Page 856 - Pensions News Today

We have nine states that say if in fact, lets say california -- yesterdays decision says california is legal but only for california. we have nine states now that will be recognized. number one, i personally would seriously consider leaving florida, my state of residency, and go to where? whether its new york, california, so i can be legal. the same is true with companies. when companies provide benefits for same sex legal marriages, whether its with pensions or whatever, they will attract money...

Second day of hearings in an epic culture war over same sex marriage. today the focus was over a federal law that defines -- denies rather benefits to same sex couples. the law is known as the defense of marriage act or doma. it applies to federal taxes, social security, pensions, other benefits, you name it. this case involves edith windsor, who was forced to pay a larger portion in estate taxes after her partner died because the federal government did not recognize their marriage. >> turns out...

Defense of marriage act or doma as its become known and applies to federal taxes, social security, pensions, other sorts of benefits. >> shannon travis is outside the supreme court. i know theres a lot of anticipation and excitement both sides really a lot of people as they wait for them to wrap up the arguments for and against same sex marriage. give us a sense of the mood of whos out there and what are they anticipating? >> yeah. theres a lot of anticipation right now for anybody whos streamin...

Thinking, but is any challenge being done to try to minimize the 400 plus pension a year? >> in this case theres probably not much that can be done. especially, who is going to be paying there? probably the taxpayers of alameda county. and look it, the press coverage of this, the county officials are saying, well, you know, this is something we dont begrudge her of this, shes worth every penny and they may change their tune after taxpayers start reading about this. not much they can do once the ...

Thinking, but is any challenge being done to try to minimize the 400 plus pension a year? >> in this case theres probably not much that can be done. especially, who is going to be paying there? probably the taxpayers of alameda county. and look it, the press coverage of this, the county officials are saying, well, you know, this is something we dont begrudge her of this, shes worth every penny and they may change their tune after taxpayers start reading about this. not much they can do once the ...

Haunt the state. i mean, we have billions of dollars, unfunded liabilities. now, in this particular case, what you had with the city officials signed off on giving her bigger and bigger and bigger salaries, so, its not just, now, the legislature that has been allowing these, the generous pension formulas, but its a salary thats completely out of control. >> is this a freak case or others serve in the pipeline that california has trouble when these pensions come through? >> i think some of the wo...

Funding for security. at a time americans think they wont have enough money to retire, millions are spent every year helping a handful of rich guys enjoy their golden years. here is the thing, theyre all former u.s. presidents. between their pensions, making life after the oval office pretty cozy. a breakdown of just what were all paying for. yeah, well, a lot of it, jake, is office space. here is a his 20rcal nugget for you. in 1912 congress thought about giving former presidents a pension ...

Expenditures with their receipts and their tax receipts is the fact that these bad pensions that youve got, a huge amount of the budget. bill: guaranteed. >> as much a third to half of the budgets in these cities are enormously obese pensions they cant afford. bill: medical are list is a, what you think about jerry brown is trying to do to a degree, does this change any of that policy? >> all that can happen i think is a taxpayer revolt. bill: right. >> in these situations, these county administ...

Youre exactly right. the only way you stop this is with taxpayers. you know what? bill, there are several instances where taxpayers have voted on the ballot to put a clamp on these out of control pensions. so there is some movement in the right direction with people saying look, we want money to go for schools, not pensions. bill: is there anything in california that addresses perhaps renegotiating these contracts. >> bankruptcy. that is what keeps happening again and again. >> thats right. >> o...

Theyre going to these very fat packages. equity pay. you see that in entertainment. most favored nations clause to make sure this person is paid more than anyone else? how could that possibly exist in government? bill: good work if you can get it. steve moore, last word, what do we need to understand what happens now to change it? >> it is not just california. that is the other piece of bad news. this is happening in illinois. it is happening in new york. it is happening in connecticut and it ge...