Bless Her Heart: Doomed California Republican Wants to Block Federal Pension Bailouts

"A" for effort!

It's cruel to point out that California Assemblywoman Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) has pretty much no chance of getting anywhere with her efforts, but let's at least praise her for trying. Grove has introduced a resolution to try to stop the state from accepting any sort of federal pension bailouts that the Obama Administration may offer down the line.

From her web site:

"I am proposing this preemptive measure because I firmly believe that each state is responsible for their own fiscal decisions. California taxpayers should not be held accountable for the failed fiscal policies of other states, just as others should not be on the hook for ours," said Grove. "The 'balanced' budget Governor Brown unveiled last month conveniently ignored billions of dollars in unfunded pension liability, and the changes made to public pensions in recent years will only save the state a fraction of what it spends on these obligations. We can't just ignore these numbers, and we should not expect a federal bailout. I want to bring more attention to the fact that the California legislature alone needs to seriously and significantly address our billions in state debt."

Her efforts are part of the "No Pension Bailout" proposal by the free-market think tank Illinois Policy Institute that was endorsed by the Republicans of the Joint Economic Committee in Congress.

Her resolution, AJR 10, would need to be passed by both houses of the state legislature and would be sent to Congress if passed. It doesn't require the governor's approval. But that doesn't matter because the Democrats have a supermajority in the state legislature right now and can shut it right down. It's not likely Democratic state legislators – whose campaigns are typically bankrolled by union groups – would have any more courage than Brown to tackle the pension crisis. They have absolutely no incentive.