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Little Hoover Makes Little Sense

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Back in February, OC Progressive wrote a bit about the Little Hoover Report.  Their suggestions on “reforming” the pensions system were so off-base and ill-informed, that Treasurer Lockyer said at the time that they were “long on rhetoric and short on thoughtful analysis.”  Well, he’s tried to put some of that analysis into the system, and into the commission’s suggestions about the system.  

Over the flip you’ll find the full 6-page letter about the Little Hoover reform suggestions, complete with Lockyer’s findings of flaws in the report.  I highly suggest you read it, he held no punches.

But the nub is this, the Little Hoover report is thinly sourced and poorly researched.  Its conclusions come more from the Koch Brothers handbook that is running around the mainstream media than any actual data.

LHC Pension Report Comments 03-11-11

5 thoughts on “Little Hoover Makes Little Sense”

  1. While there are some real issues with pensions, there is no indication that they cannot be dealt with using collective bargaining, with employees picking up a larger share of the pension costs, averaging of last three years income rather than using final year, et cetera.

    Rather than cutting back, I think it would be a much better idea to open CALPers to investment by individual Calfornians.

    I would love to roll my IRA into CALPers, which has a .15% overhead and a much better average return than anything I can find through the banksters.

    I don’t expect a defined benefit plan, but I would sure love to be able to participate in the same fund that has yielded so incredibly well for public employees by investing in private equities.

  2. I went looking and look what I found…

    Among Koch Industries‘ subsidiaries across various industries[15] are:

       * Georgia-Pacific paper and pulp company, maker of “Brawny” paper towels, “Angel Soft” toilet paper, “Mardi Gras” napkins and towels, “Quilted Northern” toilet paper and paper towels, “Dixie” paper plates, bowls, napkins and cups, “Sparkle” paper towels., and “Vanity Fair” paper napkins, bowls, plates and tablecloths. The Atlanta-based company has operations in 27 states.[16]

       * Invista, a polymer and fibers company that makes “Stainmaster” carpet, and “Lycra” fiber, among other products.

       * Koch Pipeline Company LP, that owns and operates 4,000 miles of pipeline used to transport oil, natural gas liquids and chemicals. Its pipelines are located across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Alberta, Canada. The firm operates offices in Wichita, Kansas, St. Paul, Minnesota and Corpus Christi, Texas.

       * Flint Hill Resources LP, is a major refining and chemicals company based in Wichita, Kansas. It sells products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, polymers, intermediate chemicals, base oils and asphalt. It operates oil refineries in six states. Flint Hill has chemical plants in Illinois, Texas and Michigan. The firm is also a major manufacturer of asphalt used for paving and roofing applications. It operates 13 asphalt terminals located in six states including Alaska (2 terminals), Wisconsin (2), Iowa (3), Minnesota (4), Nebraska (1), and North Dakota(1).[17] The firm manages the purchasing of domestic crude oil from Texas and Colorado offices, has four ethanol plants across Iowa, operates three refineries in Alaska, Texas, and Minnesota, and has a refinery terminal in Alaska. It also operates fuel terminals in Wisconsin (4 locations), Texas (6), and one each in Iowa and Minnesota.[18]

       * Koch Fertilizer, LLC, says that it is one of the world’s largest makers of nitrogen fertilizers.[19] Koch Fertilizer owns or has interests in fertilizer plants the United States, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and Italy, among others.[20][21] In October 2010, a plant in Venezuela was nationalized by the government.[22]

       * Koch Agricultural Company’s Matador Cattle Company division operates three ranches totaling 425,000 acres located in Beaverhead, Montana, Matador, Texas and the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. There are more than 15,000 head of cattle raised on the ranches.[23]

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