California's once and current Gov. Jerry Brown's inauguration was spare and charming, a refreshing change from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's massive internationally covered Capitol lawn festival, complete with Maria Shriver's hideous speech quoting Maya Angelou. I'm no fan of Brown, who I believe is setting the stage for a series of tax-hike initiatives after he releases a budget a Monday. Expect a spare budget with massive cuts to social programs. His goal is to say to Californians: If you don't pay more taxes, you will have to live with big cuts in important programs. Don't expect Brown to challenge the way the government misspends our money.
At the inauguration, he made one mention of pensions: "We will also have to look at our system of pensions and how to ensure that they are transparent and actuarially sound and fair--fair to the workers and fair to the taxpayers."
I'd say a 401/k system is fair to everybody, but I don't think Brown -- elected thanks to a record $30 million in union expenditures -- would define fair in the same way. But at least he's acknowledging the problem.
At the inauguration, he made one mention of pensions: "We will also have to look at our system of pensions and how to ensure that they are transparent and actuarially sound and fair--fair to the workers and fair to the taxpayers."
I'd say a 401/k system is fair to everybody, but I don't think Brown -- elected thanks to a record $30 million in union expenditures -- would define fair in the same way. But at least he's acknowledging the problem.
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