Kansas Governor Proposes Using Pension Money to Cover Budget Gaps Created By His Tax Cuts

[Peacetrain]

Source: International Buisness Times

Brownback's proposal: Slash the state’s required pension contribution by $40 million to balance the state budget. But Kansas already has one of the worst-funded pension systems in the nation. The state was also recently sanctioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission for not accurately disclosing the shortfalls.

Brownback, an icon of tea party economics who was re-elected in 2014, defended his proposal to divert money from the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS), telling the Wichita Eagle: “It’s kind of, uh, well where are you going to go for the funds? And I don’t like it, but it’s kind of what’s your other option if you don’t hit K-12 and higher ed with allotments?”

Brownback joins fellow Republican Gov. Chris Christie in coupling large tax cuts and credits with cuts to actuarially required pension payments. In New Jersey, Christie slashed required pension payments while signing legislation expanding tax credits to corporations, and doling out a record amount of corporate tax subsidies. Many of those subsidies have flowed to firms whose executives have made campaign contributions to Republican political organizations. Last week, New Jersey pension trustees filed a lawsuit against Christie for not making legally required contributions to the state's pension system.


Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/kansas-governor-proposes-using-pension-money-cover-budget-gaps-created-his-tax-cuts-1753626

---

Just speechless..

[deutsey]

1. It's pretty obvious that the interests behind people like Brownback

won't rest until they have broken us down to the level of serfs and slaves.

[olegramps]

34. The stupid voters only have them selves to blame.

It was totally unconceivable to me that he was reelected. But it only reflects the mentality of todays uninformed stupid voters. Yes, I feel sorry for those who will suffer, but I will guarantee that many of them actually voted for Brownback or didn't even show up at the polls.

[Dont call me Shirley]

46. My stupid relatives voted for these cracked pots.

[mountain grammy]

2. Well, the voters elected him to do just that.... didn't they?

[Hoppy]

5. That's because public employees are over-paid, do nothing, "takers."

[upaloopa]

25. Did you forget the satire smiley?

[Scuba]

55. See the sig line.

[Hoppy]

59. Yes, its scarcasm.

[Agnosticsherbet]

3. This is waht a majority of eligable voters wanted.

And it s clearly the will of those voters who did not bother to vote.

[blkmusclmachine]

7. Or...the will of the "people" who tabulate vote totals.

[Agnosticsherbet]

9. It is my opinon that blaming the outcome of elections we don't like

on some sort of voter fraud is wrong.

No, Kansas has the government they want, including those Kansans on pensions.

[Adrahil]

30. Mostly agree....

Though I say they got the government most of those who bothered to vote wanted.

Too many on our side fall the narrative that their votes don't matter or the ole "they're all the same" mantra.

[Agnosticsherbet]

11. Kansas had a voter turn out of 51%.

Clearly the 51% who were most interested in protecting pensions and electing a government to run a government for the middle class and the poor did not turn out in numbers sufficient to make their will hear. the 49% who could not be bothered, get a government that can not be bothered.

http://cjonline.com/news/2014-11-26/kansas-voter-turnout-election-slightly-exceeded-prediction

[SoapBox]

48. Is that 51% of all Kansas citizens or just 51% of registered voters OR...

Just 51% of those that cast ballots?

Because THAT can be a huge difference!

In California, when Prop. 8 (or Hate) passed, it passed with a majority vote...BUT, the number in that "majority" was a minority of all Californians.

Granted if people fail to vote, this is the hell they get.

My favorite saying...Figures Lie and Liars Figure...the devil is in the details.

[Agnosticsherbet]

54. "Kansas Secretary of State’s Office said Wednesday. Statewide, 51 percent of registered voters cast"

ballots."

It is my feeling that people who don't vote want the worst possible candidate to be elected.

[MuseRider]

57. The dem running against

Brownback lost this. What a pitiful, bland effort. We own as much of this as the teabaggers who actually felt they had more than a puddle of wee to vote for.

[Agnosticsherbet]

64. No, the 49% who could not be bothered to vote are responsible.

The one vote that Davis could cast for himself was not going to win the election. People who don't vote are responsible.

I see this over and over again. The candidate gets all the blame. That is bullshit. Vote and be counted. Those who don't vote are responsible.

[PeoViejo]

4. The Prophet Carlin said it well:

[snappyturtle]

35. Thank you! This is EXACTLY what came to my mind when I read the title

of the OP.

I actually think there was a time when neither party would never have even thought of taking away from pensions. Times have indeed changed. imho

[PeoViejo]

37. Although, I disagree with Carlin on one point

I'm not going to get used to it and a lot of folks feel the same way I do. When he said those things, the perceptions were a lot different than they are now. We know who the real enemy is.

[RKP5637]

6. This is apparently what the people of Kansas want and love. They knew what this

guy and his administration were all about and voted him back in. I have little sympathy for Kansas. I do feel sorry for the people of Kansas that do not want this, but looking in from outside, that appears to be a minority.

[blkmusclmachine]

8. Brownback is part of "THE FAMILY," a Christian Dominionist organization in DC & VA.

[vlyons]

10. What's the other option?

Raise taxes, you A-hole! What? Brownback admit that his Ayn Rand ideology of trickle-down economics doesn't work? About as likely to happen as him admitting that Jesus was NOT born thru immaculate conception. Well Kansans, you voted him back in, you got to live with it now.

[kickysnana]

12. They must have stolen all the school funds already huh? Hate Rethugs.

[tridim]

21. Some of it is gained back via the increased sales tax.

It is part of the wool that has been pulled over the eyes of the idiots in Kanas who vote Republican no matter what.

I live in Kansas City, MO and used to shop in Kansas fairly regularly. I will not be shopping in Kansas until Brownback/Koch are gone.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. I-R-R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-L-E

I think I finally figured out Republicans. They really do believe they can go on a financial bender because God will provide for them. So all those retirement funds that people assumed would be their cushion in retirement is nothing more than divine restoration for God-fearing Republicans.

If it weren't for their Christian beliefs, why, they would just be plain old crooks.

[sarcasmo]

14. Destroying Pensions a tea party wet dream.

[elleng]

15. because none of them live that long???

[n2doc]

18. Because they hate that others might have it better than them

Since private pension plans have disappeared with long term good paying jobs, the t-baggers are insanely jealous of anyone who does have a pension plan. Especially teachers. They tend to overlook the Police and firefighters, to some extent.

[Faux pas]

16. Old pete wilson did

that in Calif back in the 80's. Then CalPers and the unions went to court and made the pension fund untouchable from then on. Who knows how it'll go with the new steal-everything-they-can cromnibus.

[sinkingfeeling]

17. As long as it's out of his personal pensions, okay.

[The CCC]

19. Kansas Governor Proposes Using Pension Money to Cover Budget Gaps Created By His Tax Cuts

That's not a bug it's a feature in republiCONism.

[Zenlitened]

32. Yep. Disaster capitalism...

...where the disasters, crises, emergencies, etc. are manufactured deliberately.

[workinclasszero]

20. Keep on voting in the looters/rapists

of the middle class (REPUBLICANS) and get more of the same.

You asked for it and you are going to get it Kansas, and the USA in general until we WAKE THE F**K UP!

[Omaha Steve]

22. That means Brownback is now a TAKER

The Teapot Dome Party will act quickly to remove him from office!!!!

[RoccoR5955]

23. Bastard!

Stealing money from his own employees, AND retirees. Yeah, that's a way to cover for the fact that you have been giving in to the legal bribery that he gets from his corporate donors!

If he follows through with this, it will generate even more enemies than he already has.

[upaloopa]

24. I am getting the idea now that progressive Dems in red states

should move to blue states so we can have super majorities in blue states. Then we can pass progressive legislation in blue states. Let those who like repubs stay in the ALEC controlled states and lose everything they ever worked for.

[belzabubba333]

26. the people of kansas knew what they were getting and re-elected him

[Rhinodawg]

27. Who voted for this a$$hole ?

what IS wrong with Kansas ?

[rustysgurl]

33. I Didn't

And I BEGGED ... literally BEGGED ... everyone I knew NOT to re-elect this embarassment. But, re-elect him they did, and now we are flushed. Moving may be an option at some point.

[alcibiades_mystery]

28. The move of breaching contracts and further impoverishing his state

Will surely lead to a third term.

The people of Kansas are masochists.

[jalan48]

29. Grover Norquist

is so excited by this news he is be-pissing himself.

[LiberalArkie]

31. I have a question for a police officer. Are police pensions funded by the state or the union:

I think in normal unions the pension is funded by the workers union dues. I am not sure. There is some reason that the politicians are not worried about cutting pension plans. I have a feeling that it is only applying to teachers and civil servants not police and fire. Maybe someone can fill us in.

[dmosh42]

36. This is another red state that loves to kiss the asses of millinaires, with the people obviously....

suffer from low-self esteem, and don't think the workers deserve anything. The Koch bros have the run of the place!

[colsohlibgal]

38. The Right Wants To Completely Roll Back The New Deal

They've hated The New Deal Since FDR. Now the right has the neo democrats sniping at it. To the Gilded Set go the spoils.

And now Wall Street can play casino again, and we're back on the hook to bail them out when they leverage too high and come crashing down again.

American Exceptionalism alright, just not in a good way.

[MissDeeds]

39. I live in Kansas

and many of us are still reeling from the election. While some here are saying that Kansans got the government they wanted, it should be noted that Brownback won by 50%. His Democratic challenger, Paul Davis got 46% - hardly a Brownback landslide. There are some darn fine people here who worked their butts off to defeat Brownback. So please, DU, don't paint with too broad a brush.

[Rhinodawg]

42. You sound like nice intelligent person...

why are you living in hell ?

[Octafish]

65. I think Kansas is great.

A favorite nephew is a Wildcat. Visited Manhattan in 2011 for the Kansas State-Missouri football game. Great, kind, and fun people, no matter their politics. Love 'em all.

[MissDeeds]

66. Thanks so much, Octafish!

I'm a Wildcat - got my MA and PhD at K-State, was a graduate teaching assistant there, met my husband there, and taught there. Needless to say, we bleed purple. Manhattan tends to lean Democratic and Lawrence, home of KU, is solidly blue. There are some really great folks here, who fight the good fight and don't flinch when the odds are against us.

A friend of ours owns a liquor store in a Kansas town of less than 15,000 and he said still - more than a month after the election - people come in and rant about the election. It's an open wound, one that many of us won't get over anytime soon. It REALLY hurts when people say we're all fools who deserve what we got. That is so not true. We nearly defeated Brownback and the Koch brothers in November. We're committed to getting them next time.

Thanks again for your kind words! Much appreciated!

[KamaAina]

41. That's BrownSHIRT

Or is it THROWback?

[Martin Eden]

44. BLATANT Robin Hood in Reverse

What kind of country are we living in where someone like Brownback gets re-elected?

[staggerleem]

45. You all better get used to this - it's the new paradigm.

With the CRomnibus giveaways, and the new G20 rules for "resolution" (banker-speak for "impending bankruptcy), stealing pensions is now not only LEGAL, it's going to become STANDARD PRACTICE. At this point, any pension funds held in a major US commercial bank may now be the first assets that the bank can seize to pay off its derivative debt, in the event of a (here comes more banker-speak) "destabilizing event". Savings accounts won't be far behind - they are now classified as "unsecured debt", and are thus seize-able as well. If you want a good scare regarding the foxes that are guarding the hen-house where all of YOUR eggs (and mine!) are stored, read the first two articles on Ellen Brown's "Web of Debt" blog - http://ellenbrown.com/

[KrazyinKS]

47. Yes they voted Brownback back in and also Roberts-

Roberts gave the worst debate performance I have ever seen, and yet the voted him back in. I don't get it. They seem to have a "them and us" mentality. You're one of "them" and not one of "us". They are pure evil, straight from Satan. We of course are the good guys, America freedom and liberty, Jesus and all the rest of the buzz words they use. You need to remember Christianity paints themselves as pure good, the only ones worthy of heaven and everyone else gets thrown into a fiery pit of hell. they seem to have the same mentality when it comes to politics. I hope I am not rambling. But Brownback has been known to stand there and pray in public at the Capital in Topeka and makes sure that makes the papers. It makes the choice easy, that way they don't have to spend too much time actually reading. I think we Dems in KS need a little bit of sympathy.

[hollowdweller]

49. What you said makes total sense.

Really, you look at it, talk radio got started in the 80's then Fox News.

For many, even democrats "Liberal" is a perjorative thanks to years and years of propaganda.

Conservative is not.

Remember Bush VS Dukakis "not in the mainstream" meaning different from us.

Clinton? Crook, must remove by impeachment.

Obama? Somehow illegitimate.

If you look at that New York Times recent poll where a LOT of people agree with our issues, yet they still feel gov't has too much regulation.

That is what they have been programmed VS what they are seeing clashing.

So while many people might agree with many of the democratic idea if you spell them out as individual bills, in a generic race between a democrat and a republican they will vote republican because of the visceral response brought about by years of repitition without the dems fighting back.

[MuseRider]

58. Being in Kansas myself

I would agree with you to a point but BB had no competition. This should have been easy, even in this state. Should have been easy nobody really likes BB nor do they like what he is doing. Even the rural papers were writing scathing articles about his governance.

As far as sympathy for the Dems, we will see. If they put the loser of the race, the only person who could lose an election like this one, in charge of the party as his "reward" for being so great but losing I will drop all support in the name of the party. Pathetic run, pathetic cowardice when faced with questions that needed answered but perfect for a party that thinks he should be rewarded for this. What is the number now? Something like 28 Dems left in office? Perhaps if they ever stood for something and stopped looking at their shoes they might do better?

[SansACause]

50. This is what he was re-elected to do!

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone in Kansas. They voted for the guy who promised to keep destroying the state. The nationalization of Mississippi continues unabated.

[ladjf]

51. How could that be legal? nt

[CanonRay]

52. Simple redistribution of income

From the middle class to the wealthy.

[Cha]

53. Majority of Kansas wanted this.. "give me more punishments from Brownback.. we didn't get enough!"

[Hockey Dad]

56. Brownback, Roberts

You've doubtless never heard such a brazen query before now, but what IS the matter with Kansas? (Wink.)

[NewDeal_Dem]

60. I wish these people would catch the plague & die. I seriously do. They are killing

people and have no shame or mercy.

[alp227]

61. the re-election of Brownnose and news like this are why I rented the DVD

What's the Matter with Kansas based on Thomas Frank's book.

[Enthusiast]

62. This is theft, pure and simple.

[NaturalHigh]

63. Any legislator who votes for this should be subject to recall.

It takes someone with no conscience to even propose screwing with pensions that people have rightfully earned.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

67. Does this mean that Brownback's dildo yard sale didn't work out? nt

[Thor_MN]

68. Make Kansas fund 80 years of pension payments in the next 10 years...

If it's good for the USPS, it's good for Kansas.

[Peacetrain]

70. When I read that,, it was the first thing that came to my mind

The same nimrods that are bankrupting the Postal Service with demands like that should have to live by them if they are government officials

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

69. Mission Accomplished!