CNN Money is reporting that the nation's pension funds are facing almost a $1 trillion shortfall.
Drawing from a PEW Charitable Trusts study, CNN outlines how pensions are underfunded for primarily two reasons. First, the stock market crash negatively affected returns after 2008. Second, states often deliberately failed to make the required contributions to their pension plans.
New Jersey, for example, has the most underfunded pension plan in the nation because Governor Chris Christie decided that he needed the money destined for public pensions to pay for current state expenditures.
Raiding funds earmarked for pensions was Christie's way of avoiding having to raise taxes to balance the state budget.
There's more, but here's the real issue. If we could find more than $4 trillion almost over night to bailout Wall Street, coming up with $1 trillion that will be paid out over decades shouldn't be a problem, right?
- Mark
In the FYI category, raising the current 20% capital gains tax - which primarily benefits the Wall Street market players who caused the 2008 crash - to Reagan era levels (28%) would generate the revenue needed to cover the projected pension shortfall over the next 30 years.
Just saying.
Drawing from a PEW Charitable Trusts study, CNN outlines how pensions are underfunded for primarily two reasons. First, the stock market crash negatively affected returns after 2008. Second, states often deliberately failed to make the required contributions to their pension plans.
New Jersey, for example, has the most underfunded pension plan in the nation because Governor Chris Christie decided that he needed the money destined for public pensions to pay for current state expenditures.
Raiding funds earmarked for pensions was Christie's way of avoiding having to raise taxes to balance the state budget.
There's more, but here's the real issue. If we could find more than $4 trillion almost over night to bailout Wall Street, coming up with $1 trillion that will be paid out over decades shouldn't be a problem, right?
- Mark
In the FYI category, raising the current 20% capital gains tax - which primarily benefits the Wall Street market players who caused the 2008 crash - to Reagan era levels (28%) would generate the revenue needed to cover the projected pension shortfall over the next 30 years.
Just saying.
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