News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
So, Anthony, who was Edward Elgar? He was an English composer famed for his military marches who was big in the early 20th century. He was given an honorary degree at Yale University in 1905. A riff from his big hit March No. 1 in D was played in his honor. We know the tune as Pomp and Circumstance.
Yes, that is the start of the graduation ceremony tradition.
The Higgins boat which landed our troops on D-Day and freed Europe was originally designed to smuggle liquor into the U.S. during Prohibition.
At least that is the strong suspicion.
USA Greenest Nation Or In Top 6 Anyway — The USA is not quite the greenest nation on Earth. It’s 12th according to the World Health Organization. Of course, if one takes out South Pacific island paradises like Vanatu, Fiji, Micronesia and the Solomons, and one discounts non-industrial places like Brunei and Liberia, then we are a solid sixth behind New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Finland and Canada.
We are ahead of the international common scolds that are France and Germany.
Don’t even ask about India, China and Russia.
Point that out the next time a CNN watcher whines about us leaving the Paris Climate Scam.
Or you see Pat Meehan.
A diamond the size of the moon has been found in outer space.
The banana is the healthiest food, at least according to ThisWeek.com. Bananas are one of the few foods to contain all six major vitamin groups along with potassium.
Meehan Blasts Trump, Profile In Spinelessness — Showing again that his penchant is obstruction rather than progress, Congressman Pat Meehan (R-Pa7) joined the Democrats and denounced America’s Trumpian exit from the Paris Climate Scam.
“It calls into question our commitment to protecting and preserving the environment,” Meehan said. “And it forfeits our ability to drive countries like China and India to reduce their carbon footprint and compete on a level playing field. Ultimately, this disappointing decision diminishes America’s leadership role on the world stage.”
Right. Did he actually listen to the President’s explanation? Does he really think our presence in this scam is going to stop China and India — and other places — from building coal plants and expanding coal production? LOL. Does he really think the billion we gave to the “Green Fund” is really being used for the environment? LOL II. Does he not comprehend that we will be on the hook for tens, maybe hundreds, of billions more?
Does he think it is good for Americans to have $7,000 less household income?
The US does not need Europe, China or India to follow sane environmental practices. In fact, getting out of this scam would be much better for the environment. If annual income was $7 G higher a lot more households would be looking at Teslas and other battery-powered cars.
Grow a spine, Congressman. It’s going to bite you if you don’t.
God bless President Trump. God bless the man who saw what a corrupt scam the globalists were running regarding the Paris Climate Accord.
Pennsylvania Republicans better stay/get on the the Trump Train. Reservations are not needed.
September has twice as many summer days as June.
Pennsylvania Repeating Michigan Mistake?
By Leo Knepper
Some members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly continue to push a “hybrid” defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plan as the solution to the Commonwealth’s pension problems. Senate Bill 1 is the latest iteration of this “reform” proposal. As we have previously noted, plan design changes for future employees will not address the current unfunded liability. The only way to address the unfunded liability is to modify the pension benefits for current employees or enact funding reform. Adjusting pension benefits for current employees would run into legal challenges, leaving funding reform as the more likely option.
Switching from a traditional DB pension to a hybrid plan will not solve our problems in the long run. We need to look no further than the state of Michigan to see how hybrid plans fail to live up to their promises. A recent article from CapitolWire(paywall) summarizes the situation:
“What Michigan did in 2010 is exactly what some Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers want to do for both state and public school employees starting in 2018…While some Pennsylvania lawmakers are trying to convince their colleagues to embrace a hybrid plan (in Senate Bill 1), Michigan lawmakers want to end theirs in favor of a standalone defined contribution plan…One of the sponsors of the new effort in Michigan, Rep. Thomas Albert, called the 2010 MPSERS hybrid, ‘A Band-Aid for a bullet wound,’ while Michigan’s Speaker of the House, Tom Leonard, penned a column in which he called MPSERS ‘little more than one big I.O.U., a shaky promise signed by long-gone Lansing politicians…Michigan’s historic failure to reform the pension system has been a terrible deal for the hard-working people who take care of and educate our children. It is well past time we fix that mistake and give teachers the benefits they deserve.'”(Emphasis added)
After switching to a hybrid plan, Michigan’s unfunded liability grew because lawmakers there relied on overly optimistic assumptions and continued to underfund the system. Using history as a guide, why should we think Pennsylvania would be any different? Our current unfunded liability is over $74 billion because politicians make promises and don’t have the will to pay for them. An unwillingness on the part of politicians to pay for their promises is not just a Pennsylvania problem, as noted in a recent column from Heritage Foundation analyst.
Harrisburg’s “long-gone” politicians increased government employees’ and teachers’ pensions by 25 percent in 2001; lawmakers increased their pensions by 50 percent at the same time. This act became law with a signature from Gov. Tom Ridge and illustrates that our pension problem is bipartisan in its origin.
The only way to remove political gamesmanship from the equation is for the Commonwealth to adopt a straight 401(k) DC-type plan and enact pension reform to address our current unfunded liabilities. Leadership in the House and Senate like to point out that Governor Wolf wouldn’t sign legislation establishing a DC plan. If they were smart, they would put it on his desk anyway, let the Wolf veto it, and then work to elect a governor who would enact the kind of reform Pennsylvania needs.
Please, take 30 seconds to email the General Assembly about pension reform.
Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.
Light slows to less than 93,000 miles per second when passing through a diamond.