Dear City of Los Angeles,

By Julian Taylor

It is time for you to get your house in order.  Time to do the work, and the things that should have been done years ago.

For too long too many people have viewed the city as their own personal never ending piggy bank.  City officials giving themselves outrageous pensions and salaries.  Some as high as $495,000 per year, -- ex Presidents get under $200,000 to put it in perspective. Union demands grow more and more exorbitant; unsustainable and unjustified.  Police officers have been putting in as many hours they want "whether or not it's needed" and can more than double their salary.  This can then double the pension they receive when they retire at age 50.  If they live to be 100 - chances get better every year that they will - they will effectively collect a pension/salary more than double the years they actually worked.   This pension obligation is mostly unfunded; no money is taken out of paycheck, or set aside to cover these future pension/salary payments.  Most state pensions are not structured like a 401K.  They don't have a sufficient "fund" that earns money to pay the pensions.  Rather, they just raise taxes and take the pension/salary out of the states/taxpayer revenue.

Many of these unions contend that these pensions are also untouchable, and they cannot be corrected, as many people actually working take 20% pay cuts, and furlough days.  This is not the case, and is highly immoral and unfair.

Many of these pensions have built in raises as much as 10% a year!  These raises are claimed to be untouchable/uncorrectable/unstoppable as well, even though they are paid out of the same tax dollars as the other people taking 20% cuts.  Scandalous.

How did the Los Angeles (and California) unions get so powerful?  How are they able to feather this amazing nest for themselves on the backs of the taxpayers? 

It works like this:

1)   They use Union dues to "buy" politicians, or put people into power who will make laws that the union wants.

2)   The Lawmakers then sign outrageous contracts with the unions, giving them huge raises and extremely generous benefits.

3)   The unions then have more money, so they can buy more politicians and secure more contracts and money for themselves.  Feeding the monster/system.

4)   Soon the unions are so powerful, have so much money, and so many politicians in their pockets that correcting the problem becomes extremely difficult. 

5)   Then the city runs out of money.

6)   Then, rather than cut the outrageous pensions/salaries - from people not working which is the actual problem and place the money is going -- they cut jobs and workers who are actually doing something for the city and taxpayers.

7)   Soon they want to "shut down the city a couple days a week" give the taxpayers and businesses that pay the city taxes less/slower/worse services rather than deal with the actual problem.  Meanwhile the problem begins to look like Greece on paper!

8)   Then they pass a boycott of another State that they cannot even follow through with, since they are dependent on it for things like power and commerce.  Regardless of the fact that pushing a city to boycott a state is purely absurd and not even possible.  Especially since they have bankrupted the city!!!

9)   Soon people find out about what the politicians are doing - acting selfishly, in cahoots with the selfish politicians who set themselves up with fat pensions.

10)               Then the blow back begins.  The broken system collapses and is replaced with a fair and just system that puts the - city as a whole - first, not specific people.  The money that LA brings in is to be used to make LA beautiful, smart/educated, clean, efficient, safe, innovative, competitive and prosperous.  People lining their own pockets with tax money, working to line them further, not so much solve Los Angeles problems, does not do any of those things.  Rather is takes money away from the schools, the parks, the libraries, the government offices and beautification, and community programs!

It's just so wrong and it needs to stop.

The problem is not "that there's not enough money".  There is plenty of money.  The problem is how it is being spent, or rather misspent.  The city is not getting what it pays for when it comes to what it is spending. 

Far too much money goes to people that "cheated" the system -- used shady politics to put themselves on a grossly inflated paycheck, from the state, for the rest of their life - and not enough goes to schools, services and city improvement/beautification; things that actually create jobs/work and make LA a better place.

Starting the policy changes now, for all new workers, is not enough.   We must go back and correct past deals, inflated amounts just like the mortgage mess. 

I am proposing a 20% tax on all pensions over $200,000.  A 10% tax on all pensions over $80,000, and a 2% - 5% tax on all pensions below $80,000.  This money will be put into a state Pension fund.  The tax will remain in effect until such time as the Pension Fund is able to meet all its obligations sustainably, without having to draw from the general state funds/revenue.

It's about doing what's right Los Angeles.