Texas vs. California Update for March 20, 2013

Time for another Texas vs. California roundup! Just imagine how the MSM would crucify Rick Perry if the head of, say, the Texas Teacher’s Retirement System were indicted on multiple counts of felony fraud…

  • Ex-CalPERS CEO and another board member (who just happens to be Ex-Mayor of Los Angeles) indicted for fraud.

    A grand jury in San Francisco charged Federico Buenrostro Jr. and Alfred Villalobos, and they were booked and released on bond Monday after briefly appearing in court.

    Buenrostro, 64, served as CEO of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System from late 2002 until June 2008. Villalobos, 69, served on the CalPERS board and is a former vice mayor of Los Angeles.

    The indictment alleges the two conspired to fabricate documents that certified to federal regulators that Villalobos’ firm had obtained required “investor disclosure letters” from CalPERS to serve as a “transfer agent.” The indictment charges that the falsified documents allowed Villalobos to reap $14 million in fees for serving as a middleman between CalPERS and a prominent investment firm handling $3 billion in CalPERS’ money.

  • “The Wall Street public pension trough feeding frenzy has, unbeknownst to taxpayers and government workers participating in these funds, cost the nation trillions and is only getting worse.”
  • A detailed, in-depth look at how financial legerdemain are used to hide the huge pension liabilities in various California counties, and how Moody’s new accounting rules will put an end to it. “Government financial statements for decades have very seriously understated pension expenses and failed to raise the alarm about the massive unfunded pension debt that was the result.”
  • So how does the city of San Bernadino deal with being bankrupt? By handing out pay raises.
  • How did Stockton go bankrupt? It might have had something to do with nearly one-quarter of workers on the city’s payroll getting more than $100,000 a year.
  • “At least some minority politicians are beginning to figure out that a party primarily devoted to preserving the jobs, automatic pay hikes and generous pensions of public employees is a party that’s not necessarily interested in what’s best for minorities.”
  • California comes up with a great fake justification for using cap-and-trade as a wealth redistribution program. Which, of course, has always been the real purpose of cap-and-trade anyway…
  • Texas pummels California in job numbers. “California has a civilian labor force of 18,591,111 while Texas has a labor force of 12,680,661. This means that California has a workforce that’s 47 percent larger than Texas’ but Texas created 19 percent more jobs in the past 2 years and 22 percent more jobs in the past year!”
  • Current proposals in the Texas legislature would outlaw capital appreciation bonds.
  • A strong majority of Texans surveyed agree that other states should be as awesome as we are. “Sixty percent of respondents agreed that other states should emulate how Texas state government looks and operates. Only 31 percent disagreed.”
  • We’re awesome, but we still need tax cuts.
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