Republican Party-endorsed Congressional candidate Carl DeMaio was announced as one of Institutional Investor magazine’s “Pension Reform Top 40”. The article praised DeMaio not only for past work, as author of San Diego’s pension reform initiative but for his proposed federal regulatory reform plan to enable more states and municipalities to reform their pensions.
Two important things should be noted:
DeMaio actually proposes a solution to the ticking time bombs in public sector pensions. He identified a real problem, donned a green eye shade, and is bringing a real plan. Republicans are often criticized for pointing out the follies of the statists, without presenting freedom-rooted alternative plans. DeMaio is clearly a candidate who changes that paradigm.
Pension reform should more accurately be called pension protection. II’s Top 40 is hardly some “right-wing love list”. The list includes prominent Democrats and union leaders. DeMaio was one of the pioneers in the pension protection movement, recognizing that, if we fail to address this problem today, we’ll be bouncing checks to our police officers, firefighters, and teachers when they retire. This problem is the product of bi-partisan collusion with union bosses. It took decades to create this problem and bold but competent leadership to solve it.
The public sector pension crisis has not gone unnoticed in the investment community. I want to make a distinction between “Wall Street” and institutional investors. While institutional investors do a lot of business with Wall Street bankers, traders, and investment managers, most are not part of the “welfare crowd” which was bailed out by the Bush Administration in 2008. II’s readers are trust officers of community banks, investment managers in cities far from Wall Street, and even state pension fund managers. Many are “heartland” firms which are much more Main Street than Wall Street.
DeMaio’s prominent placement on this list will not go unnoticed. It qualifies him as a leader of the fiscal reform movement and will bring national attention to his Congressional campaign. Institutional investors are sober, flinty-eyed professionals who look for mature political solutions to political problems. DeMaio clearly fits that bill
Comments 4
Interesting GOP platform and I see why the GOP would want Carl DeMaio as their Congressman.
But I would think that the pension reform would have to be solved locally, city by city, state by state – not a federal mandate handed down from Congress. So how does Carl’s handling of our local pension translate to his ability as a U.S. Congressmen?
Nothing personal here. I voted to Carl to be our mayor. But as a Congressmen, I do not see his focus is the right fit to represent me.
The important challenges facing us today are the 7 trillion dollar deficit, the loss of American sovereighty, its constitutional republic and bill of rights. Kirk Jorgensen has the right temprement and has stressed the importance of keeping our constitution.
I verbally confirmed with Danielle at Senator Lindsay Graham’s office that yes they are implementing global governance by the end of the year.
Check the actions of Congress and the 924 executive orders tht our President has signed into law. and the fact that 80 Congressmen and women are members of the Progressive Caucus – all communists and socialists. And the GOP wants our Congressmen to focus on pension reform? Give me a break !
Author
“But I would think that the pension reform would have to be solved locally, city by city, state by state – not a federal mandate handed down from Congress”
Of course Congress can’t mandate that states and municipalities reform their pension plans. All Congress can do is to deregulate the federal laws which prevent them from reforming pensions…
…which is exactly what my (and the linked II article said DeMaio wants to do).
I am on my North in about two hours. I am about to purchase some land in the Mountains. I am old time retired from San Diego County.
Brady has now explained why Carl has an Unelectable platform.
He wishes to screw my pension up at a Federal level. The city council is a breeding ground for morons. Danna Fried,Dickless Murphy and the beat goes on. And it goes on and on.
Thank God Men and Women have been so vigilant on the County level. Bibray, Hedecock, Roberts, Jacobs,Cox, MacAlister. And the beat goes on.
The city council is good practice for our youngers. Falconeer comes to mind, as does Alvarez. Why the groupies so love Carl is almost beyond me. Buy me coffee at Cafe Aroma Carl and Ill explain what your handlers wont. But hey guys and gals I’ll be thinking of you while buying more of my retirement dream with hard earned County Cash.
Great…so DeMaio is credible on the one issue that doesn’t matter for next year. Whether or not he could possible accomplish something meaningful on pension reform as a congressman is irrelevant to this campaign. If DeMaio is going to beat Peters, he will need to focus intensely on the issues that are going to strike a chord with voters, not institutional investors. They include: obamacare, obamacare, obamacare, obamacare, and maybe Benghazi or something else minor. Right now, he is chasing anything shiny like an ADD-riddled chihuahua.
Having received the party endorsement, DeMaio now faces the challenge of having to concurrently re-engage the conservative Jorgensen supporters that have been just been divested from the party nomination process, by their own party, and moderate voters in a moderate district. This is a tough hill to climb, tougher that it has to be (DeMaio has the RPSD and this consultants to thank for that – but at least they’re all in line for commissions on member comm dollars), but DeMaio can still do it if he really focuses his message.
Or maybe Jorgensen figures out a way to pull this off despite the challenges he faces of money and establishment support for DeMaio. But seeing the electoral predicament DeMaio is in, Jorgensen actually seems better positioned against Peters among voters right now.