this just in - hard STOP in CA

[audrey_girl]

Re: this just in - hard STOP in CA

how the heck did we get onto this from a thread re the CA economy?

thats what I was wondering....

guess it is part of the charm of this wonderful little place...

[metalman]

why CA is broke...

[rabot10]

Re: why CA is broke...

sorry i don't get it could you explain?

[lakedaemonian]

Re: why CA is broke...

Just WOW........

Unless those guys are super spiffy HAZMAT type highly trained specialized cleaners that is going to end very, very, very badly.

My followup question would be can a cleaner making $100k+ retire on an inflation adjusted defined benefit pension with lifetime healthcare after 20 years service and another 30-40 years to live?

Before I left the US a decade ago I remember a story where toll both collectors were making $120k inclusive of big overtime making change on the Turnpike.....they were doing it for years and I believe the benefits flowed through to their pension plans as well.

Cutting state/local civil servant jobs, and cutting state/local civil servant salaries is surely going to hurt a lot of people and their respective state/local economies.......but the implosion of pensions is something I fear even more.

When does the unsustainable pension rot stick like glue to the front page?

When I talk to people about residential real estate prices and unemployment.....people pay attention because they know it or feel it.

When I talk about commercial property going down the gurgler......people seem to grasp it from all the "for sale/lease" signage, but don't seem to have the capacity to see it in the big picture as it doesn't affect them directly.

When I talk about pensions.......people just seem to shut down....or worse...assume they will be made whole.....everyone is too focused on the short-term to see the pension train of hurt coming down the tracks.

Everytime I get the least bit optomistic I can't help but think about the state/local government pension horror that hasn't been fully revealed yet.

And I think about the mass individual financial vulnerability that will be unleashed at great risk of being leveraged negatively by those seeking power for the wrong reasons.

I get the sense here on iTulip that trying to effect REAL change can't occur until the FIRE substance abuser society we live in has hit rock bottom and asks for help.

While I agree, I can't help but think of the Bob Marley quote:

"The people that are making this world worse don't take a day off, how can I?"

[metalman]

Re: why CA is broke...

sorry i don't get it could you explain?

so you think $116k is a fair salary for cleaning a bus?

[lurker]

Re: why CA is broke...

so you think $116k is a fair salary for cleaning a bus?

Depends on what the passengers typically do on that bus.

[skyson]

Re: why CA is broke...

It is quite possible a unionized labor earning a $50,000 salary in California, I guess. Add overtime pay, for example for 20 hours extra a week, that would make you a $100,000 annual salary easily.

In the hospital I am working in(Western Canada), quite some people work double shifts regulary (especially those new immigrants). It is not uncommon to see nurses with >$100,000/year salaries.

Are you surprised to see in the above list of six persons, three of them have Chinese names? They work long hours year in and year out. It is that simple...

[touchring]

Re: why CA is broke...

It is quite possible a unionized labor earning a $50,000 salary in California, I guess. Add overtime pay, for example for 20 hours extra a week, that would make you a $100,000 annual salary easily.

In the hospital I am working in(Western Canada), quite some people work double shifts regulary (especially those new immigrants). It is not uncommon to see nurses with >$100,000/year salaries.

Are you surprised to see in the above list of six persons, three of them have Chinese names? They work long hours year in and year out. It is that simple...

In china, they will earn $1000 a year, even with extra 20 hours.

[WildspitzE]

Re: why CA is broke...

In china, they will earn $1000 a year, even with extra 20 hours.

........so?

[audrey_girl]

Re: this just in - hard STOP in CA

on monday another important deadline will be missed in CA

fyi:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...6EV1.DTL&tsp=1

any ideas of what will be the reaction in the markets when things get real ugly in the Golden State next month.

could this ignite a larger series of ugly economic events?

[touchring]

Re: why CA is broke...

........so?

The point is a lot of cut back needs to be made.