The WI thing is about not wanting do give up anything when times are tough like now

Yep..it's just right as rain...

According to the Pew Foundation, Wisconsin has the fourth-largest unfunded pension liability per resident. The unfunded pension liabilities are over $77 billion.

· According to the Tax Foundation, for the past three decades Wisconsin’s state and local tax burden has consistently ranked among the nation’s highest. The state and local tax burden (as a percentage of income) currently ranks ninth nationally.

· It would take a 326 percent increase in the current $4,194 taxpayer burden per capita to eliminate the $13,690 unfunded liability per resident — making the overall tax burden 41.3 percent of income.

· Alternatively, to immediately close the shortfall would require raising the sales tax from 5 percent to 99.8 percent!

Of course, not all the current shortfall would need to be eliminated in the first year. But unless future growth in the shortfall is eliminated, no feasible plan for controlling the state budget can emerge.

"According to the Pew Foundation, Wisconsin has the fourth-largest unfunded pension liability per resident. The unfunded pension liabilities are over $77 billion."

"Wisconsin pension funding for teachers falls $10.9 billion short, report says"

Well what is it? If the pension is underfunded it is a result of the state not contributing what was needed. When you make a deal on wages and pension you uphold your promise.

One of the articles I read stated that some teacher union dues in Wisconsin are over $1,000 a year. I really wonder what they get for that. Nobody should have to be part of a union that funds things you disagree with if that union represents all possible work within your field. That provision seems quite unamerican. I believe that Washington State teachers can opt out of the portion being used for political purposes. I wonder if Wisconsin has the same provisions.

So you weren't able to find any more current numbers either and you would rather use that Pew study that was published prior to the financial collapse. That's fine.

Bear in mind the article came from a Milwaukee newspaper and was published 6+ months before the election. I did read the entire article and I saw the communications director for the fund management painted a rosy outlook. That's also fine and I can only surmise they had their assets invested in things other states did not. Or perhaps they had those funds under the mattresses of those responsible for their well being. They might have invested in precious metals and are now, like others, wondering if now is a good time to sell. Within that article was this study from Boston College:

"The financial crisis reduced the value of equities in state and local defined benefit pensions and hurt the funding status of these plans. The impact will become evident only over time, however, because actuaries in the public sector tend to smooth both gains and losses, typically over a five–year period. The first year for which the crisis will have a meaningful impact on reported funding status is fiscal 2009, since in most cases the fiscal 2008 books were closed before the market collapsed. After 2009, the funding picture will continue to deteriorate to the extent that years of low equity values replace earlier years of high values. The current and future funding status of state and local pensions is crucially important, as state and local governments are facing a perfect storm: the decline in funding has occurred just as the recession has cut into state and local tax revenues and increased the demand for government services. Finding additional funds to make up for market losses will be extremely difficult..."

For the full paper in PDF go back to that link, read it and tell me what you think.

Whatever. I do know CALPERS last month lost 55 million on a real estate venture and CA is anywhere from 250-500 billion in the hole long-term. I'm happy to hear WI is doing so much better and I'm shocked that any politician would lie about that.

All partisanship aside, let's conclude this was all the fault of Shrub and now the damage has to be repaired. What comes next? In order for the retirement systems to get back to pre-collapse levels there would have to be a massive infusion of capital and an economy that will return 8-12% on investments. It's hard for me to imagine that's going to happen anytime soon.

What happens short-term in WI? I'd be willing to bet that money is the chief concern of both the unions and the Obama administration. WI is a swing state that he needs to win in '12. If the R's in WI prevail,collective bargaining is no longer allowed. There will also no longer be a requirement that union members pay dues and the unions have to get those. Why would union members be willing to pay dues if the unions are no longer able to help them? That means there won't be a lot of campaign money for Obama unless states like CA that will vote for him send their union money.

Three other states are in the midst of this type of public pension reform and things aren't looking good. I could be way off base in my thinking (it's not unusual) and I'll gladly discuss this further. Just try to do it in a rational manner without any name calling and accusations of diminished mental capacity...

[Hank, I'm sorry to break it to you, but cutting teachers' benefits isn't going to solve anything. There are lots of things we can do before we start cutting the payments of people who are trying to work hard to teach our country's future leaders.

TFF coming from a a dumbphuck making $18,000 a year and claiming to be a college grad. You oughta' ask for a refund of the money spent on the salary of the douchebags that "teacheded you".

BTW...it's snowing out. Shouldn't you be out earnin' the big bucks?

Probably.....I'd give a guy like Bill G a chance make his case but as to Mcpussy.... a "college educated" know it all that makes 18k per year with overtime, not so much.....

I too don't give a flying [censored] about WI budget problems but listening to McPanties give a lesson on WI state economics makes me want'a smack who ever hatched him.

The Wall Street Journal reports ...