Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 10, 2011

Push will turn into a shove…..Turn out the lights, the party is over!  

Meredith Whitney’s prediction, which everyone was quick to mock and ridicule, is about to come back with a vengeance.  State and Local finances are at risk.  This idea is likely to pick up steam along the way.

Some unpleasant news for pensioned workers who believe that their insolvent state will be able to afford ridiculous legacy pensions in perpetuity. According to Pensions and Investment magazines, Newt Gingrich is pushing for legislation that will allow insolvent states to be taken off bailout support and file bankruptcy, in the process allowing them to renege on pension and other benefit obligations promises to state workers.

From P&I: In Part

Proponents of the measure — which include Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington lobby group that fights tax increases — said the legislation is desperately needed to clear the way for struggling states to slash costs before they go belly up, and should be regarded as a preemptive move that could preclude the need for massive federal bailouts.

“It’s in the short-term and long-term interests of government workers and taxpayers to start those reforms now, rather than having to pick up the pieces after a crash landing,” ATR President Grover Nor-quist said in an interview.

“We are working with people inside and outside of Congress on this issue,” said Joe DeSantis, a spokes-man for Mr. Gingrich, whom Mr. DeSantis said is considering a bid to be the Republican presidential candidate in 2012.

“This idea carries major negative financial implications for the states, their creditors and the companies that do business with them,” said Charles Loveless, director of legislation for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Washington. “A state going into bankruptcy would send shock waves through the states and could very well undermine our fragile national economic recovery,” he said.

But Mr. Norquist said that, assuming the proposal becomes law, not every state would file for bankruptcy — a right that municipal governments already have under Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

“If you don’t have this (a state bankruptcy process), you have New York, Illinois and California running off the rails because there’s no way to fix their problems … They’ve got these contracts with government workers that you can’t alter,” Mr. Norquist said.

 

 

 

Categories: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Pensions and Retirement, Wall Street
Tags: States Bankrupt Legislation