Day: March 18, 2016

Destructive Wolf Off Rocker Says Senator

Destructive Wolf Off Rocker Says Senator

Destructive Wolf Off Rocker Says SenatorBy Sen. Scott Wagner

Yesterday (March 17) I updated you on votes in the Pennsylvania State House and Senate on HB 1801, which would end the 2015-16 Budget impasse.

I also reported that Governor Wolf had stated that he would veto the budget bill.

Late yesterday it was reported that Governor Wolf was making statements that he was willing to close schools.

Click on this link and please read the story – I recommend viewing the video by Courtney Brennan.

Governor Wolf has gone off his rocker. Governor Wolf will go down as the most destructive governor in Pennsylvania history if he allows schools to close.

I see first-hand every single day how Governor Wolf has absolutely zero interest in cutting costs, cutting waste, and putting Pennsylvania on a diet.

As a matter of fact, Governor Wolf is committed to growing Pennsylvania government to reward his public sector union friends.

The best example of Governor Wolf growing government would be the 400 new employees hired at the Department of Corrections in 2015, which I feel confident saying are now dues-paying union members.

Click on this link to see which Democrat’s voted no on HB 1801 in the state House and Senate.

(Under “Floor Roll Call”, click on the word “Vote” to pull up the House votes and the Senate votes.)

To end your week, here is a great example of the irrational thinking of Senate Minority Leader Vincent Hughes from Philadelphia on the budget.

Stay tuned – I will have more to report next week.

Destructive Wolf Off Rocker Says Senator

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 3-18-16

American Hippo Bill
Hippopotamus a.k.a. Lake Cow Bacon

Congressman Robert F. Broussard in 1910 figured hippopotamus would solve a then severe meat shortage and also eat the invasive water hyacinth that was clogging up the rivers in his state of Louisiana. A win-win. So he introduced the American Hippo Bill calling for their importation and release into the bayous. Former President Theodore Roosevelt backed it as did the U.S Department of Agriculture, the Washington Post and The New York Times which described the meat as “lake cow bacon”.  The bill fell just short of being passed.

American Hippo Bill introduced by Congressman Robert F. Broussard in 1910– William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 3-18-16

PSERS Loses Money

PSERS Loses Money




PSERS Loses Money

By Leo Knepper

The Pennsylvania Public Schools Employee Retirement System (PSERS), released its 2015 performance results last week, and they weren’t good. PSERS assumes a 7.5 percent rate each year to avoid appearing even more underfunded than its publically stated $44 BILLION in unfunded liabilities. For 2015, PSERS lost nearly 1.8 percent. When we’re dealing with billions of dollars, the difference between the pension plan’s expected returns and actual returns is a substantial amount of money.

Last year’s loss comes despite PSERS spending a small fortune on “active” fund managers who are supposed to anticipate future market conditions and invest resources accordingly. As noted by the Philadelphia Inquirer:

“PSERS’s extra losses reflected its unusually large bets on commodity fund managers. The system posted a 33 percent loss for funds invested in “Master Limited Partnerships” (typically oil and gas investments), an 18 percent loss for commodities investments, and an 8 percent loss in “risk parity” investments, which can look a lot like hedge fund strategies.”

No fund manager can outperform the market every time, and this isn’t just the opinion of CAP. It a position widely held by well-respected academics and folks like Warren Buffet.

The previously mentioned Inquirer article notes that Montgomery County adopted a low-cost index fund investment approach two years ago. Last year, they substantially outperformed PSERS with a modest .3 percent return on investments. Montgomery County’s performance was not a fluke. In his book “Future Forsaken”, John McGinnis compares PSERS performance (and the others SERS system) to an index fund approach. He found that the low-cost option outperformed the current actively management funds across a thirty-year time horizon.

On top of outperforming active managers, switching to lower cost index funds could save taxpayers $750 million per year. Given the facts, there is no reason for the state’s pension systems to maintain the status quo and every reason to explore alternatives to protect taxpayers and future retirees.

Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

PSERS Loses Money