From the NY Post:There's no doubt as to who calls the tune in city Comptroller John Liu's shop: the unions who elected him.
It was reported Wednesday that Liu -- whose office manages the assets of five New York City pension funds -- canceled a scheduled meeting this week between fund trustees and the Blackstone Group, an investment firm with whom the funds have had a harmonious relationship for 25 years.
Why kill the meeting?
It seems that Blackstone chief strategist Byron Wien included in his annual forecast last January the rather reasonable observation that taxpayers "literally can't afford the benefits we have given our retirees in state and local governments and we have to change that."
Now, this is no great secret.
And, over the next year, the pension funds deposited $225 million into a Blackstone private-equity fund.
But the wheels were turning.
Now, trustees from three of the five funds -- representing cops, firefighters and civilian employees -- are refusing to meet with Blackstone to discuss new investment strategies until Wien retracts his statement.
Asked by The Post to confirm this, Liu's office would say only, "There is no meeting scheduled. We have no further comment at this time."
Which basically says it all.
16 comments:
Lui will try very hard not to be in comptrollers seat when things go crashing down. He's got other aspirations.
Meanwhile he will continue let the thieving of our tax money by city employed thugs as long as he doesn't come under pressure.
Closer to topic, my impression is this article is just a wee bit of smoke and with no fire (yet). Wonder if his schedule is subject to FOIL?
if wein lives in n.y.c.,what is the bet that his street will not get plowed in the coming snow storm ?
and any other response by the union controlled public servants,who are starving.
some of the unions that elected him are the United Federation of Teachers and the Service Employees international Union ( formerly headed by Andy Stern,advisor to obama), which were just given waivers to their hundreds of thousands of members, from obamas forced healthcare law.
only the suckers with no democratic/liberal influence are stuck with this law in 2014,unless the electorate fires obama in 2012. and reduces the liberals in the U.S.Senate .
Why wouldn't the unions boycott Blackstone ? This guy is advocating trashing their pensions and they should put money in his pocket by investing those same pension funds with him? That would be crazy.
Look into Johnny boy's connections to convicted criminal Brian Mc Laughlin union boys (if any of you feds are perusing this site).
But maybe Liu's cousin Tommy Huang can buy off the unions like he's bought off so many politicians (Ackerman and the Staviskys maybe?)!
Didn't Huang once brag that he had a "back door" into city hall?
Looks to us like he's got family working there...busy "comptrolling" New York City!
It all began with a "B" production of "Flushing Down TheToilet"...when Liu was councilman.
Now it looks like the sequel will be
"NYC Down The Crapper".
(No offense meant to you "Crappy").
And "liver-lips" Liu's "blower's cramps", no doubt, are a direct result from constantly "kneeling" for Bloomberg.
He should be wearing a good pair of knee pads if he wishes to continue in that position.
Was Apelian's and Liu's street plowed...being good influential neighbors?
H-m-m-m...maybe they "plow" each other.
Unions are killing this city, and the country. More harm from them than any mafia, monopoly, or government agency ever has.
Working 20 years and retiring with full pension and medical was a great idea... when life expectancy said you would be dead before 60.
But with people living into their 80s as the norm, having a system where you work for 20 years and the system takes care of you for 40 years after is NOT SUSTAINABLE.
Or how about we at least change the rules, yes??? If you are so worn out after your time on the job that you must retire at the soonest possible time, then you are not eligible to work elsewhere after.
None of this cop for 20 years then work full time as a security guard for another 20, all the while getting paid pension plus new salary. No double dipping.
Additionally, if you collect a gov't pension, then you should also be ineligible for Social Security. Again, SS is a safety net for people who have no other options. If you are collecting a gov't pension, you dont need the extra.
Sorry, no double dipping!
anonymous said;
"if you collect a gov't pension, then you should also be ineligible for Social Security. "
Fine with me, as long as you are also exempted from paying social security taxes.
Who cares... If we go bankrupt then we'll go war with other countries and steal all their resources etc...
Then it's back to being #1.
I love American Imperialism.
In the long term the Unions know that the pensions are unsustainable. That's why they want to kick the can down the road as long as they can.
I am the anonymous coward who wrote "are sustainable", of course it is "are not sustainable"
Public employees need to switch to defined contribution plans just as the private sector has.
Face it folks, in a city as large as ours there's always going to be a middle-class and that's good.
Unions ofcourse aren't made up of millionaires and billionaires.It's secretaries,teachers,plumbers,carpenters,you name it, there's a union for it.
If you cater only to the rich and their multimillion dollar condos who will be their waitors and waitresses and porters,doormen,superintendents,drycleaners,etc.These people make up our unions.
So unless you like the current Mayoralty of bloomberg;which is autocratic, meaning it caters only to the very,very,rich and the very poor,well I say what about the rest of us?
Jon Liu out of all our elected officials accomplishes the most with regard to one big open umbrella and taking care of the middle class and even the upper-middle classes which have also been overlooked by mr.bloomberg.
LIU FOR MAYOR
LIU FOR MAYOR
of Mars!
I don't know if New York City will always have a middle class. Large sections of Queens have lost the middle class character of having one family living in a one family home they own, two families living in a two family owner-occupied home, etc. The middle class is fleeing and being replaced by illegals who burden all the infrastructure and make the areas they takeover unattractive to long-time residents.
^^^ the entire middle class is shrinking in AMERICA not just in nyc! b/c americans seem to be too stupid to know how to manage their own finances...
Liu will be elected mayor and we'll have those illegal vans that run in Maspeth and Elmhurst replace the MTA!
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