What’s interesting about special interest

FLO MARTIN

Wait a minute, didn’t we just have elections? Is it time for another

one? Why are we seeing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on television again

so soon? Small wonder -- wherever Arnold goes, the cameras follow.

How come he’s getting all this attention? Who’s paying for all those

political ads? Whazzzzzzzzzzzzup?

Oh, yeah, it’s those darned “special interests.” The state budget

is a mess and we need to reform. We need to get government out our

lives, right? “Americans for Tax Reform” (not even based in this

state) is fighting everything related to government. They want to

search and destroy the public sector. Schwarzenegger is singing the

same tune. “We don’t want to feed the monster,” he said. “We want to

feed the private sector, and we want to starve the public sector,”

(Sacramento Bee, Jan. 19, 2005).

Wait a minute!

California already ranks 49th out of 50 states for the ratio of

public servants per 10,000 people. This is a monster? What monster?

Does he mean teachers? College professors? How about nurses? And

police officers? Fire fighters? The California National Guard? Are

we, who have dedicated our careers to the common good, now considered

the enemy?

I’m really confused. Who is Schwarzenegger serving anyway?

Insurance executives, Wall Street financiers and real estate moguls

are funding the governor’s media blitz to the tune of $28 million.

Have these folks become “the people” in our state?

The Los Angeles Times has reported that Schwarzenegger is looking

to Wall Street investment houses and other business people outside

the state for even more money. Looks like the corporations that have

focused their efforts to increasing profits and personal wealth have

joined the push for values and virtue.

What’s really scary to me is that Schwarzenegger wants to scrap my

pension plan, California State Teachers Retirement System, or

CalSTRS. He wants to rob me of retirement security in my old age.

Schwarzenegger and other Republicans in the state Assembly want to

revamp both public pension plans, CalSTRS and CalPERS, from the

current Defined Benefit Plan to a Defined Contribution Plan. The

defined benefits guarantee public employees, who regularly contribute

a fixed amount each pay period to the collective pool of funds, a

fixed monthly pension check. Defined contributions are similar to a

401(k), where the financial return varies according to the

fluctuations of the stock market.

Me, speculate in the stock market? My experience has been to lose

five-digit sums. Twice! Gamble my pension fund? Yikes!

CalPERS and CalSTRS have $300 billion in combined assets. Wouldn’t

the stock brokers just love to get their hands on that! No wonder

they’re pouring millions into Schwarzenegger’s coffers.

From what I understand, the average investment-securities company

charges about $2 in commission and overhead for every $100 invested.

CalPERS currently spends 18 cents per $100 in administrative costs.

Those 18 cents go into the pockets of folks who are plan members. Do

the math and you’ll figure that Arnold’s plan will cost the

California taxpayer a lot more money and the outcome is not

guaranteed. Four of Schwarzenegger’s own appointees to the CalSTRS

board figured the same thing and voted against his plan. The

governor’s response was to terminate! He fired all four.

And, folks, it’s not like CalSTRS or CalPERS are in financial

trouble. Au contraire. Both retirement systems are sound.

In the past 20 years, the California Public Employee Retirement

System increased its assets from almost $29 billion to more than $161

billion. With only two of those 20 years “in the red,” the average

annual return was 11%. Employee contributions equaled almost 13%.

Employers’ contributions accounted for even less -- just more than

11%. Seventy-seven percent of the fund growth came from investment

returns. I would say that the folks now managing my money are doing a

great job. And the plan is very affordable for all parties -- both

the state of California and the public sector, (California Faculty,

March 2005, pages 4 to 6).

Remember Enron? Remember WorldCom? Remember Anderson Financial?

Guess who paid the price for those disasters. Not the bosses, that’s

for sure! The burden fell on the shoulders of all those folks who had

to come out of retirement because their pension fund went belly-up.

The people nearing retirement who lost their jobs as well as their

pension plans and ended up working in grocery stores or doughnut

shops -- they paid too.

The public sector -- people who work in colleges and schools,

people who work to keep our food safe to eat and our water clean to

drink, people who license our doctors and dentists, people who work

in mental hospitals and veterans’ homes, police officers, fire

fighters, paramedics, nurses, health inspectors, prison guards,

soldiers -- we are not the monster. We are not the enemy.

We work for the good of the people of California. We are public

servants, not special interests. We deserve a friendly “thank you” or

a heartfelt pat on the back, not Arnold’s slap in the face.

* FLO MARTIN is a 38-year Costa Mesa resident.