Notes For Monday, January 13, 2003

MISSING MARQUEZ COLUMN. Orlando Sentinel Myriam Marquez' bizzare column about Gov. Bush's vision remains missing. It was in print, but has yet to show up on the web. It should be here.

Marquez finds Bush's "vision" for Florida to be "universal and timeless" and "clear and electrifying as [the inauguration] day's cobalt blue sky." These words, from the Orlando Sentinel's "liberal" commentator of all things, reflect the media sycophancy we can expect for the next four years. 8:10 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

BUSH PENSION SCAM FLOPS. In yet another effort to shift governmental largesse from public to private hands, the Bush and the GOP led legislature tried to convert the Florida Retirement System (FRS) to a defined contribution plan (from the existing defined benefit plan). FRS is the public employee retirement system for state employees and most county employees.

Under a defined contribution plan (like a 401(k)), the contribution amount is fixed, but the size of the benefit at retirement is determined by the vagaries of the stock market. Under the existing defined benefit system, a retiree receives a fixed pension amount (calculated by wage rate and years of service). The trend among private and public sector employers has been to eliminate defined benefit plans because they are too costly (if the stock market doesn't support the fixed benefit amount, the employer must make up the difference). In the public sector, there is of course an additional motivation for shifting to defined contribution plans: these plans are managed by financial entities that reap huge profits for managing the investments and, in turn, repay their benefactors (say, the Florida GOP) with political contributions.

When the GOP effort to eliminate the FRS as a defined benefit system system stalled, it tried something different: Bush and the Legislature set up two systems and gave employees the option of which system to participate in. After being inundated with materials urging them to become "mini-tycoons" who, as independent thinkers, would "self direct" their retirement assets under the defined contribution plan, only a tiny fraction took the bait. The plan to reward GOP contributors - by transfering control of the pension resources in FRS to GOP allies in the private sector - has been a total and complete flop. Bill Cotterell tells us why in a column today. 7:29 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

BUSH TO GET A TASTE OF HIS OWN MEDICINE. Tonya Weathersbee lets the Governor have it. 7:15 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]