The Independent

This Could be the US within Years Let’s see… Greece is having trouble with unfunded liabilities, runaway debt and constituents that demand they live off the public largess while much of the world recognizes that the current situation as unsustainable. I don’t see how the US is much different. While there are rosy projections that we’ll eventually be decreasing our deficit over the next few years if all goes well, what’s clear even in the most optimistic government models is that in 2030 and beyond we have a runaway situation. We’re seeing states and municipalities struggling to control debt and most of it stems from the overly generous pension and healthcare obligations they’ve made to generations of public-sector workers that is unsustainable. While the private sector has cut jobs, real wages and forced increased employee contributions to benefits for a decade, public workers have pretty much maintained the status quo as if they live in a vacuum. I can’t blame the worke

By Jon Coupal For those who work in the private sector, the dream of enjoying  a comfortable retirement has become just that -- a dream. The impact of the recession continues to be brutal, especially on older workers. “More than seven-in-ten (72 percent) workers over the age of 60 who said they are putting off their retirement are doing so because they can’t afford to retire,” according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder.  In California, with unemployment and under employment totaling over 21 percent – only Michigan with its decaying auto industry is worse off – older people being forced to work longer may regard themselves as lucky just to have a job. This is not a concern for those who enjoy the job security of working for California government.  The highest paid public workers in all 50 states -- some of whom are able to retire as many 15 years earlier than the private sector average with pensions nearing full time-pay -- continue to be shielded from the

The House on Thursday passed the Puerto Rico Democracy Act to authorize a federally-sanctioned vote of the people of Puerto Rico regarding their political future. While under current law, Puerto Rico can conduct a vote anytime to determine their voting status, under the legislation, a two-step voting process would occur. The first vote would allow the people of Puerto Rico to choose between selecting a “different political status” or maintaining their “present political status” as a U.S. territory with commonwealth status. If the majority of the people vote in favor of a “different political status”, then a second vote would be held allowing Puerto Ricans to choose between four options: independence, commonwealth, free association with the U.S., or statehood. While Congressman Miller believes the people of Puerto Rico should be able to go to the ballot box to express their views on their future political status, he opposed the bill because it contains serious flaws. Among these fl

Last week, the chief actuary of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) concluded that under Obamacare half of all seniors who have Medicare Advantage plans will lose their coverage.  Created in 2003, Medicare Advantage (MA) makes Medicare payments to private insurers seeking to provide health insurance to  America ’s seniors as a substitute to traditional Medicare coverage.  Under Medicare Advantage, the beneficiary pays traditional Medicare premiums and sometimes an additional premium for the extra benefits that may be provided under their new plan.  Under the new government-run health care system, CMS estimates that in 2017 – when the MA provisions will be fully phased in – enrollment in MA plans will be lower from its projected level of 14.8 million under the prior law to 7.4 million under the new law.  This will greatly affect seniors across the country.  In fact, in California ’s 42nd Congressional District, over 31,000 seniors rely on MA plans to meet their health car

San Francisco Chronicle SFGate America's political Grand Canyon Debra Saunders Thursday, April 29, 2010 Let me lead with what should be an unremarkable observation: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer did not write federal immigration laws that require permanent residents to carry green cards, employers to check documentation or limit the number of legal immigrants admitted each year. Washington did. But because Washington has failed to enforce those rules, Brewer signed into law a bill passed by the Arizona legislature to beef up and expand enforcement of federal immigration law. Yet the law went too far. While a good chunk of the law penalizes employers who hire illegal immigrants - a good thing - the bill also allows local cops to question anyone suspected of being unlawfully in the United States and essentially bans sanctuary city laws in Arizona. One might think that only those who break immigration law need fear such a measure, especially given its ban on investigations based

96.5% of Mortgages Backed by Government entities in Q1 by CalculatedRisk on 5/01/2010 08:42:00 AM From Nick Timiraos at the WSJ: U.S. Role in Mortgage Market Grows Even Larger Government-related entities backed 96.5% of all home loans during the first quarter, up from 90% in 2009, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. The following graph from San Francisco Fed Senior Economist John Krainer puts this in perspective (from Oct 2009): Recent Developments in Mortgage Finance As the U.S. housing market has moved from boom in the middle of the decade to bust over the past two years, the sources of mortgage funding have changed dramatically. The government-sponsored enterprises—Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae—now own or guarantee an overwhelming share of originations. At the same time, non-agency mortgage securitization and loans retained in lender portfolios have largely dried up. Click on graph for slightly larger in new window. This is figure 3 from the Economic Letter.