Blogs | Scam Diego
Shipione Warns It May Be Too Late to Stop "Pension Mischief"
By Don Bauder | Posted August 27, 2009, 8:04 a.m.
Diann Shipione, the whistle blower who exposed San Diego's pension fraud, yesterday warned the Governmental Accounting Standards Board that, "As a result of [accounting] fuzziness and imprecision, we now have many large systems that are essentially insolvent." Her testimony was reported in this morning's (Aug. 27) New York Times. "I have concerns that these efforts [to reform pension accounting] may, in fact, be too late," Shipione warned the panel. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board does for government accounting what the Financial Accounting Standards Board does for corporations. The panel heard testimony in favor of making pension numbers more straightforward, and in line with private sector pension accounting techniques (themselves often challenged as phony), but government officials argued that current standards are sufficient. Shipione was a member of the City's pension board when she began pointing to dubious accounting. The establishment heaped scorn on her, but the Securities and Exchange Commission ultimately concluded that she was right.
I read the story....and the funniest part was some gov lobbyist who said the pension funds are fine-no propblems!
By SurfPuppy619 11:51 a.m., Aug 27, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #1: He was from one of the Dakotas. Had probably never heard of New Jersey, Illinois, San Diego, etc. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 1:58 p.m., Aug 27, 2009 > Report it
Yes, only in gov!
IL and NJ are in worse shape than San Diego or CA. IL (Chicago??) may be in the worst of any state in America.
By SurfPuppy619 4:14 p.m., Aug 27, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #3: My understanding is that the pension system in Illinois is a complete wreck, but New Jersey's is close, if not ahead. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 7:53 p.m., Aug 27, 2009 > Report it