By Jeb Bradley April 15, 2011
Over the last few weeks, many people, especially public employees, have called, emailed or spoken with me at the State House about the pension reform bill, SB-3, which recently passed the Senate. Many of these people have received misinformation about what the bill actually does and how it affects them. Reforming the pension system to ensure its long term viability has been an emotional discussion for some folks, and that’s why I believe it is so important for everybody to have accurate information on the exact changes that are called for in SB-3. It is my hope that this column will help provide clarification. As always, I remain open and available to discuss concerns or share thoughts on this issue.
Background
As of June 30, 2010 the unfunded liability of the New Hampshire Retirement System (NHRS) was $4.7 billion – approximately $3500 per person in NH. On July 1, employers -- meaning taxpayers -- will pay 13.95% of salary for teacher’s retirement, 25.57% for police officers, and 30.9% for firefighters. In two years those rates will escalate to 29.2% for police and 33.9% for firefighters – rates that are unsustainable in my view. Without SB-3, the entire unfunded burden will be borne exclusively by taxpayers. This will price employees out of jobs, drive up property taxes, make growing and attracting businesses to NH more difficult, and may lead to a downgrading of the state’s bond rating.
Impact of SB-3 on retired public employees -- There will be no changes in the pensions of people already retired.
Medical subsidy eligibility -- The medical subsidy is a payment to a retired teacher or municipal employee that allows them to stay on their former employer’s health plan. Legislation several years ago froze the 8% growth rate in the medical subsidy. SB-3 continues that freeze, but if a retired employee is eligible for the subsidy payment he or she will continue to receive it without a growth factor. The medical subsidy is now funded by employers.
Impact of SB-3 on COLA’s – SB-3 does not change COLA status. Legislation several years ago established a 1.5% COLA in 2010 on the first $30,000 of pensions. SB-3 does not alter that but it also does not authorize additional COLAs.
Gainsharing—“gainsharing” is the practice of diverting revenue from the main pension fund into the Special Account to pay for COLAs and the Medical Subsidy. Gainsharing is one of the primary reasons the NHRS has an unfunded liability of $4.7 billion. Pension systems rely on good earning years to balance poor earnings. Gainsharing diverted $900 million from good earning years leaving the NHRS with no cushion for poor years. No pension system is viable when diversions occur. Legislation enacted several years ago eliminated gainsharing for the foreseeable future and SB-3 ensures gainsharing does not return. COLAs in the future will have to be funded from a different source.
Impact of SB-3 on employees who have worked for 10 or more years and are vested into the NHRS -- Contribution rates will increase from 5 to 7% for employees and teachers; public safety employees will increase from 9.3% to 11.3%. Overtime, unused sick and vacation time, end of career payments will still count toward retirement calculations, and current multipliers will be used. Special detail pay will still be included in retirement calculations provided it is not higher than the average of the previous 7 years. Also, effective in July of 2016, no one will be able to retire at a level higher than 100% of their base pay.
Impact of SB-3 on employees who have worked less than 10 years and are not vested -- Contribution rates will also increase similarly. Employees will not be able to count unused sick or vacation time or end or career payments toward retirement -- though overtime will count. Retirement will be calculated over 5 rather than 3 years. Public safety employees will have to work somewhat longer depending upon years of service. Currently these employees can retire at age 45 with 20 years of service. Under SB-3 an employee with 8 or 9 years of service can retire at 46 with 21 total years. For someone with 6 or 7 years they will be able to retire at 47 with 22 years. Someone with 4 or 5 years of service could retire at 48 with 23 years. Someone with 1-3 years could retire at 49 with 24 years. For newly hired public safety employees, they will be able to retire at age 50 with 25 years of service with a pension multiplier designed to achieve 50% of base salary after 25 years.
For more information about SB-3 and the NHRS – SB-3 can be found at www.nh.gov and the NHRS at www.nhrs.org
4.19.2011
4.13.2011
More loser than leader
By Jerry McConnell
Having been there himself on occasion, Oliver North, former U. S. Marine Corps Lt. Colonel, sees Barack Obama in “serious trouble.” The good colonel, never shy with comments on current events or, I might add, bravery in military or political actions, says in an online column for Townhall.com. “Laureates and Leaders” on March 25, 2011, “Nobel laureate Barack Obama, fresh from his Latin American spring break, is in serious trouble. Globalists and Utopians who once lauded his constant contrition now want POTUS to return his Peace Prize.”
North sees Washingtonians including all the classifications that are so abundant in that self-anointed “swamp” such as libertarians, progressives and conservatives as being outraged that our U. S. military forces were committed to combat in the Middle East without Congressional participation.
And the Colonel is correct, except for one who, though known for always picking the absolutely wrong time to speak up, and has been boisterously silent on Obama’s very possible illegal actions, and that is stone-headed, flap-jaws Joe Biden, Obama’s VEEP.
Joe “the Lip” Biden once declared loudly and clearly to Congress, the lamestream Media and just about anybody who would listen that any president who placed our military forces into a combat attack on a foreign country without Congressional authorization should face impeachment.
Newsmax.com in its Insider Report online on March 27, 2011 reported that “a videotape has surfaced from the 2007 campaign trail showing Biden threatening to impeach President George W. Bush if he attacked Iran without the approval of Congress.” Biden, according to Newsmax, communicated with legal scholars, the “best-known Constitutional scholars in America because for 17 years I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee.”
Joe, the inept, went on to say “And I want to make it clear, I want it on the record if he does, (attack without Congressional approval) as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and former chair of the Judiciary Committee, I will move to impeach him.”
Can’t you just see the angst at the White House right now, the picture of a 24-7 vigil with perhaps even some large labor union thugs keeping a ‘closer-than-skin’ physical monitor action on Joe Biden to prevent his granting any conference time to ANY news media, and in particular, not one from outside the mainstream media. Old Joe just might forget who the president is right now and make a similar statement to that in the preceding paragraph.
Getting back to Colonel North, he insists to the Insider Report that “The commander in chief’s approval ratings are dropping faster than a JDAM (procedure to convert unguided bombs into controlled directions.) And no matter what happens to Moammar Gadhafi, the turmoil in the Middle East is likely to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. For all of this, President Obama has nobody to blame but himself.
The President, according to North decided on his own that “what was needed to be done and finding allies to support it, a process employed by American leader for two centuries, Obama turned over to the United Nations and the Arab League to build an ‘international coalition’ to determine the outcome.”
But by the time the U. N. Security Council got a Resolution passed, North says that “our military forces were ready and French President Sarkozy was ready to lead; our president was not; and when the first airstrikes to be launched against targets were beginning in Libya, Sarkozy seized the moment and delivered his message that French aircraft was headed for action in Libya on March 17th..
Of course by the time this was taking place our fearless leader was thousands of miles away in Brazil where he bravely announced that the U. S. forces would contribute “unique capabilities” at the front end of the mission, as Lt. Col. North explains, in the form of intelligence, surveillance, signal jamming, and other logistical capabilities. And at that time he repeated his pledge that ‘we will not deploy any U.S. troops on the ground.’
The Newsmax Insider Report went on to state that this promise was “modified” on the night of March 21-22 when a Marine Expeditionary Unit launched an air-ground force from the USS Kearsarge to rescue an Air Force pilot who had bailed out of his damaged F-15.
Of course all of this activity in and out and around Libya was carried on while Obama was enjoying the South American sunshine in Brazil and other vistas. To paraphrase Lt. Col. North, Obama’s dithering and trying to avoid offending any of the nations in the Middle East while others such as Bahrain, Yemen, Syria get deeper involved in tumult and citizen unrest can not replace leadership.
And as North states, “This is no time for artful rhetoric and equivocation. Even a Nobel laureate must know that a leader who tries to placate everyone ends up pleasing no one.”
That’s why I said at the top, Obama is more loser than leader.
Having been there himself on occasion, Oliver North, former U. S. Marine Corps Lt. Colonel, sees Barack Obama in “serious trouble.” The good colonel, never shy with comments on current events or, I might add, bravery in military or political actions, says in an online column for Townhall.com. “Laureates and Leaders” on March 25, 2011, “Nobel laureate Barack Obama, fresh from his Latin American spring break, is in serious trouble. Globalists and Utopians who once lauded his constant contrition now want POTUS to return his Peace Prize.”
North sees Washingtonians including all the classifications that are so abundant in that self-anointed “swamp” such as libertarians, progressives and conservatives as being outraged that our U. S. military forces were committed to combat in the Middle East without Congressional participation.
And the Colonel is correct, except for one who, though known for always picking the absolutely wrong time to speak up, and has been boisterously silent on Obama’s very possible illegal actions, and that is stone-headed, flap-jaws Joe Biden, Obama’s VEEP.
Joe “the Lip” Biden once declared loudly and clearly to Congress, the lamestream Media and just about anybody who would listen that any president who placed our military forces into a combat attack on a foreign country without Congressional authorization should face impeachment.
Newsmax.com in its Insider Report online on March 27, 2011 reported that “a videotape has surfaced from the 2007 campaign trail showing Biden threatening to impeach President George W. Bush if he attacked Iran without the approval of Congress.” Biden, according to Newsmax, communicated with legal scholars, the “best-known Constitutional scholars in America because for 17 years I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee.”
Joe, the inept, went on to say “And I want to make it clear, I want it on the record if he does, (attack without Congressional approval) as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and former chair of the Judiciary Committee, I will move to impeach him.”
Can’t you just see the angst at the White House right now, the picture of a 24-7 vigil with perhaps even some large labor union thugs keeping a ‘closer-than-skin’ physical monitor action on Joe Biden to prevent his granting any conference time to ANY news media, and in particular, not one from outside the mainstream media. Old Joe just might forget who the president is right now and make a similar statement to that in the preceding paragraph.
Getting back to Colonel North, he insists to the Insider Report that “The commander in chief’s approval ratings are dropping faster than a JDAM (procedure to convert unguided bombs into controlled directions.) And no matter what happens to Moammar Gadhafi, the turmoil in the Middle East is likely to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. For all of this, President Obama has nobody to blame but himself.
The President, according to North decided on his own that “what was needed to be done and finding allies to support it, a process employed by American leader for two centuries, Obama turned over to the United Nations and the Arab League to build an ‘international coalition’ to determine the outcome.”
But by the time the U. N. Security Council got a Resolution passed, North says that “our military forces were ready and French President Sarkozy was ready to lead; our president was not; and when the first airstrikes to be launched against targets were beginning in Libya, Sarkozy seized the moment and delivered his message that French aircraft was headed for action in Libya on March 17th..
Of course by the time this was taking place our fearless leader was thousands of miles away in Brazil where he bravely announced that the U. S. forces would contribute “unique capabilities” at the front end of the mission, as Lt. Col. North explains, in the form of intelligence, surveillance, signal jamming, and other logistical capabilities. And at that time he repeated his pledge that ‘we will not deploy any U.S. troops on the ground.’
The Newsmax Insider Report went on to state that this promise was “modified” on the night of March 21-22 when a Marine Expeditionary Unit launched an air-ground force from the USS Kearsarge to rescue an Air Force pilot who had bailed out of his damaged F-15.
Of course all of this activity in and out and around Libya was carried on while Obama was enjoying the South American sunshine in Brazil and other vistas. To paraphrase Lt. Col. North, Obama’s dithering and trying to avoid offending any of the nations in the Middle East while others such as Bahrain, Yemen, Syria get deeper involved in tumult and citizen unrest can not replace leadership.
And as North states, “This is no time for artful rhetoric and equivocation. Even a Nobel laureate must know that a leader who tries to placate everyone ends up pleasing no one.”
That’s why I said at the top, Obama is more loser than leader.
4.05.2011
Union political campaign contributors
1990-2010
Democrat- Republicans
Ame Fed.of State,County Municipal Employees $40,281,900- - $547,700
Intel Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 29,705,600- 679,000
National Education Association 27,679,300- 2,005,200
Service Employees International Union 26,368,470- 98,700
Communication Workers of America 26,305,500- 125,300
Service Employees International Union 26,252,000- 1,086,200
Laborers Union 25,734,000- 2,138,000
American Federation of Teachers 25,682,800- 200,000
United Auto Workers 25,082,200- 182,700
Teamsters Union 24,926,400- 1,822,000
Carpenters and Joiners Union 24,094,100- 2,658,000
Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union 23,875,600- 226,300
United Food and Commercial Workers Union 23,182,000- 334,200
AFL-CIO 17,124,300- 713,500
Sheet Metal Workers Union 16,347,200- 342,800
Plumbers & Pipefitters Union 14,790,000- 818,500
Operating Engineers Union 13,840,000- 2,309,500
Airline Pilots Association 12,806,600- 2,398,300
International Association of Firefighters 12,421,700- 2,685,400
United Transportation Workers 11,807,000- 1,459,300
Ironworkers Union 11,638,900- 936,000
American Postal Workers Union 11,633,100- 544,300
Nat'l Active & Retired Fed. Employees Association 8,135,400- 2,294,600
Seafarers International Union 6,726,800- 1,281,300
Democrat- Republicans
Ame Fed.of State,County Municipal Employees $40,281,900- - $547,700
Intel Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 29,705,600- 679,000
National Education Association 27,679,300- 2,005,200
Service Employees International Union 26,368,470- 98,700
Communication Workers of America 26,305,500- 125,300
Service Employees International Union 26,252,000- 1,086,200
Laborers Union 25,734,000- 2,138,000
American Federation of Teachers 25,682,800- 200,000
United Auto Workers 25,082,200- 182,700
Teamsters Union 24,926,400- 1,822,000
Carpenters and Joiners Union 24,094,100- 2,658,000
Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union 23,875,600- 226,300
United Food and Commercial Workers Union 23,182,000- 334,200
AFL-CIO 17,124,300- 713,500
Sheet Metal Workers Union 16,347,200- 342,800
Plumbers & Pipefitters Union 14,790,000- 818,500
Operating Engineers Union 13,840,000- 2,309,500
Airline Pilots Association 12,806,600- 2,398,300
International Association of Firefighters 12,421,700- 2,685,400
United Transportation Workers 11,807,000- 1,459,300
Ironworkers Union 11,638,900- 936,000
American Postal Workers Union 11,633,100- 544,300
Nat'l Active & Retired Fed. Employees Association 8,135,400- 2,294,600
Seafarers International Union 6,726,800- 1,281,300
4.03.2011
Tinkering won't do it
by Dave Buhlman
There appears to be noticeable slippage in the American way. It's been going on for some years, but has become more noticeable during the Obama presidency, and Democrat control of the House and Senate from 2006 until the November 2010 elections.
The wild spending, the czars, the giveaway of taxpayer money to the banks, more bureaucratic regulations, the high unemployment, jobs going overseas, high gas prices, losses in retirement accounts, the refusal to exploit our own natural resources, coddling of terrorists, inflation beginning to rear its very ugly head, wars in countries where most people hate us, illegals slipping in and out of our country at will, and a president who seems aloof to it all. There is more worry about the future, even among those who planned for it the best they could. And the thoughts of what life will be like for our children and grandchildren can cause nightmares and paroxysms of guilt because, really, it is our fault.
With the regular stumbling going on in Washington, DC, it seems we are adrift. We are in desperate need of one real leader - a Reagan, a JFK, even an FDR.
All of the candidates thus far, with the exception of Ron Paul (who I regret to say may be too old), talk about some tinkering around the edges. They will cut spending and taxes, win wars in various ways, increase our exports, hold government accountable, create jobs, reduce regulations, solidify relations with our allies, and, generally, just do a little trimming of the ship of state, and all will be well. But they will not deviate meaningfully from the basic themes of the past fifty years.
It's been tried; it's not enough.
Donald Trump has stepped up and been a pleasant surprise with his straight speaking and innovative approaches. One of his ideas, to pay us back for all we did in Iraq by keeping control of the oil wells until we are paid the trillions we spent, sure sounds sensible. No amount of money will make up for our many brave soldiers who gave their lives there, of course, but getting paid back in these and other situations would sure help reduce our $14-plus trillion dollar debt. This approach can be applied to many of our foreign commitments and activities. Let other countries pay us for our efforts to reduce a load of the debt we now have.
He has had the courage to bring up the Obama birth controversy and he's not backing down, no matter how much he is scoffed at. That shows leadership qualities. And Trump has produced his birth certificate while Obama continues to spend millions to prevent many aspects of his background from being exposed. Something is amiss, and Trump is raising the questions at a high level on the national stage when no other candidates or potential candidates have the courage to do so. Of course, true to form, Whoopie Goldberg immediately called Trump a racist. The prospect of being accused of racism scares others, but it doesn't scare Trump. I like that.
To this point, I am quite impressed with Trump, and want to hear more.
Dave Buhlman is a former New Hampshire State Representative
There appears to be noticeable slippage in the American way. It's been going on for some years, but has become more noticeable during the Obama presidency, and Democrat control of the House and Senate from 2006 until the November 2010 elections.
The wild spending, the czars, the giveaway of taxpayer money to the banks, more bureaucratic regulations, the high unemployment, jobs going overseas, high gas prices, losses in retirement accounts, the refusal to exploit our own natural resources, coddling of terrorists, inflation beginning to rear its very ugly head, wars in countries where most people hate us, illegals slipping in and out of our country at will, and a president who seems aloof to it all. There is more worry about the future, even among those who planned for it the best they could. And the thoughts of what life will be like for our children and grandchildren can cause nightmares and paroxysms of guilt because, really, it is our fault.
With the regular stumbling going on in Washington, DC, it seems we are adrift. We are in desperate need of one real leader - a Reagan, a JFK, even an FDR.
All of the candidates thus far, with the exception of Ron Paul (who I regret to say may be too old), talk about some tinkering around the edges. They will cut spending and taxes, win wars in various ways, increase our exports, hold government accountable, create jobs, reduce regulations, solidify relations with our allies, and, generally, just do a little trimming of the ship of state, and all will be well. But they will not deviate meaningfully from the basic themes of the past fifty years.
It's been tried; it's not enough.
Donald Trump has stepped up and been a pleasant surprise with his straight speaking and innovative approaches. One of his ideas, to pay us back for all we did in Iraq by keeping control of the oil wells until we are paid the trillions we spent, sure sounds sensible. No amount of money will make up for our many brave soldiers who gave their lives there, of course, but getting paid back in these and other situations would sure help reduce our $14-plus trillion dollar debt. This approach can be applied to many of our foreign commitments and activities. Let other countries pay us for our efforts to reduce a load of the debt we now have.
He has had the courage to bring up the Obama birth controversy and he's not backing down, no matter how much he is scoffed at. That shows leadership qualities. And Trump has produced his birth certificate while Obama continues to spend millions to prevent many aspects of his background from being exposed. Something is amiss, and Trump is raising the questions at a high level on the national stage when no other candidates or potential candidates have the courage to do so. Of course, true to form, Whoopie Goldberg immediately called Trump a racist. The prospect of being accused of racism scares others, but it doesn't scare Trump. I like that.
To this point, I am quite impressed with Trump, and want to hear more.
Dave Buhlman is a former New Hampshire State Representative
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