Vallejo, California City Officials Vote to File for Bankruptcy

By Michael B. Marois

May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Vallejo, California's city council voted to go into bankruptcy, saying the city doesn't have enough money to pay its bills after talks with labor unions failed to win salary concessions from fire fighters and police.

Survey: 1 in 10 boomers borrowing for everyday expenses

Associated Press

Compared with older people, a greater percentage of younger baby boomers, those 45 to 54, said they were cutting back on medications, prematurely withdrawing retirement funds and postponing paying bills.

Here Come the Millennials By BOB HERBERT, New York Times

"A number of studies, including new ones by the Center for American Progress in Washington and by Demos, a progressive think tank in New York, have shown that Americans in this age group are faced with a variety of challenges that are tougher than those faced by young adults over the past few decades. Among the challenges are worsening job prospects, lower rates of health insurance coverage and higher levels of debt."

"We know that the generation immediately preceding the Millennials is struggling. Men who are now in their 30s, the prime age for raising a family, earn less money than members of their fathers’ generation did at the same age. In 1974, the median income for men in their 30s (using today’s inflation-adjusted dollars) was about $40,000. The figure for men in their 30s now is $35,000."

And with all that, who needs an even better deal? Those who have taken all they can already and left others with less, according to the NY State Legislature.

As someone who lives near the current construction site of the new SAS all I can say is only New York City governement could be so dumb as to spend all this $$$$ on starting construction of a subway line, uproot local business, annoy local residents and then after digging up an entire neighborhood for over a year change their mind about the project.

If after putting the residents of the area from 91st street to 96th street around 2nd Ave through construction hell for the last 6 month the MTA decides to change their mind about the subway I hope someone is shot!

As for feeling sorry for the Second Avenue developers, it's the residents I feel sorry for -- or at least those without parking placards.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/nyregion/16actuary.html?ref=nyregion

Cited by Lawmakers, but Paid by the Unions

By DANNY HAKIM Published: May 16, 2008

ALBANY — A bill offering thousands of additional city workers early retirement has been gaining support in the Legislature in recent weeks. New York City officials have protested, saying it would cost the city $200 million annually.

Not so, lawmakers countered. It won’t cost a cent, they said, pointing to the review of a highly credentialed actuary to prove it.  

But what the legislators did not disclose, as they cited the expert analysis of the actuary, Jonathan Schwartz, was that Mr. Schwartz had not been paid by the state to conduct his analysis. His work was bankrolled by unions, including District Council 37, the umbrella group of municipal unions that drafted the early retirement bill, which is now moving through the Legislature.

...

(POPIK PREDICTION: Paterson is going to get a whole plateful of pork, not a bit of it that New York can afford. It all should be vetoed. He's going to approve some of it, veto some of it, and then claim that it's a "mixed bag" for both sides--even though the bag of pork is all one-sided. It's really outrageous that all of this sails through the legislature, with nary a single objection. As I've said before, only a NYS Constitutional Convention can right the ship--and it's probably even too late for that.)