Well, the shitake is hitting the fan and all the idiotic Barney Fiefs in positions of power as governors and mayors think that raising every conceivable tax is going to magically produce their necessary revenue after tanking their economies. Of course, state employee pensions would be first in line… Because unions support liberal candidates.
One such idiotic move was attempted by the mayor of Nashville wherein he thought he could slip thru a 32.6% property tax hike while his entire entourage was still vacationing at home amidst the pandemic epidemic flu virus.
As of 2016, the funding gap between state pension liabilities and assets was determined to be $1.4 trillion. According to Moody’s that gap increased by $1 trillion during the CoVid 19 selloff. That gap widens every day that state and local revenue flattens.
The average pension across the country is roughly $28,000 compared to New York’s average of $53,000 representing 1.14 million members and current beneficiaries of 482,000.
So who are these Comptrollers in charge of managing state finances? Because they would not appear to be doing a great jon!
Tom DiNapoli has served New York State for 13 years in the capacity of Comptroller having achieved a degree in history and subsequently a masters in human resources. His entire career has been in politics. He has absolutely no education in finance or economics .
California’s Controller is Betty Yee. Her bio states that – growing up she handled the books of her family’s dry cleaning business. In college she went on to obtain degrees in Sociology and Public Administration. She has worked in politics her entire life.
What are the duties of state Comptrollers?
- Conducting performance and financial audits of all City agencies;
- Serving as a fiduciary to the City’s five public pension funds
- Providing comprehensive oversight of the City’s budget and fiscal condition;
- Reviewing City contracts for integrity, accountability and fiscal compliance;
- Resolving claims both on behalf of and against the City;
- Ensuring transparency and accountability in setting prevailing wage and vigorously enforcing prevailing wage and living wage laws; and
- Promoting policies that enhance City government’s commitment to efficiency, integrity and performance for all New Yorkers.
I passed the CPA exam years ago and conducting financial audits, managing billions in assets, preparing budgets, etc… were highly specialized tasks reserved for the most competent in education and experience. Degrees in history and sociology would hardly track that level of competence.
But that is who is managing state budgets.
New York is quickly approaching a deficit of $60 billion and California is climbing the ladder at $43 billion. I’d say the state governments had ridiculously ‘failed’ in their duties and responsibilities to manage.
And now they want President Trump to just give them all the money they lost – which is effectively money from you and I. Cryin’ the blues…
As of 2019, New York State was already in trouble facing a deficit of $6.1 billion as a result of rising Medicaid costs. Roughly one third of NY residents are on Medicaid representing a cost of $70 billion annually.
While Cuomo has recently stated that nursing homes represented the crisis in NY for CoVid 19, it was the state government that ‘ordered’ nursing homes to take in CoVid residents. 73% of all deaths in New York state claimed to be caused by CoVid 19 were residents of NYC. Twenty six other counties within New York report death rates of 5 and under, yet the lockdown applies to every county. A number of counties have -0- deaths, but must adhere to the same lockdown restrictions as NYC. The absurdity seems lost on Health commissioners, Comptrollers, Governors and Mayors who are irate that their deficit is not being wiped clean by President Trump and OUR Dollars!
A damning video of Cuomo’s response to the CoVid 19 virus reveals an arrogant, we are the best in the world, timeline response dating from February 2, 2020. While claiming New York could handle it better than any other state, claiming New York had the best hospitals and most up to date equipment ‘in the world’ – to cryin’ the blues…
March 20th, Cuomo issued an Executive Order lockdown which remains in effect today.
Further dementia would have Pelosi brightly smiling while announcing that state and local governments require $1 trillion to stay in business and a new package is being assembled with Maxine Waters at the helm of distribution???