"California is functionally bankrupt"

[Elderberry]

Molly O’Shea
@MollySOShea

BREAKING: David @friedberg  says "California is functionally bankrupt"

"People don't realize how screwed California is, & I worry that if California falls, so does the union.

"$250 billion to $1 trillion short."

"This is because for California to get rescued would be a big cost to red states, & I think it creates in the years ahead a lot of tension."

"California's functional bankruptcy is a major risk to the country. & I think we need to figure out what we can change to fix it."

How we got here:
"California has a public pension system, & that public pension system retirees have paid into it & they get some benefits out, & the amount that they're owed back out is somewhere between $250 billion - $1 trillion dollars more than has been paid in.

$250 billion to $1 trillion short.

If it was the federal government, it would be like, okay, we'll just print more money. California doesn't have the ability to print money, so California has to pay this out, and you can't restructure retirement benefits.

There is a Supreme Court case in California that said that once an employee has been offered retirement benefits, even if they're currently an employee, you can never restructure their retirement benefits.

https://twitter.com/MollySOShea/status/2037147893484970237

[MeganC]

Public employee pensions need to be changed from defined benefit programs into 401(k) style programs just like us little people get to have. Meaning that you only get what you pay into it.

The problem is how do you convert a Ponzi scheme into a viable financial model?

[catfish1957]

The nation?  Oh Bullshit.

You think the same government that can't functionally enact a simple law for voter ID, would fund a $1T bailout for this fiscal hell hole?

Oh hell no.  And if they did, watch for a national tax revolt.