Site highlights problems with USA's Public Sector Unions

"Shining a spotlight on the critical issues of public employees and their representatives in state and local governments"

"Public employee unions and other groups dependent on taxpayer funding have long pushed for higher spending to benefit their members, clients, employees and other stakeholders. Together, they represent a powerful force — Public Sector Inc. — dedicated to the preservation of the budgetary status quo in recession-ravaged state capitals and city halls throughout the country.

This website is designed to illuminate the public sector problem and offer solutions for governmental reform in the broad public interest." Example:

"Taxpayer-funded employer contributions to public pensions in New York State will rise by billions of dollars in the next few years, threatening to divert scarce resources from other essential public services in the midst of a fiscal crisis, according to a report issued today by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

The report, “New York’s Exploding Pensions Costs,” forecasts pension funding trends for the New York State and Local Retirement Systems (NYSLRS) and the New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS), which cover nearly every public employee outside New York City. It also summarizes official reports of funded status and projected costs over the next three years for the New York City Retirement Systems.

Key findings:

• Taxpayer contributions to NYSTRS could more than quadruple, rising from about $900 million as of 2010-11 to about $4.5 billion by 2015-16. The projected increase is equivalent to an annual property tax hike of 3.5 percent a year, well above Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo’s proposed property tax cap.

• State and local employer contributions to NYSLRS will more than double over the next five years, adding nearly $4 billion to annual taxpayer costs even if most opt to convert a portion of their higher pension bills into IOUs that won’t be paid off until the 2020s.

• New York City’s budgeted pension contributions, which already have increased by more than 500 percent ($5.8 billion) in the last decade, are projected to increase at least 20 percent more, or $1.4 billion, in the next three years. "

This craziness is why Americans find representatives willing to fight this monster very popular - like NJ's Chris Christie.

The war rages on...

hattip: Legal Insurrection