Alabama town stops making pension payments

Before I even opened the link my #1 choice was Prichard...

quote:

---

Prichard is worse than the armpit of the world. Most dangerous part of Mobile, and this is not information that would make any reasonable person think that all towns are going to stop paying pensions. I think this town has bankrupted at least two times previous.

---

I get that, but it's a mistake to think that crushing pension burdens are the exclusive domain of small, poor, or poorly run towns. Whether you're talking about towns, cities, counties, or states, the story is the same: they are coming under increasing financial pressure from their pension obligations that they cannot afford, and it is getting worse by the day. Prichard may be small and it may be a shithole, but how the legal resolution here is something everyone should pay attention to. This problem has been kicked down the road for decades and it's going to come to a head. I think that is starting now and I think this is one of if not the biggest financial problem on the horzion.

From the article --

quote:

---

Maryland is considering a proposal to raise the retirement age to 62 for all public workers with fewer than five years of service.

---

You can "retire" and earn a pension with less than five years of service in Maryland?

That's a f'ing joke.


All of these muni/state plans need to have a DRASTIC overhaul. First thing they should do is make 67 the minimum retirement age for benefits. You can retire prior to 65, but your benefits don't start until you turn 67 (same with retiree medical care). Of course, there should be at least one exception for disability pensions for policemen and firemen. But, other than that, these OBSCENE pension plans are going to bankrupt this country.

My GPS got me lost in this town at 11am. From what I saw on the streets, I pulled out my 9mm and had it ready to go.

This is the same town where a murder suspect was on trial and the police admitted that they had not even sent in the shell casings to the forensic lab yet.