Gina Raimondo: You KO'd My 401(k)!

In my previous piece, I was whining because General Treasurer Gina Raimondo had not filed a lawsuit against California Governor Jerry Brown. Still, California’s chief executive (if this Democrat can take the lead against his own party) has more pressing, depressing, and all out distressing issues. He has been busy with court proceedings of a different kind this past week, as the United States Supreme Court has refused to enjoin a federal court order which requires the state of California to release ten thousand inmates from the overcrowded prison population.



California residents will be locking their doors tight for the next three months. At least we can see the thugs headed our way. As for Rhode Islanders, the thieves who have decimated the pension funds cannot be locked up, and the lady in charge of saving the state’s retirement funds, “Mondo Raimondo” has not done the “mondo” job which voters, which pensioners were expecting of her.



Not only has Gov. Jerry Brown gone down once again, it looks as if GT Gina Raimondo might be facing a lawsuit or even jail time, too. She was supposed to be fighting for Rhode Islanders’ retirement, to ensure that no one was left widowed and dispossessed with not a cent to their name.



How has pension reform been working out in Rhode Island, so far?



The fund took in an eleven percent investment , half of the stock market’s general disbursement of blessings on investors. All told, the pension fund lost out on $700 million. With hedge funders like these, who needs enemies? Then there are reports that the payouts will force people to pay in more. The fund will cost $20 million beyond the projected costs compared to last year. Philip Keefe, president of SEIU Local 580, indicted Raimondo for paying out too much to hedge fund managers, when more of the money should pay into their coffers.



Of course, should anyone respect the views of a union leader on fiscal responsibility and pension reform? Union leaders want pension reform their way. More money for workers means more money for the union, and more money for the leaders. Someone has yet to call out the Money Pig in the Middle of the Room: the public sector unions which take the money from the workers to fund the candidates who grant them the raises, the pensions, the benefits, which in turn must be paid, or else. For the record, breaking away from the SEIU is a wise move which Rhode Island employees should consider in the near future. The Aviation Safeguard Association broke away from the Los Angeles International Airport Chapter of the SEIU, and now they make more money than before.



So, Rhode Island taxpayers will pay in more not just now, but for four more years (at least). How many civil servants have already lost money while working: that’s a story worth telling, too.



What can Maybe Raimondo has not been praying to the right people. Some kind words to St. Jude for starters might help, since Jude is the patron saint of lost causes (Raimondo might want to ask about divine intervention for her gubernatorial bid, too). From St. Jude we come to Pt. Judith , a Rhode Island pension investment which suffered steep losses two years in a row before turning a positive. Granted, venture capital is an adventure for the one who gambles, although the ride turns into a roller-coaster of sickening trends when it’s your money getting spent, invested, or lost.



How much are Rhode Island leaders paying their hedge fund managers? Raimondo has yet to speak face to face with anyone. (It’s time to put a face on this issue, Speaker Fox!)



Despite her winning campaign pledges, Raimondo did not keep her promise that there would be “Truth in Numbers” for Rhode Island pensions. Mindsetter Russel J. Moore emailed the General Treasurer frequently for updates on how much money was going where. “No!” was the answer to any requests for public documents. How interesting, yet disturbing in its predictability, that public records are never released to the public. When Moore requested information on how much money went to Wall Street Hedge Fund Managers, the state’s Chief Investment Officer offered and uninvested response:



We don’t have the comprehensive numbers yet, just because it takes a little while to get everything together and finalized.



No comprehensive numbers? One wonders how Rhode Island retirees will comprehend their golden years without a nest-egg. Perhaps Raimondo would like to contribute something from her warchest for Governor. Speaking of which, the General Treasurer must be quite a treasure with hedge fund managers, since the pension system relies on private as well as generic investment. But wait, she received $1,000 from John Sabat, a hedge fund manager at SAC Capital Advisers . Now the SEC may pay them a visit, since SAC faces fraud charges, and nothing this big has hit the news since Arthur Anderson’s fast and loose follies with Enron.



By the way, the lawyers defending SAC Capital donated $5,500 to Raimondo. Will she need to post bail any time soon?