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March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
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September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-11-new-fda-approved-hepatitis-b-vaccine-found-to-increase-heart-attack-risk-by-700.html
September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
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« on: February 01, 2012, 08:24:43 am »

California To Run Out Of Cash In One Month, Controller Warns
31 January 2012, by Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/california-run-out-cash-one-month-controller-warns
« Last Edit: June 11, 2012, 06:11:10 pm by BornAgain2 » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2012, 12:41:43 pm »

Didn't the fiscal year just start on October? Out of cash already?  Roll Eyes

We ought to just board that place up and shut it down and call it a natural wilderness. Make the whole state a national campground, because clearly it ain't worth saving.
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« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2012, 07:11:27 pm »

Is California the next Greece?
By The Week's Editorial Staff | The Week – Thu, Mar 15, 2012

The Golden State used to be at the vanguard of the U.S. economy. Now, not so much
"California is no longer the economic miracle it once was," says Bradley Schiller at the Los Angeles Times. Americans used to flock to the Golden State for its peerless standard of living and great schools. But now many businesses are packing up and moving out. California's unemployment rate, at 10.9%, is the third-highest in the country. Many of its cities are declaring bankruptcy. And the state budget, for the ninth time in 10 years, is billions of dollars in the red. "Many Americans fear the federal fiscal train wreck will turn us into Greece," say Michael J. Boskin and John F. Cogan at The Wall Street Journal. But "they need look no further than California to see what this future portends." Why is California on the ropes?


1. Its taxes are too high
The climate for businesses in California has "turned hostile," says Investor's Business Daily in an editorial. Taxes are far too high, leading businesses to leave the state at a rate of five per week. California has the third-highest income tax rate in the country, the highest sales tax, and the second-highest gas tax. All told, businesses save "20 percent to 40 percent in costs" when they move out of the state, according to one study.

2. Its environmental policies are unreasonable
California's energy policies are just "bizarre," says Bill Frezza at RealClearMarkets. In its push to lead the fight against global warming, the state has "virtually shut down fossil fuel production." Once a major oil producer, California's production has declined "by more than 30 percent over the past 20 years," depriving the state of much-needed revenue. Meanwhile, it's pumping billions of dollars into green energy projects — such as a $100 billion high speed rail line — that are bound to bleed money.

3. It spends way too much
California has one of the strongest social safety nets in the country, says Schiller, and "many Californians take pride" in that. However, the state's generous minimum-wage thresholds and high rates of unionization can drive businesses away. "Californians tend to be complacent about these competitive risks," but they shouldn't be. They're part of the reason California is currently ranked 34th in GDP growth among the states.

4. It just needs to get its house in order
"No one should write off California," say Boskin and Cogan. The state faces daunting challenges, and has to reform deep structural flaws. But it still "ranks first in technology, agriculture, and entertainment among the 50 states." To survey the state's economic situation, is to appreciate the "the agony and ecstasy of contemporary California."

http://news.yahoo.com/california-next-greece-073000715.html
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« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2012, 08:51:01 am »

California Public Schools May Ax 20,000 Teachers

http://news.yahoo.com/california-public-schools-may-ax-20-000-teachers-212300339.html

San Francisco Chronicle readers woke up to the news that approximately 20,000 public school teachers may not have a job when school starts again in fall. Budget uncertainties are some of the reasons why not all current teachers may come back to the classroom in the 2012 to 2013 school year.

* March 15 is the agreed upon deadline for school districts to warn current teachers of possible layoffs. As pointed out by the Mercury News, districts have used this negotiated deadline to send out pink slips to teachers "just to keep their options open," even if district administrators believe that they may have the funds needed to re-employ the educators in the fall.

* $2.4 billion is the threatened year-end education budget cut that Gov. Jerry Brown will make if his Nov. ballot tax increase measure does not pass. The sum total of cuts is twice as high over two years.

* $807 is the average amount of money that would be cut from each student's education allowance per year in California's public schools.

* 299,666 is the number of public school teachers in the 2009 to 2010 school year, the California Department of Education reported. This figure encompasses all grade levels.

* 1,032 school districts serve the Golden State's students.

* 10,216 schools are located within these school districts as of the 2010 to 2011 school year, the department explains. The majority of these schools are elementary schools.

* 6,189,908 students attended California's public schools in 2009 to 2010. The majority of learners require a Kindergarten through fifth grade learning environment as well as licensed instructors and aides.

* 6,217,002 is the number of enrolled students in the 2010 to 2011 school year.

* 512,826 children attend private schools in California.

* 50.37 percent of public school students are Hispanic or Latino.

* $67,932 is the average salary of a full-time teacher in California's public schools.

* 67 percent is the English language arts target proficiency for California's public school children. Out of 12 learner groups, only four tested at this percentile or higher, the 2010 to 2011 accountability progress report shows.


* 67.3 percent is the target proficiency percentile for mathematics. Of the 12 groups, only four scored at this level or higher.

* 80.53 percent is the 2011 graduation rate, which applies to the class of the 2009 to 2010 school year. This figure is up from 78.59 percent in 2010.
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« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2012, 08:14:23 am »

http://now.msn.com/now/0408-seven-dollar-gas-on-catalina.aspx

4/9/12

As the old song goes, "26 miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me..." but now so are $7 dollar gas prices. While much of the country is grousing about soaring fuel costs -- averaging just a few pennies under $4 a gallon nationwide -- the 3,700 residents of Catalina Island, off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., are experiencing acute pain at the pump. An attendant at one of the two stations that serves Catalina told CBS that a gallon of regular unleaded on Saturday hit $7.03. But don't cry for me, Catalina -- there's a limit on the number of cars that can be on the island, so many residents get by in their golf cart or on foot.
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« Reply #5 on: April 09, 2012, 04:21:31 pm »

Yeah, the place is too small to take any kind of trip. A tank of gas there would last months I'd say. It's all relative.
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« Reply #6 on: May 12, 2012, 07:11:54 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/california-facing-higher-16-billion-shortfall-213905732--finance.html

5/12/12

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California's budget deficit has swelled to a projected $16 billion — much larger than had been predicted just months ago — and will force severe cuts to schools and public safety if voters fail to approve tax increases in November, Gov. Jerry Brown said Saturday.

The Democratic governor said the shortfall grew from $9.2 billion in January in part because tax collections have not come in as high as expected and the economy isn't growing as fast as hoped for. The deficit has also risen because lawsuits and federal requirements have blocked billions of dollars in state cuts.

"This means we will have to go much farther and make cuts far greater than I asked for at the beginning of the year," Brown said in an online video. "But we can't fill this hole with cuts alone without doing severe damage to our schools. That's why I'm bypassing the gridlock and asking you, the people of California, to approve a plan that avoids cuts to schools and public safety."

Brown did not release details of the newly calculated deficit Saturday, but he is expected to lay out a revised spending plan Monday. The new plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1 hinges in large part on voters approving higher taxes.

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« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2012, 10:38:34 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/jerry-brown-proposes-billions-cuts-californians-getting-message-233005895.html

Jerry Brown proposes billions in cuts. Are Californians getting his message?

 With California's budget shortfall soaring, Gov. Jerry Brown proposes broad, painful cuts for state workers and programs. Without new taxes, he warns voters, the cuts will be even worse.


California Gov. Jerry Brown is facing the music.

Hit with a soaring state budget shortfall of $15.7 billion – up from $9.2 billion as recently as January – Governor Brown announced proposals Monday to make $8.3 billion in painful, cross-the-board cuts that quickly elicited outcries from those affected.

Most telling of his predicament, and his strategy, Brown admonished California voters that if they don’t pass his tax-hike initiative in November, $6 billion more will have to come out of budgets for public schools and higher education.

Jerry Brown through the years

“We have so much money from the people, and we have so much spending,” the governor said at a press conference in Sacramento before jetting to Los Angeles to release further details. “We can be out of alignment for awhile, but now – given the decade of fiscal disconnect – I’ve committed to right the ship of state and getting it into balance.”

The proposals include cuts to state employees’ pay – and workweek – as well as trims in spending on a wide variety of public programs and institutions: state prisons; care for the disabled; $500 millon from the state court system; and a one-year state building freeze.

“These budget cuts have something in them that will hit every Californian. The pain will be severe,” says Barbara O’Connor, director emeritus of the Institute for Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento.

“They are evenly spread,” she says, “and education at all levels – as well as health and human services and public safety – will be the focal points in this round of cuts.

“There have already been several previous rounds of cuts,” she adds. “These cuts will also endanger federal programs that California could qualify for.”

Political analysts say Brown is playing the problem as directly as can be expected, given the shortfall in expected tax revenues, higher costs to fund schools, and decisions by the federal government and courts to block budget cuts that had already been approved.

“Governor Brown is doing all he can to press for the tax increase solution by touting wide-reaching and unpleasant budget cuts as necessities without those tax increases,” says Steven Schier, a political scientist at Carleton College, in an email.

Brown said he wants to cut Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, by $1.2 billion and keep another $1.2 billion in cuts to welfare and child-care that he proposed in January.

Welfare organizations are crying out.

“We think this is the year to use the $1 billion rainy day fund the state has,” says Ron Coleman, statewide policy analyst for the California Immigrant Policy Center. “Doing this now is antithetical to the recovery that the state needs to get out of this fiscal mess. Historically, California has come back by putting people back to work.”

People are not taking the news of Brown’s proposals sitting down.

Rallies by several health and human services advocate organizations organized under the Health and Human Services Network of California (HHSNC) are taking place in Riverside, Los Angeles, Fresno, San Jose, and Sacramento.

“The cuts in the revised budget boil down to stark decisions: giving an easy ride to corporations rather than supporting California’s families,” said Vanessa Aramayo, Executive Director of California Partnership and a leader of HHSNC, in a statement.

“After three years and $15 billion in cuts to vital social programs, it is unconscionable to allow California’s social safety net to be further dismantled at a time when our families need it most.”

The technique of proposing drastic and impossible cuts in an effort to restore funding – in this case tax revenues – is an old one, says Villanova University political science professor John Johannes, in an email.

“The problem in California is the same as it is and has been throughout the world, and certainly in the US,” he says. “Individuals, businesses, governments – everyone – has been living beyond their means for so long, ignoring the consequences, and kicking the can down the road for future generations.  There is no simple or easy solution. It is time to pay the piper.”

However transparent Brown’s maneuver, polls show all the furor might actually drive acceptance of Brown’s tax proposal on the November ballot. Brown wants to combine a four-year, quarter-cent-per dollar increase in state sales tax with a seven-year surtax of 1-3 percent on Californians making more than $250,000. A recent Public Policy Institute of California poll showed 54 percent of Californians support the measure.

The question is how the public responds to the current cuts.

“The governor is probably hoping that the unpleasant news about looming budget cuts will boost support for tax increases. Maybe, but there is another scenario,” says Jack Pitney, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College.

“California voters might decide that sending more tax money to Sacramento is like investing in JP Morgan.”

Jerry Brown through the years
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« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2012, 12:34:39 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/insight-california-citys-pension-vote-precedent-u-152533643--sector.html

6/2/12

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A radical plan to slash public employee pension benefits gets voted on by the residents of Silicon Valley's San Jose on Tuesday - a decision that could set an important precedent for many other cities, not only in California but across the nation.
 
The nation's 10th-largest city is also one of the wealthiest, but over the past several years it has cut its municipal workforce by a quarter, laying off cops and firefighters, shuttering libraries and letting street repairs fall by the wayside.
 
The problem? Mayor Chuck Reed says it's simple: Retiree benefit costs eat up more than a quarter of the city budget - and are growing at a double-digit rate. The solution he is pushing at the ballot box, after city council approval, would slash benefits for workers, increase employee contributions - and almost certainly prompt a precedent-setting legal challenge from the public employee unions.
 
"The best metaphor is cancer," said Reed, a Democrat known as more of a technocrat than a firebrand, who is now cast as public enemy No. 1 by public employee unions. "It started a long time ago, it goes for a long time, and then it becomes life-threatening."
 
It's a challenge other cities in California will soon face. "Our problem is nearly universal in the state," he added. "It's just a question of timing."
 
Public finance woes are nothing new in California. The state budget deficit stands at an estimated $15.7 billion for next year, requiring further cuts in state services and, if Governor Jerry Brown has his way, higher income and sales taxes. Local governments and school districts have struggled for years to make ends meet.
 
The pension problem, though, may be the mother of all budget issues - for California, for its cities and counties, and for other states and municipalities across the nation. The main California state retirement systems have a total shortfall in pension-plan funding of close to half a trillion dollars, a Stanford University study estimated. The bill is not due at once, but payments on it grow steadily and can eventually squeeze out even basic services. Public officials like Reed, and academics who have studied the issue, say the day of reckoning is nigh.
 
San Jose is not the only city making tough choices. In San Diego, voters will also be asked to approve a pension-cutting ballot initiative on Tuesday. In Stockton, city officials, unions and creditors are engaged in a mediation process aimed at avoiding a municipal bankruptcy - and public employee pensions are an achingly large part of the problem.
 
San Jose, San Diego and the counties of Kern, San Mateo and Santa Barbara are among the worst-off of municipalities with their own retirement systems, based on calculations in the Stanford study; all pay double-digit percentages of their annual budgets to pensions and all face double-digit rates of increase, among other issues. The city of Los Angeles was only marginally healthier than the bottom of the pack.
 
Meanwhile, the giant California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the country, has been engaged in a tortured debate about whether its rate-of-return assumptions are too optimistic.
 
The CalPERS plan covers state workers and dozens of cities that voluntarily joined its system.
 
It recently cut its annual return assumption to 7.5 percent from 7.75 percent, which would raise the shortfall it previously had estimated at $85 billion to $90 billion. CalPERS says it has easily met its return target for 20 years, but Stanford's Joe Nation and other economists say a lower rate would better reflect the uncertain outlook for markets and a century-long record of market returns. On Friday the Dow Jones industrial average fell to its lowest level in 2012 - dropping into negative

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« Reply #9 on: June 06, 2012, 09:00:16 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/california-pension-cuts-may-ripple-effect-001719646--finance.html

6/6/12

California pension cuts may have ripple effect

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Decisive victories for ballot proposals cutting retirement benefits for government workers in two of the largest cities in the U.S. emboldened advocates seeking to curb pensions in state capitols and city halls across the nation.

The voter responses in San Diego and San Jose were stinging setbacks for public employee unions, which also came up short on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's recall victory in Wisconsin.

"The message is that if elected officials and public employee unions do not responsibly deal with this issue, voters will take things into their own hands," said Thom Reilly, former chief executive of Clark County, Nev., now a professor of social work at San Diego State University. "We could see more draconian measures from citizens."

In San Diego, two-thirds of voters favored the pension reduction plan. And the landslide was even greater in San Jose, where 70 percent were in favor.

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« Reply #10 on: June 09, 2012, 04:37:02 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/public-employee-pensions-face-rollback-calif-142616255.html

6/9/12

Public-employee pensions face a rollback in Calif.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — For years, companies have been chipping away at workers' pensions. Now, two California cities may help pave the way for governments to follow suit.

Voters in San Diego and San Jose, the nation's eighth- and 10th-largest cities, overwhelmingly approved ballot measures last week to roll back municipal retirement benefits — and not just for future hires but for current employees.

From coast to coast, the pensions of current public employees have long been generally considered untouchable. But now, some politicians are saying those obligations are trumped by the need to provide for the public's health and safety.

The two California cases could put that argument to the test in a legal battle that could resonate in cash-strapped state capitols and city halls across the country. Lawsuits have already been filed in both cities.

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« Reply #11 on: June 14, 2012, 02:28:42 pm »

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-14/sinclair-to-liquidate-hedge-fund-after-lacking-edge.html


California Hedge Fund Is Latest Europe Crisis Casualty

 By Saijel Kishan - Jun 14, 2012 11:10 AM CT

Hedge-fund manager Paul Sinclair is the latest casualty of Europe’s sovereign-debt turmoil, almost six thousand miles away from the epicenter of the crisis.

Sinclair, who is based in Los Angeles, is liquidating his $458 million health-care equities fund, Expo Capital Management LLC, after more than five years, as political decisions made on the other side of the globe have undermined his stock picks and spurred losses for a second year.

“I don’t have an edge on Greek elections, the Spanish banking system, what the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Chinese government, Angela Merkel, or the U.S. Federal Reserve will do,” he said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Sinclair, 41, said that over the past year he’s found it increasingly difficult to make money because of the macroeconomic environment, and that investing in health care since 2004 has left him “physically and mentally exhausted.” He said he chose to return money to investors, which he plans to do by the end of the month, rather than hold cash and charge them fees.

Billionaire energy trader John Arnold, former Morgan Stanley co-president Zoe Cruz, and Duke Buchan III are among managers who have shuttered hedge funds in the past year as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis has roiled global markets. The industry last month posted its biggest loss since September as stocks slumped on concern Greece may exit the euro and the global economy is weakening.

‘Tricky Markets’

“It’s a confluence of tricky markets, super-cautious investors and a tough fundraising environment that’s making it a difficult time for hedge-fund managers,” said Steven Nadel, a partner at New York-based law firm Seward & Kissel LLP, which advises hedge funds.

Sinclair said he has most of his liquid net worth invested in his fund and was no longer comfortable putting it at risk when markets are subject to the actions of policy makers globally.

He said he plans to spend the rest of the summer sleeping and relaxing and may take up a new hobby, according to a June 9 e-mail he sent to clients. Sinclair said he would continue to follow the health-care industry and is keen to see how it is shaped by a U.S. Supreme Court decision on President Barack Obama’s health law overhauls and the November presidential elections.

Returning client money “is an unusual move but fair and would be welcomed by investors,” said Graziano Lusenti, founder of Nyon, Switzerland-based Lusenti Partners, which advises clients on investing. “Most hedge funds would try to hold onto the money for as long as they can.”

Liquidations Rise

Liquidations in the hedge-fund industry rose to 775 last year, the most since 2009, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc., a Chicago-based research firm.

Fortress Investment Group LLC, based in New York, last month said it will liquidate its $500 million commodities fund run by William Callanan after losing almost 13 percent in the first four months of the year.

Arnold also said the same month that he plans to close Centaurus Energy Master Fund in Houston. Cruz, the former Morgan Stanley executive, is liquidating her $200 million hedge fund after losing 8 percent last year.

Buchan, a New York-based hedge-fund manager, cited the European debt crisis as one of the reasons behind the closing of his equity hedge fund Hunter Global Investors LP.

“Markets seem to be driven more by the latest news out of Europe than by a company’s earnings prospects,” he said in a Dec. 8 investor letter. “We have not weathered the ensuing volatility well.”

Moore Traders

At least three hedge funds run by former Moore Capital Management LLC traders have shuttered in the past seven months after losing client money. They are Salute Capital Management, run by Lev Mikheev, Avesta Capital Advisors LLC, founded by William Tung and Tim Leslie’s JCAM Global fund.

Sinclair’s Expo Health Sciences Fund lost about 6 percent this year through May, after falling 8.7 percent in 2011, the hedge fund’s first year of negative returns, he said in an e- mail. The fund has returned about 50 percent since its 2007 inception, net of fees.

Hedge funds slumped 2.9 percent in May and 1.3 percent this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They lost 5.8 percent last year and a record 19 percent in 2008, the data show.

Market Correlation

The turmoil in the global markets has spurred stocks across industries to rise and fall in tandem. The relationship between price fluctuations for health-care stocks and the rest of the market has tightened. The 30-day correlation coefficient between the MSCI World Index and its members in that industry is 0.92, compared with the average since 1995 of 0.73, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Readings of 1 mean prices are moving in lockstep.

Sinclair employed a seven-person team with offices in San Francisco. Before he started his hedge fund, Sinclair worked at Vantis Capital Management LLC, a hedge fund in Pasadena, California, where he managed a health sciences fund from about two years until the end of 2006, when the firm shut down. He was previously at Merrill Lynch & Co., within the bank’s health-care investment banking group, and before that at investment bank Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette.

Sinclair received a masters of business administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1999 and graduated with a bachelors degree in business economics from the University of California in 1994.

To contact the reporter on this story: Saijel Kishan in New York at skishan@bloomberg.net
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« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2012, 06:03:29 pm »

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/26/economy-stockton-idINL2E8HQ0UF20120626

Stockton, Calif. to take up bankruptcy budget plan

6/26/12

(Reuters) - Stockton, California was poised on Tuesday to take a major step toward becoming the largest U.S. city ever to file for bankruptcy after talks with its creditors on Monday at midnight.

Negotiations aimed at averting bankruptcy may press on informally, the city's spokeswoman said, adding that city officials would next discuss any moves toward bankruptcy at the city council meeting on Tuesday evening.

The council's main order of business will be taking up and voting on a proposed budget to guide Stockton during bankruptcy, an option city officials have been considering since February.

City Manager Bob Deis, who the council has authorized to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, last week unveiled the budget proposal, also known as a pendency plan.

The plan assumed Stockton, a city of 292,000 people about 85 miles (about 135 km) east of San Francisco, would fail to win concessions from its 18 creditors to close its $26 million shortfall for the fiscal year beginning on July 1.

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« Reply #13 on: June 27, 2012, 05:25:12 pm »

Stockton, California, to File for Bankruptcy, City Says

6/27/12

Stockton, California, said it will file for bankruptcy after talks with bondholders and labor unions failed, making the agricultural center the biggest U.S. city to seek court protection from creditors.

"The city is fiscally insolvent and must seek chapter 9 bankruptcy protection," Stockton said in a statement released yesterday after council voted 6-1 to adopt a budget allowing it to operate under bankruptcy protection. "In addition to the bankruptcy petition, the city will file a motion with the courts to share information from the confidential mediation."

The filing will allow the city to suspend payments to creditors while it seeks court approval for a plan that balances its revenue with its debt. Before they decided to cut retiree health benefits and payments to lenders, city officials had projected a $26 million deficit for its new fiscal year, which starts July 1. Those cuts, and others, would give the city a one-time, $39,000 surplus.

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stockton-california-file-bankruptcy-city-070500463.html
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« Reply #14 on: July 03, 2012, 10:25:39 pm »

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/03/us-mammoth-lakes-bankruptcy-filing-idUSBRE86216120120703

Mammoth Lakes, California to file for bankruptcy

7/3/12

Reuters) - Mammoth Lakes, California, will file later on Tuesday for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection from its creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California, according to its assistant town manager.

Mammoth Lake's town council voted on July 2 in favor of the bankruptcy, specifically to seek protection from a property developer that has a $43 million legal judgment against the resort town of about 8,000 residents in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Mammoth Lakes Land Acquisition will contest the town's eligibility for Chapter 9 protection, said Dan Brockett, a lawyer for the company.

The company and town have been in a legal fight that began in 2006 over a property development dispute.

Stockton, a city of nearly 300,000 people in California's Central Valley, filed for bankruptcy protection last week, becoming the most populous U.S. city to seek protection from its creditors.

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« Reply #15 on: July 10, 2012, 10:56:21 pm »

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/11/sanbernardino-bankruptcy-idINL2E8IB0DD20120711

7/11/12

UPDATE 1-San Bernardino, California, considers bankruptcy

(Reuters) - The city council of San Bernardino, California, will discuss and may act as early as Tuesday evening on a motion for the city to seek chapter 9 bankruptcy protection from its creditors at the same time as it takes up a plan to stabilize the city budget.

It is unclear if the leaders of the city of about 210,000 residents approximately 65 miles (104 km) east of Los Angeles will act on the motion. They are also scheduled to take it up during a special meeting on Wednesday if needed, according to city council agenda items posted on the city's website.

The council is taking up a plan by San Bernardino's interim city manager and director of finance proposing measures for the city to cut spending substantially and increase revenues.

"If these measures do not achieve immediate and substantial cost savings, then the City will have to explore other alternatives to deal with its fiscal crisis, including ... consideration of AB 506 proceedings to restructure debt obligations, including unfunded liabilities, and preparation for a potential Chapter 9 filing," the two officials said in a letter to the city council.

AB 506 is a state law approved after the Vallejo, California, bankruptcy in 2008 that requires financially distressed local governments to seek mediation with creditors to try to avert a bankruptcy filing.

Stockton, California, failed after three months of talks with its creditors to obtain concessions to close its $26 million budget gap and the city of nearly 300,000 in the state's Central Valley last month became the most populous U.S. city to file for bankruptcy.


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« Reply #16 on: July 11, 2012, 03:01:07 am »

The whole state is effectively bankrupt, right along with the country.
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« Reply #17 on: July 11, 2012, 07:48:12 am »

The whole state is effectively bankrupt, right along with the country.


For years everyone has been anticipating "the big one" in that state(meaning a big earthquake) - I think they're experiencing that slowly but surely now, but not the "natural disaster" they think it is.

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« Reply #18 on: July 12, 2012, 12:13:04 am »

Don't want to speak to soon, but does it seem like all of this is NOT a coincidence since the Appeals Court in CA overturned Prop 8? First, you have 3 cities in this state needing to file Chapter 9 Bankruptcy, and now it seems like the dominoes are starting to fall...

2Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up
.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-san-bernardino-bankruptcy-20120712,0,2433019.story

7/12/12

Rising costs push California cities to fiscal brink

Throughout the state, local governments are slashing services to avoid bankruptcy. For some, it's too late.


Facing the same financial stressors that pushed San Bernardino toward bankruptcy, cities across California are slashing day-to-day services and taking other drastic actions to skirt a similar fiscal collapse.

For some, it may not be enough.

San Bernardino on Tuesday became the third California city to seek bankruptcy protection in the last month and, while no one expects the state to be consumed by municipal insolvencies, other cities teeter on the abyss.


PHOTOS: California cities in bankruptcy


"There are likely to be more in the future, but it's hard to know, since a lot of struggling cities may manage to work things out,'' said Michael Coleman, a fiscal policy advisor for the California League of Cities. "Some cities may not go into a bankruptcy, but they may dissolve. They may cease to exist.''

Once rare, turning to bankruptcy has become a painful but enticing option for cities whose labor costs and municipal debt far outpace anemic tax revenues. The Bay Area city of Vallejo began the current trend in May 2008, filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection because, city leaders said, salaries and benefits for its public safety workers were eating up too much of the general fund.

Last month, Stockton became the largest city in the state to seek bankruptcy protection after it was unable to come to agreement with its employee unions and creditors on a plan to close a $26-million gap in its general fund. On July 2, the tiny resort town of Mammoth Lakes filed bankruptcy papers in part because it was saddled with a $43-million court judgment it couldn't pay.

San Bernardino couldn't close a $45.8-million budget shortfall and would be unable make its payroll this summer. Days before Tuesday's City Council vote, the city of 211,00 people had just $150,000 in the bank. The city barely scraped together enough money to cover its June payroll.

The city had largely patched over its growing fiscal ills, exacerbated by the struggling economy, by tapping out its reserves over the last several years, according to a fiscal report submitted to the council before Tuesday's vote.

That 4-2 decision to file for bankruptcy protection was the easy part, San Bernardino Mayor Patrick Morris said Wednesday. Now the city has to pull together a plan to emerge from its fiscal crisis. It has already cut its workforce by 20% over the last four years.

Morris, a former judge elected on an anti-gang platform, says the city may have to dissolve its Fire Department or portions of the Police Department, an unavoidable reality when public safety accounts for nearly 75% of the general fund budget. The city would then contract with county and state agencies for those services.

"I think all possibilities should be on the table," Morris said. "That includes privatizing services; that includes regionalizing services."

Steve Tracy, a fire engineer and spokesman for the city firefighters union, said San Bernardino's labor groups already gave up $10 million in concessions. He blamed the financial crisis on the mayor and former city manager spending money on such pet projects as a new downtown movie theater.

"Before you start putting blame on the labor groups, get your own fiscal house in order," Tracy said.

Vallejo was in a similar bind when it filed for bankruptcy four years ago. Now Mayor Osby Davis wonders if the painful road to recovery was worth the cost.

The Bay Area city of 112,000 was forced to shut down two of its fire stations and today fixes just 10% of its crumbling roads. Its workforce, including police and firefighters, is about half its pre-bankruptcy size and those people left are "insanely" overworked.

Meanwhile, Vallejo spent $10 million on legal fees. It ended up with employee contracts that Osby thinks the city could have struck more cheaply if it had stayed out of bankruptcy court and turned to the bargaining table.

His advice to other cities on the financial brink? Don't do it.

"It takes an enormous toll on everyone,'' Davis said. "And you have the stigma of being a bankrupt city. How do you come out of being labeled a bankrupt city to one that is a desirable place to live?"

The San Bernardino City Council meets Monday to hash out the painful road ahead, including how to scrape together enough money to sustain city services before officially filing for bankruptcy protection. That could take a month or longer.

The city is expected to declare a fiscal emergency, which would trigger an "emergency exit" clause in the new state law that governs municipal bankruptcies. Otherwise the city would be forced to mediate with labor unions and creditors, an expensive, months-long process that Stockton slogged through without arriving at any agreement.

Karol Denniston, an attorney who helped draft the state bankruptcy law, said the emergency exit was designed for cases such as that of Orange County, which in 1994 became the largest county in the United States to go bankrupt, largely because of an unanticipated downturn in its risky investments.

Meanwhile, San Bernardino is likely to be scrutinized over how it managed to come to the brink of disaster, seemingly so quickly. City Atty. James Penman said budget figures submitted to the council had been fabricated for 16 years. Interim City Manager Andrea Miller was less harsh, saying the city's budget was erroneously said to be balanced for the last two years.

"The real horrible question here is: How do you end up with 30 days of liquidity?' Denniston said. "You have city leaders saying fiscal information was not accurate or reliable. This could create multiple layers of litigation that hurts creditors, employees and taxpayers for a very long time to come."

Rising public pension costs are one of the catalysts pushing cities into fiscal peril. In San Bernardino, the city's obligation to its employee retirement system rose from $1 million in the 2006-07 fiscal year to nearly double that in the current budget year. In three years, those costs are expected to swallow up 15% of the budget.

Pension spending grew an average of 11.4% a year in the state's biggest cities and counties between 1999 and 2010, roughly twice as fast as spending on public safety, social services, recreation, health and sanitation, according to a February report by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Joe Nation, a Stanford economics professor and co-author of the February report, thinks that for at least some cities, insolvency is inevitable unless they can wrest much bigger concessions on salaries and pensions from public employees.

"I think this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the problem,'' Nation said. "Stockton was spending $12 [million] or $13 million on pensions 10 years ago. By 2010, it was $30 million … and will double again over the next five years, unless something is changed."

Meanwhile, as news of the bankruptcy wafted though San Bernardino on Wednesday, residents feared for the city's uncertain future.

"People are losing their homes because they have no jobs. It's been really tough, so it doesn't surprise us," said Rose Garcia, 46.

But Garcia, a stay-at-home mother, said she and her husband, a dispatcher for Vulcan Materials, are anxious about potential cuts to public safety.

"It's an uncertain feeling we have right now," she said. "We're actually talking about moving."

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« Reply #19 on: July 12, 2012, 09:01:58 am »

This is the culmination of a debt-based mentality. Bad business decisions and the mispending of public funds has taken it's toll. The bankers want their money.
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« Reply #20 on: August 02, 2012, 09:03:58 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/san-bernardino-california-files-bankruptcy-over-1-billion-021606235--finance.html

8/1/12

San Bernardino, California, files for bankruptcy with over $1 billion in debts

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - San Bernardino filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday citing more than $1 billion of debts and making it the third California city to seek protection from creditors.
 
The city of about 210,000 residents 65 miles east of Los Angeles declared a fiscal crisis last month after a report said local government had tapped out its reserves and projected spending would top revenue by $45 million in the fiscal year that began on July 1.
 
The filing, made in the United States Bankruptcy Court, Central California District, states that the city has "more than $1 billion" in liabilities, and estimated that it has between 10,001 and 25,000 creditors.
 
It also states that San Bernardino has estimated assets of more than $1 billion.
 
San Bernardino's city council voted on July 24 to adopt an emergency three-month fiscal plan that would suspend debt payments, freeze vacant jobs and quit paying into a retiree health fund while city staff produce a more detailed bankruptcy plan.

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« Reply #21 on: September 28, 2012, 08:52:49 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/calif-creates-state-run-private-retirement-plan-232409988--finance.html

9/28/12

Calif. creates state-run private retirement plan


SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday that will create the nation's first state-run retirement savings program for private-sector workers, over the objection of critics who said it creates a new liability for taxpayers.
 
The bill will establish the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program for more than 6 million lower-income, private-sector workers whose employers do not offer retirement plans.
 
The program directs employers to withhold 3 percent of their workers' pay unless the employee opts out of the savings program every two years. It would be administered by a seven-member board chaired by the state treasurer.
 
State Sen. Kevin De Leon, D-Los Angeles, introduced the bill earlier this year in response to what he called the "looming retirement tsunami" as millions of lower-wage workers face financial hardship in their retirement years. He said the program will act as a supplement to Social Security by offering private-sector workers a portable savings plan with a guaranteed return.

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« Reply #22 on: September 29, 2012, 01:42:29 am »

I had a thought that the medical coverage thing would be a main way they are getting people jacked into the system. That I think is why they got the penalty thing for no insurance.
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« Reply #23 on: November 10, 2012, 09:37:47 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/youth-support-drives-passage-california-tax-hike-measure-132038083.html

11/8/12

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's 74-year-old governor, Jerry Brown, engineered a surprise victory for his tax-hike ballot proposition by tapping support at the other end of the age spectrum.

Proposition 30, a temporary $6 billion tax hike, passed with a solid 54 percent approval on Tuesday, driven largely by a higher-than-expected turnout of young voters, pollsters and analysts say.

The measure, a rare attempt by a state to raise taxes at a time of small-government fervor, was the cornerstone of Brown's plan to balance the state's $91 billion budget. Without it, the state would have to cut spending on schools and universities.

But in recent days, the proposition had seemed destined for failure, according to several polls. Brown, who began campaigning heavily for it in the last weeks of the election, held rallies at colleges, and many younger voters responded.

"It's the reversal of a historic trend," said Dan Schnur, director of the University of Southern California/Los Angeles Times poll, speaking about the normal difficulty of winning support for a tax measure in the waning days of a campaign. At the end of October, his poll showed only 46 percent of voters for the measure.

Young people made up about 28 percent of those who voted on Proposition 30, according to an exit poll from CNN, and 65 percent of them voted yes.

"We saw this amazing engagement that was fed by social media, on Facebook, on Twitter," said Scott Lay, president of the Community College League of California, an advocacy group.

The ability for the first time to complete the entire voter-registration process online contributed to the passage of the measure, he believes, because "young voters who registered online were more engaged."

As election day neared, polls from the Public Policy Institute of California, the California Business Roundtable with Pepperdine University, and the respected Field Poll, all showed less-than-majority support for Prop 30, and at best they labeled its chances a toss-up.

But Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll, saw signs Brown could persuade undecided voters and told several reporters ahead of the election that Proposition 30 had a shot.

He cited data in his poll showing that undecided voters shared many characteristics with voters who favored Proposition 30, including a favorable view of Brown, a sense that they were paying about the right amount in taxes, and concern over budget cuts that could kick in if the measure failed.

"If you looked at the 14 percent that were undecided, they held views that were more in line with "Yes" voters," said DiCamillo. "All it needed was about three points from the undecided."

Brown's push in recent days for the initiative undoubtedly helped, including his visits to colleges and his attendance at a group of last-minute events, the pollsters said. On Monday, for example, Brown touted the measure at gatherings in San Diego, Burbank, Fresno, Sacramento and San Francisco.

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« Reply #24 on: November 10, 2012, 09:48:49 am »

I've been reading recently that in recent elections, they've been driven by young voters, which is why the Left has been winning, pretty much.

The young people demographic seems to have been playing a bigger role in all aspects of our society recently, while the elderly has either been pushed out, passing away, or in some cases being forced to compromise. No, it's not just concerning elections and social justice issues in the political realm(which of course our secular education systems have been pushing), but even our MODERN-DAY CHURCHES are having young people take over leadership roles.

Take for example, your typical megachurch(which seems to be growing in numbers today) - the leadership in those churches are by and large, it seems, younger people. And to boot from what I see(at least in my area), they really don't know how to feed the flock, but they themselves are nothing but "the blind leading the blind"(ie-reading very corrupt bibles like the NKJV/Message, admiring people like Bill Hybels, etc).

No, I'm not saying young people are bad and have no hope for salvation - but scripture clearly says to count the elderly with double honour, especially those that are grounded in the word of God. But somehow these same elderly are the ones being forced out, while the inexperienced, young generation are pushed into these leadership roles without any guidance. I myself was a 20 year old, naive college student once upon a time ago - back then, I thought liberalism, feminism, environmentalism, etc were excellent "grassroots" movements and didn't know better. Wished I had an elderly behind me to keep me in line.

Anyhow, was just pointing out another case here where the younger demographics seem to have a bigger voice in more important agendas where the elderly are more equiped to handle.
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« Reply #25 on: November 10, 2012, 09:55:23 am »

I've been reading recently that in recent elections, they've been driven by young voters, which is why the Left has been winning, pretty much.

The young people demographic seems to have been playing a bigger role in all aspects of our society recently, while the elderly has either been pushed out, passing away, or in some cases being forced to compromise. No, it's not just concerning elections and social justice issues in the political realm(which of course our secular education systems have been pushing), but even our MODERN-DAY CHURCHES are having young people take over leadership roles.

Take for example, your typical megachurch(which seems to be growing in numbers today) - the leadership in those churches are by and large, it seems, younger people. And to boot from what I see(at least in my area), they really don't know how to feed the flock, but they themselves are nothing but "the blind leading the blind"(ie-reading very corrupt bibles like the NKJV/Message, admiring people like Bill Hybels, etc).

No, I'm not saying young people are bad and have no hope for salvation - but scripture clearly says to count the elderly with double honour, especially those that are grounded in the word of God. But somehow these same elderly are the ones being forced out, while the inexperienced, young generation are pushed into these leadership roles without any guidance. I myself was a 20 year old, naive college student once upon a time ago - back then, I thought liberalism, feminism, environmentalism, etc were excellent "grassroots" movements and didn't know better. Wished I had an elderly behind me to keep me in line.

Anyhow, was just pointing out another case here where the younger demographics seem to have a bigger voice in more important agendas where the elderly are more equiped to handle.


actually it is a proof positive record of how the Humanist movement in the schools is working so well. The children are being taught this religion form kindergaten on up amd it is showing itself in our society. This was all planned out years ago...
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« Reply #26 on: February 14, 2013, 03:36:22 pm »

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/two-tax-rise-tests-wealthy-in-california-214900200.html

Two-Tax Rise Tests Wealthy in California

2/7/13
PALO ALTO, Calif. — It is getting awfully expensive to be a millionaire in California.

With the new year, big earners are confronting a 51.9 percent federal-state income tax hit on earnings over $1 million, the result of a confluence of new tax-the-rich levies imposed by California and Congress in the closing days of 2012. That is officially the highest in the nation. And at 13.3 percent, the top-tier California income tax is, in addition to being higher than any other state, the steepest it has been since World War II.

Though no one expects traffic jams at 30,000 feet as panicked millionaires make for the state line, the wealthy are once again grumbling about abandoning California for less punishing tax climates. Phil Mickelson, the golfer who collects purses in excess of $1 million, suggested that he might become the latest in a line of athletes and entertainment figures, among them Tiger Woods, who left California for states like Florida, which has no personal income tax.

The Republican governor of Texas, Rick Perry, firing a new shot in an old interstate war, began putting radio advertisements on the air in California this week summoning burdened businesses his way. “I have a message for California business: Come check out Texas,” Mr. Perry said.

Blood, it seems, is in the water.

“Are you looking to leave California because of the recent tax increase?” a CNN Money correspondent posted online in an inquiry this week. “You could be profiled in an upcoming story.”

[More from NYTimes.com: Higher Payroll Tax Pinches Those With the Least to Spare]

For all its many attributes, California has long been a state defined by high taxes and the people who hate them; conservatives here were successfully organizing against taxes before anyone heard of the Tea Party. Yet this milestone — or perhaps millstone — has sneaked up as an unpleasant surprise for the rich, a cloud in the sky at a time when the state budget has come back into balance (in no small part because of the aforementioned tax increase) and the state economy seems to be snapping back to life.

Mr. Mickelson later apologized for discussing the topic, though that did not prevent Mr. Perry from sending him a message on Twitter: “Hey Phil ... Texas is home to liberty and low taxes ... we would love to have you as well!!” Conservatives and antitax activists have cited Mr. Mickelson’s remarks as evidence of what they have long argued are the costs California pays for having such a high tax burden.

“It’s definitely the highest in the United States,” said David Kline, a vice president of the California Taxpayers Association, a taxpayers’ advocacy organization. “What we like to point out to people is that there are states with absolutely no personal income tax — so if you moved from California to Florida, and you are in a high-income bracket, you are automatically giving yourself a 13.3 percent raise.”

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« Reply #27 on: February 16, 2013, 09:23:28 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/bankrupt-san-bernardino-hires-manager-california-city-182825961.html

Bankrupt San Bernardino hires new manager for California city

2/16/13

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Crisis-hit San Bernardino, California, picked a new city manager on Friday at a critical time in its quest to get bankruptcy protection from a federal court.
 
San Bernardino was forced to look for a new city manager after its acting city manager, Andrea Travis-Miller, quit.
 
Her resignation coincides with the departure of the city's finance chief. Both had been the key officials overseeing the city's bankruptcy application and their departures threaten the city's ability to achieve it. They had more knowledge than anybody else of the city's finances and the experience to answer questions from the court and creditors.
 
The city council voted to hire Allen Parker to replace Travis Miller. According to his resume provided to the city, Parker has been an economic development consultant since 2006.

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« Reply #28 on: February 25, 2013, 11:39:48 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/key-test-looms-stockton-california-bankruptcy-bid-143804935.html

2/25/13

Key test looms for Stockton, California, bankruptcy bid

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The city of Stockton, California, has a strong case heading into court next week in a bid to establish eligibility for bankruptcy protection, a move contested by bond insurers of more than $350 million of its debt, lawyers watching the case predicted.
 
At the February 26 hearing in Sacramento, Chief Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein is likely to schedule a fight in court over eligibility - a battle that bankruptcy law experts predict the city of 300,000, the largest in the United States to have ever filed for municipal bankruptcy, will win.
 
Michael Sweet of the law firm Fox Rothschild, who helped Richmond, California, avoid filing for bankruptcy, said Stockton has an upper hand because of its orderly approach to California's and the federal Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy codes.
 
"The way this case appears to be going, Stockton should be able to convince Judge Klein it's eligible," Sweet said.

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« Reply #29 on: February 26, 2013, 04:35:27 pm »

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/25/california-pensions-idUSL1N0BPG1X20130225?feedType=RSS&feedName=marketsNews&rpc=43
2/25/13
California pension liabilities may swell to $328.6 bln -report

Feb 25 (Reuters) - New credit evaluation standards for public pension liabilities proposed by Moody's Investors Service would swell unfunded liabilities for California's state and local public pension plans to $328.6 billion from $128.3 billion, according to a report released on Monday.

At the higher level, the unfunded pension liabilities would come to $8,600 per resident of the most populous U.S. state, the report by the California Public Policy Center said.

Under Moody's new standards, California's state and local public pensions would be 64 percent fully funded, compared with a previous estimate of 82 percent, the center said in its report, which is based on data from the state controller's office.

The cost of currently honoring public pension commitments as well as their future costs have become prominent issues for state and local governments in recent years, during which public services have been slashed in response to weak revenue and in order to maintain balanced budgets.

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