California's biggest pension, $540,000, to be cut?

The #1 Trough the Hogs are feeding at? That's easy--public pensions.  Here's the tip of the iceberg--

California's biggest pension -- $540,000 -- likely to be cut - latimes.com: "State pension officials said they will probably move to cut California's biggest public pension -- and others -- after finding that the city of Vernon improperly boosted the benefits of nearly two dozen employees. The CalPERS audit will be released Tuesday, nearly two years after The Times reported on the lucrative pensions awarded to top officials in Vernon, including some who had been charged with public corruption. The state's highest public pension -- roughly $540,000 a year -- is now received by a former Vernon city administrator, Bruce Malkenhorst, who pleaded guilty to misappropriation of public funds last year. California Public Employees' Retirement System auditors found problems with Malkenhorst's pension as well as with those of former City . . . "

The problem is now so widespread, and so deep, at all levels--state, local, and federal--eventually the U.S. will have to reform the entire system.  The best system? Put everyone into Social Security and allow self-funded, tax sheltered retirement accounts along the line of this proposal--

Views under the Palm - johnmpoole.com: Why the U.S. desperately needs tax reform: " . . . Everyone would be covered by Social Security (including public employees currently exempt)--this would eliminate (eventually) the need for all public employee pensions (which are bankrupting the states, local governments, and agencies such as the Post Office). Institute "means testing" and the other reforms to entitlements recommended by Simpson Bowles. Allow everyone to have a "tax-exempt" retirement account (merging the 401k and IRAs) into retirement accounts which would be insured by the federal government and could only be held at a federally regulated institution (such as a FDIC bank or federally regulated broker)."

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