Hot off the press. Puerto Rico's new gov seeks statehood to help end crisis 1 Hour Ago The Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's new governor was sworn in Monday as the U.S. territory prepares for what many believe will be new austerity measures and a renewed push for statehood to haul the island out of a deep economic crisis. Gov. Ricardo Rossello, 37, proposed several measures aimed at alleviating the crisis shortly after he was sworn in at midnight. Among them is a proposal to hold a referendum that would ask voters whether they prefer statehood or independence. Many have argued that Puerto Rico's political status has contributed to its decade-long crisis that has prompted more than 200,000 people to flee to the U.S. mainland in recent years. Rossello also aims to boost public-private partnerships and use that revenue to save a retirement system that faces a $40 billion deficit and is expected to collapse in less than a year. Rossello also has pledged to work closely with a federal control board that U.S. Congress created last year to oversee Puerto Rico's finances, and he has said he supports negotiations with creditors to help restructure a nearly $70 billion public debt. Thousands of supporters awaited Rossello's arrival for the post-swearing-in inauguration ceremony at the island's seaside Capitol building, clutching umbrellas to protect themselves from a searing sun. "This is a historic moment for Puerto Rico," said 50-year-old Jose Davila as he waved a large flag from Rossello's pro-statehood party. "He's the hope of our island, he's the hope for statehood, he's the hope for a people that have suffered." Puerto Ricans have been hit with dozens of new taxes in the past four years and increases in utility bills as former Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla aimed to generate more revenue for a government he said was running out of money. Despite those and other measures, the island's government has defaulted on millions of dollars' worth of bond payments and declared a state of emergency at several agencies. The federal control board has requested a revised fiscal plan that has to be approved by end of January, saying that the one Garcia submitted last year was in part unrealistic and relied too heavily on federal funds. Garcia had refused to submit a revised plan to include austerity measures. Rossello has said he would request an extension of that deadline as well as an extension of a moratorium that expires in February and currently protects Puerto Rico from lawsuits filed by angered creditors. As supporters kept streaming toward the Capitol building, one yelled out, "Today, a new Puerto Rico begins!" to the cheers of others, including those holding U.S. flags.
If this happens - a pension system collapsing - will this be the first occurance of such a situation? or has such a situation already occured somewhere else ?
I guess it is already happening. In Dallas the pension fund for police officers are in trouble. http://www.wsj.com/articles/dallas-...tys-police-and-fire-pension-system-1483134121
I think Illinois is in big trouble. Not 100% sure though. I remember reading they would be the next to fall.
The pension crisis IS happening. The pilot was Detroit. But you must simultaneously look at what is happening with state and local taxes to understand what is and has been reported as isolated one-offs. And there is one more crucial layer... civil unrest. State and local government pensions pit neighbor against neighbor. Put another way, State vs the people. Seven states have constitutional public pension protection, meaning, pensions payments are guaranteed, and guaranteed to be paid first! Btw, IL and MI are on that list. Military pensions are in a state of change, with the latest spend reduction offset by cash contributions for the rank and file. IL is broke. NJ is near. Nothing matters until it matters, and then, everything matters.
Puerto Rican statehood has about the same chance of happening as DC statehood while the Republicans control the government: zero. Either one would be adding two Democrat senators and a bunch of Democrat representatives.
Unless they put in 2 Republicans. But there are limits to how many Representatives we can have. They only have 3.5 million people in PR. That is about half the population of Dallas/Ft Worth. I guess that works out to 2 Representatives. I wonder how that works in a non census year. Do you take 2 from a state you don't like and redraw their boundaries? Anyhow, it's about time. They should have done it a long time ago.
Military retirement is federal dollars and the conditions are set at the federal level. There is a recent change to a blended defined benefit plus 401k style thrift savings plan matching, but that won't be effective for 20 years since everyone already in is grandfathered unless they opt to switch. In any event, it has nothing to do with state pension crisis.
Ah, so the soundness or lack of soundness of Federal pensions will be status quo for years to come. Who said the pension crisis is limited to municipalities or States? Not me. Another myopic, with normalcy bias.
Why is there this pension crisis in the first place? Do not people put in during their working lives, then this get invested profitably by professionals, then people take out what they put in and the profits??????