of no more than three-quarters of a million ($750,000.00) dollars per annum. Annual increases are allowed based upon the national inflation rate. This amount is inclusive of all operating expenses with the exception Franking and Internet communication costs.
Congress shall be expected to work, either in Washington or in their home districts, on a full-time basis. They shall hold no other employment, nor earn additional revenue, while serving in the Congress. Members of Congress shall receive two weeks paid vacation; three weeks if they have served more than five years. They shall be allowed twelve (12) holidays per year. The travel expenses for one round-trip vacation to the member's home district per year will be paid by the People.
Foreign travel shall be approved by a bi-partisan panel appointed by the House and Senate, and records shall be made public within 10 days of such approval.
Congressional members shall accept no gift from any corporation, lobby, union, or organization exceeding one hundred US dollars ($100.00) in value. This shall include travel, dining, lodging, event seats, material gifts of any kind, or service.
Members of Congress may not work for any lobbying firm for a period of five years following the end of their congressional service.
SECTION 3:
Congress shall pass a balanced budget by the end of April of each year. If this is not accomplished, the People have the right to call for new elections, to be held no later than the end of June of that year.
Congress shall abide by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). A failure to provide full and honest disclosure of all assets and liabilities associated with legislation to the Treasury shall be cause for the People to call for new elections within 60 days.
Members of Congress may need to estimate the costs of legislation. These estimations must be within ten percent (10%) accuracy. If these estimations are not within ten percent (10%) accuracy, Congressional pay will be reduced an equal percentage amount between the estimate and final costs during the next annual pay cycle.
Emergency spending may be necessary at times. Such spending is subject to review by a vote of the People, and, if the People do not approve, the People have a right to call for new elections within sixty days.
SECTION 4:
Congressional election fundraising shall be capped. A Representative candidate may raise an amount equal to one hundred dollars ($100.00) per legal US citizen within their district. Senate candidates my raise an amount equal to ten dollars ($10.00) per legal US citizen within their state. These amounts may be raised from corporations, unions, organizations, political parties, political action committees, or from the People, but the cap shall be firm. All campaign financing shall be of public record prior to elections being held. No candidate may incur debt; any unspent election funds shall be given over to the US Treasury and shall be used to pay on the national debt.
No member of Congress shall be seated without a clear majority of the legal popular vote. Any election resulting in a winner with less than a clear majority will result in a new election (run-off) being held between the two candidates with the most votes on the second Tuesday of January.
SECTION 5: Congress shall pass no legislation funding private enterprise. This shall not negate funding for Research & Development which might be granted to a consortium which includes the private sector.
SECTION 6:
A four-member panel shall be established to assure compliance with this Amendment. The panel shall have one member appointed by the House, one member by the Senate, one member by the Executive, and one by the Supreme Court. The panel shall serve a four-year term. This panel shall have authority and adequate resources at their disposal to assure compliance (legal expertise, auditing experience, etc.), and shall present a report to the People prior to the President's State of the Union Address each year. Violations divulged by the panel shall be cause for the People to hold a recall election for violators. This panel shall be funded by the congress.
Oh boy - another 'true american' pushing their special interest - this time term limits.
Let's look at what would happen if this passed. Those congressmen would be 'paid' by their current employer to run for congress. If elected, they would pass laws to benefit their employer - who would hire them back after terming out. HOW IS THIS REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT?
Only a total idiot (or a crook) would support this. If you want proof that this happens - just look at the state of AZ. The crooks run for political office and pass laws to help their old (and future) employers in the private sector. They reduce corporate taxes to zero. Reduce corporate property taxes to zero. The pass laws to hurt businesses that would compete with their future employers,Increase the taxes on citizens (the people who elected them). They passed a law that private airports would pay zero property taxes. And they do all of this to ensure that they have a job when they term out.
This only makes sense if one believes that corporations are people too. Of the people, for the people, by the people - RIGHT.
The corruption in our government is staggering and we as the ostensible employers of said government are becoming impotent. Especially when we have a President who thinks he has the right to veto and override the decisions of the people and the Supreme Court and feels he has the right to bypass the proper channels as laid out by the Constitution. It is common knowledge that people follow the example of their leaders so why are we surprised! We have allowed our elected officials to lie to the Grand Jury and get away with it and retain their position. We have allowed them to steal from us and pay for their lavish lifestyles and their profligate behavior and not held them accountable. We have become a citizenry of worker drones that are busy with the business of supporting this BS and of allowing those who are supposed to be working FOR us to become our owners and overseers. In essence we have become a slave state. My time here on Earth is almost over but I fear greatly for those I leave behind. Unless we turn this around by holding these people accountable for their crimes and by demanding that they do the job that they were hired to do then we may as well just allow the shackles and accept our positions as slaves.
@IO: they do that @!$%# now without term limits,except some of them do it for 30 or 40 years.
Wiseone -
That "layer" has been in place since the founding of the country. That "layer" is called "We the People". Unfortunately, most members of "We the People" just can't be bothered with participation - and instead just sit back and bitch about it all.
BUT! Most people don't/won't get involved due to fear of retaliation. So, it ends up:
"Damned if you do.
Damned if you don't."
The problem lies with folks thinking that any aid to the poor is bad, any tax increase on the millionaires is bad. Unfortunatly many are already brainwashed to accept this. Thus the repub party grows feeding off of hatred of gays etc to convince them making the rich wealthier on the back of the poor is good, reducing oversight of politians is good, and kill benefits for the poor and lower taxes for the rich is good.
Then when something like this happens some idiot wants to blame unions instead of looking at themself in the mirror as they rush off to buy more chinese crap from china at walmart and say where are Americas jobs?
Why should he get a pension at all if he's guilty of 'misappropriating funds'? Cutting his pension is merely a slap on the wrist! It just goes to show how entitled public officials feel to gouge the taxpayer while stealing from them as well.
If the State Attorney General determines that he may have committed a crime, then criminal charges can be filed and he will lose his pension altogether if convicted.
Have you ever seen Vernon? You can bet he doesn't live anywhere near it. Pitiful, he should be in jail for
his retirement plan.
Over $100,000 is more than enough for him to live on - elder or not.
.
Vernon is a private industrial city. The entire city is controlled by a small group of people (which is why the population is only about 100) and it's been that way for almost 100 years. That small group of people collect huge salaries, perks, etc. because they can't be voted out and there is no one to oppose them.
I wouldn't care except since it is a "city" they get money from the state and federal governments to help them fund their corruption. It's morally repugnant.
thanks TC2545604 for explaining that. I was wondering how he got the job in the first place. I say shave another 100 grand off his pension and we will be just right.
I say shave to balance of his pension as a convicted thief of State Funds. As a felon this bastard should be behind bars, not receiving a monthly "bonus" for what he has already stolen. Just consider the number of people genuinely in need that could be helped with the money this SOB has collected and will collect in the future. This SOB forfeited the right to the pension he is collecting when he was convicted of felonies in his accumulation of the various funds that contribute to the pension he is collecting. Lock his ass up, PERIOD.
I think the Farmer John slaughterhouse is their only reason for exsistence.
They wouldn't still be in business if they were in LA/La county.
FYI, golliegee... They ARE in LA County. What are YOU talking about? There are several business located in Vernon besides Farmer John. Do a little research before making random statements.
This selfish man doesn't deserve any pension because of misappropriation of public funds. Why does he think he deserves even $9700. a month?!! He was in PUBLIC service. I've worked most of my adult life for a monthly retirement income of $885.00. Yes, I put a lot into the system.
lastwave has the right idea.
Malkenhorst should come visit me. I'll show him elder abuse !
Reduce his pension? well if he illeagally misused funds is that not CRIMINAL? The old bastard SHOULD be in jail then he would have something to whine about.
If criminal charges are filed and he loses at trial then his pension rights will be terminated.
Another GREEDY corrupt crooked political hack complaining that he got caught. He should have had his pension cut down to the welfare level most pensioners are forced to live on.
Fatal Accidents should happen to people that do this...
Gorilla, believe me, I think this guy is a jerk and should be in jail. However, I also think your comment is totally inappropriate. Fatal accidents should not happen to anyone because of their work ethic or any other reason. That's a terrible thing to state.
And people wonder why California is bankrupt. 600k/year for the retired city manager of a town of 112 people? Heck, 115k/year is no less ridiculous, if you ask me. And all the while, politicians in Washington keep stirring the pot, blaming the "rich" for the country's budget deficit and economic problems, pitting the 99% against the 1% in a populist, pathetic attempt to get more votes. But people are starting to see the truth - that the real problem lies in government, with its extravagant lifestyles, cronyism, wasteful spending, and virtually unlimited power, and not with capitalism, or the wealthy, or any of their other nonsense. Our government is simply out of control, and it is time to rein them back in.
mt83, You have 100% right. They are so busy making us fight among ourselves either as a repub or dem or rich and poor pro life pro choice etc. we never watch what they are up to. It will all come to a head very soon when we destroy the $ and they run out of money. They have already used up all of our $ now they have to print it just to spend it. It's time to stand up and be heard and hope there are still a few good men in Washington left. Keep the faith and pray for change that really counts.
CALPERS will need to cap pensions. If this fellow had a larger pension contribution, it would be fair that the pension is related to the pay-in. As it stands, pension payouts are related to earnings over the last few years of working, including cashing out unreported vacation hours.
And CalPers pensions are increased each year even when we are in a recession. Some former government employees (usually high level management) collect more with their pension than they ever made from their actual salary.
News agencies report double pensions. Shouldn't a full pension require 30 yrs on the job? Anyway, the only way pensions work is in a system in which more is paid in by new employees than that withdrawn by beneficiaries.
Every public employee in the state is covered by this plan including judges and lawmakers does this tell you anything? The only stuckee is the taxpayer!
I have friends who have CalPers. Do not take this story as "typical". The vast majority will work their jobs and collect their pension for that one job. In cases like this, the criminal...and yes, this is criminal behavior...gives themselves numerous jobs, often getting a new one once they retire from another, and when they retire, they collect pensions on all of the jobs they did....even if none of those jobs involved anything resembling actual work.
The CalPers system is not corrupt in and of itself, but as shown, some of the participants will bilk it for as much as they can. Sounds like the entire city of Vernon was set up as a method of cashing in on this.
Spartan - the anti public workers will use this to justify their tirades against every public worker.
The majority of CALPers Board members do not have financial backgrounds. They are also recipients at the same time.
Elder abuse - what a joke. He has committed taxpayer abuse for years and years and should be in prison. By the way, what an amazing pension plan that is. Gets paid $600K and gets 90% of that salary per year till he dies. Our governments (local, state, and Federal) are completely out of control. It is unsustainable.
Recheck your facts. Most CSRS Fed workers get approximately 55% of their pay in retirement after 30 years. And are not entitled to Social Security beyond 40% , even if they earned 100%. But at least, so far.. there is a pension.
Or about 3 thousand over the family of 4 poverty line.
The guy in the story IS a CROOK. And DESERVES to be in JAIL.
Okay...let's recheck the facts. From the article above, he made $600K while working. His pension is $540K per year (before the proposed cut). 540,000 divided by 600,000 = 90%.
And you think he's the norm?
Check the CSRS & FERS sites before you make a mis-calculation on what is a standard FED retirement.
He's not even IN those retirement groups. But you lumped him in them. Bet the retired Military & Feds appreciate it SO much .(Sarcasm)
They look at 30 to 50 k norm with 20 -30 years service. Rich aren't they?
Since you can't get the Intel , Intel2 : here it is.
Computation
Here is how the CSRS annuity formula is calculated:
CSRS Annuity Formula
Years of Service
What You Receive
First 5 years of service
1.5 percent of your high-3 average salary for each year
Second 5 years of service
Plus
1.75 percent of your high-3 average salary for each year
For all years of service over 10
Plus
2 percent of your high-3 average salary for each year.
Reductions in Annuity
Your annuity will be reduced if:
Notice the percentages? And you lumped him in with who????
What's up with you dude? I'm not making this up. It is spelled out for anyone to read right in the article above. I never mentioned a damned thing about "lumping him in them". I have no idea if he is the norm or not. I'm only referring to that crook's pension plan as mentioned in the article. Please reread it before accusing someone of nonfactual statements.
Your words:"Our governments (local, state, and Federal) are completely out of control. It is unsustainable."
Funny, you even capitalized the Federal. Now your running from your post.
Romney moment??? We agree he belongs in jail, and I say he should have RICO on him as well.
But perhaps you now have more knowledge on how a normal Soldiers or Feds retirement works.
Remember it when the Right calls it Welfare. Those 20 year retirements, are mainly in fields where bullets could be expected to fly at you.
This is the kind of story that makes people hate public unions and pension funds. Quite similar in fact to private corporation CEO's who rape a company for everything it is worth and walk away with millions, but for some reason, government and labor are demonized even more. For every one of these guys, public and private, there are thousands who work just as hard, if not harder and for longer, to get a pension that they can just make do with. If he misappropriated public funds then he should get no pension. Let him live on social security and a part time job bagging groceries like many, many seniors have to these days. And who was minding the store in this little town? Were the voters paying no attention at all?
Government is demonized more than the private sector because they are spending other people's money, not their own. A CEO's salary is approved by the company's shareholders/board of directors - if they make a bad decision, and he ends up bankrupting the company, then they lose their money. Government salaries are approved by... government. They have nothing to lose if they make bad decisions, because it is our (the taxpayers') money, not theirs, that will be lost.
Whenever it is someone else's money at risk, rather than your own, you tend to be a lot more reckless and wasteful in your decision-making. It's a classic case of moral hazard.
While in theory I agree with you, in practice the CEO's and Board of Directors along with major stockholders seem to have found ways to insulate themselves from these kinds of massive losses and the people left holding the bag are the employees and small shareholders (Enron for example.) That's finding a way in private enterprise to target the risk to the people least able to absorb it.
"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," "You just
pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more
than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible
for re-election.
Quote by Warren Buffet
and ineligible to get their paychecks or insurance benefits until the deficit was eliminated entirely.
yes , yes, yes to wheels460
If he wants elder abuse, I have a Cat o'Nine tails and a bag of rock salt. I have elderly friends for whom $20 is the difference between ending the month in starvation or not, this jerk could roll his tobacco in a Benjamin, smoke it and not even miss it. Even with the pay cut.
If he can't live on six figures a month, I'd suggest a minor gravity assisted flight from about 20 feet. End of pension, end of problem.
There was a time he would have been strung up with a rope around his neck and hanged for the crimes he committed against the people. Not anymore he gets a check for $10,000 a month for life while most of us struggle to make our rent and eat!
I'm from an era when thieves like this did 25 years in the state prison. Why isn't he in jail and why is he getting any pension at all? Maybe all of this stress will cause him to gag to death saving the taxpayers a bundle.
I think the pension needs to be cut a tad more. It is not elder abuse it is abuse of American taxpayers. Why do these people think this way?
Because they are a basic common American, regardless of what their Political affiliation or race is.
Period.....