HARMFUL “REFORM” LEGISLATION SHELVED … FOR NOW
|| By FITSNEWS || South Carolina Senators pushing a pension fund “reform” bill have shelved their efforts after this website exposed the proposed legislation as nothing more than a power grab on behalf of the fund’s corrupt leaders.
According to our sources this “reform” bill – which would have stripped away multiple layers of accountability – will not be favorably referred out of a Senate subcommittee anytime soon. And while it’s “not dead yet” (cue the old man from Monty Python and the Holy Grail), efforts to push the bill quietly through the legislative process have clearly failed.
Good …
South Carolina’s pension fund is a disaster. Each year its leaders hand out massive bonuses to the very bureaucrats who labor to produce some of the worst results of any large pension fund in America (at the highest price, too).
S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis has been dutifully exposing and opposing the incompetence and corruption of pension fund leaders for years … at great political risk to himself. He led the opposition to this legislation – and is reportedly planning to reach out to Senators this coming week with his thoughts on real reform.
We’ve consistently supported Loftis’ efforts … and are glad to see his enemies’ latest ruse against him come to naught.
115 comments
I hate having to give Fits any credit for stopping this “reform” bill.
He is the only one that writes about the retirement system. Everyone else is asleep at the switch.
The new bill reminds me of when the Investment Commission tried to take itself private back in 2010. They wanted head bureaucrat Bob Borden to open an office in Charleston, spend $15 million on it, pay Wall Street salaries-and give Bob Borden a 15% ownership!
15% of all those billions! Thankfully, the Budget and Control Board shot them down. State Treasurer Curtis Loftis and a handful of Senators are trying to kill it in the Senate. The House hates the plan and so does the Governor, but it is best to stop it now!
Call your senator and tell him to protect your retirement!
I hear this bill allows the Investment Commission to pay virtually unlimited salaries. Can you imagine state employees making $1,000,000 or more?
Stop the madness!
Some already make $600,000 each. Add to that %30 in fringe benefits and you get $800,000 per year for a state employee! .
That is insane. That is very high. A hole lot higher than NC, GA and FLA
The State Senate, except for Kevin Bryant and Joel Lourie, are not keen on this bill. Bryant and Lourie are doing it because Leatherman gave them orders, but few others like it. I think it will no pass out of the Senate.
This is a bad move on Bryant and Lourie’s part. Leave the system alone and let it concentrate on making money, not political intrigue.
The Retirement System is the largest pot of money in State government and yet so few people understands how it works. This bill makes it even harder for the participants, taxpayers and others to get unbiased information.
Please put a halt to this bill. Please stop playing with my retirement.
How much does Loftis pay you Fits? It’s got to be quite a sum for you to keep ignoring what a crook he is. You keep tickling his taint, you’re gonna end up with a shitty finger!
The investment fund lost a billion dollars in value in thd last 6 months.
Fits ought to be concerned.
what about the billions in made in the last few years?
They leave 4 or 5 hundred million on the table each year.
That cost the workers and retirees a hell of a lt!
its not leaving the money on the table. do i think the fees are high, yes. but you don’t make the required rate of return by investing the the volatile stock market and fixed income (earning what…2%).
They have diversified the portfolio fully. Now it is time to work on the negotiations with managers, evaluate returns vs fees, etc. There is still work to be done, but don’t act like 28 billion invests itself, and every fee being paid is a bad thing.
blah blah blah. Written by a fat assed old grouch that will be dead long before the pension has to raise contributions and taxes to pay its bills.Greedy old fat bastards ought to be in some home for greedy fat bastards not running around with the rest of us.
FITS, see video of last subcommittee meeting. You will see that bill was reported out of subcommittee favorably.
The caucuses want updates. There are significant concerns in the Senate. .
There are two basic inaccuracies in this article, the most glaring being the report that the bill will not be reported out of subcommittee. The bill was reported out of subcommittee by a unanimous vote. The second inaccuracy is that the bill was being quietly pushed through the legislative process. This bill is the result of over a dozen subcommittee meetings over the past year, all of which were open to the public and most of which were videotaped. At the suggestion of the State Treasurer, sworn testimony was taken from a number of individuals representing the agencies involved, the Inspector General, Funston Advisory Services, consultants, stakeholders, and the State Treasurer. Before a vote was taken the Subcommittee invited comments from stakeholders and the State Treasurer. The Treasurer apparently declined to speak but instead sent a staff member with a letter that claimed among other things that passage of the bill would raise taxes, increase the unfounded liability, endanger the State’s credit rating and could lead to fraud and abuse. The Subcommittee asked that the State Treasurer provide documentation of his allegations before a final vote was taken. The State Treasurer never provided the requested information. Based on what I have observed over the past several years as an interested retiree is that it is unlikely Mr. Loftis will offer meaningful suggestions to reduce the fiduciary morass that currently exist.
bla bla bla. Unrelated facts assembled to tell an odd story.
Of course the bill was reported out of committee. We all know that. Now it goes to the full committee. I understand it will not be a priority, hence the story.
Bitch, moan and groan. We will see what happens next week.
Also when the treasurer was asked to comment on the bill, instead of showing up himself he sent a representative from the office with a letter written by Loftis. When asked if he would read the letter for the record the representative said “i am not authorized to read it”
You are an insider. You might be a retiree, but for sure you are an insider.
Insiders simply can’t be trusted.
One of the few people who understand this issue less well than Lofts is Folks, and thats no mean feat.
While FITS keeps repeating over and over that Loftis is good and the investment commission is bad, that doesn’t make it true – no matter how many times you say it.
Crazy crazy crazy
It was true the first time Fits said it and it is even more true now. Keep fighting for us, Mr. Treasurer. The retirement system needs a watchdog!
It’s hard to be a watchdog when you don’t understand investments of finance. It’s hard to be a watchdog when you only go to the retirement system 4-5 times a year. Curt’s rhetoric doesn’t match Curt’s reality.
Juvenile, you are a stupid, fat, very fat lying cunt.
Well that’s about 6 or 8 of Curt’s aliases posting about cunts tonight. What is that sudden obsession all about?
Keep up the good work Mr. Loftis. I want to collect my retirement!
Lets hope the bill dies. There is no reason to change the system now.
There is a history here, which is being purposefully overlooked. It’s the history of promises made to State workers. They were promised that, if they worked for piss-poor salaries, they could, at least, depend on a portion of that piss-poor salary, with COLAs, until they died.
Understand, it doesn’t matter whether it was a stupid idea, or that it is being policed poorly, or that portions have been messed with. To the tens of thousands who were promised, IT IS A PROMISE.
Can the system be changed for the better for those who have ten years or less? Certainly. Can it be run more honestly? Yep. And the system should really be phased out over the next 30 years.
But whether you are a conservative or a liberal, your honor is on the line.
I’ll disagree with you on phasing out the pension system. A while back, Boston College did a study on pensions vs. 401K programs. Against expectations, it clearly demonstrated that pension systems were more beneficial to both (larger)businesses AND employees. The larger the business, the greater the benefits. For large companies (and governments), the only real winner with 401K plans were the plan administrators. Now, lets remember that the plan admins are private businesses making money off of plans. Their interests are not focused on the business or the employee, but rather on THEIR business. Their interest may be focused on pushing a certain investment for reasons OTHER than actual performance.
How about we allow police to form unions to protect their interests against the interests of businesses and administrators?
I’m very wary of “studies.” Besides, the “pushing” occurs in pensions as well as 401Ks. I’m totally against unions. It’s the lazy man’s way of negotiating, and it always, over time, ends in tears for both sides. If your labor is that necessary, you should be starting your own company.
“How about we allow police to form unions to protect their interests against the interests of businesses and administrators?”
what makes police so special? why not teachers or all government employees for that matter?
“But whether you are a conservative or a liberal, your honor is on the line.”
Come on bro, it’s not “our” honor. A bunch of self serving pricks elected by morons promised shit that the gov’t can’t afford.
It’s now a game of Old Maid, the only difference is that the whole deck is full of them and no one is going to “win” before it’s all said and done. We are all getting the red, white, & blue dick in the end.
I understand your cynicsm and frustration. And, there is no doubt that many of the pricks in the Legislature are self-serving. But, whether we voted or stayed home, our will was done. And it IS our honor at stake.
If a guy is a sloppy housekeeper and awakens to find his home on fire, due to his negligence, does he furiously fight the fire or crap out and blame someone else. That’s what I mean by honor. People are waking up to the fact that our Palmetto home is very much on fire. The question is, do we have enough for a fire brigade?
“If a guy is a sloppy housekeeper and awakens to find his home on fire, due to his negligence, does he furiously fight the fire or crap out and blame someone else. ”
At any point in time, he can immediately fire the housekeeper in question, unlike the act of voting, which is a one time event that impacts how the “job” is done for years.
Apples to oranges my friend.
“I understand your cynicsm and frustration.”
No, you mistake cynicism and frustration for a realistic view on the situation.
“But, whether we voted or stayed home, our will was done. And it IS our honor at stake.”
With all due respect, get out of here with that collectivist bullshit.
Firing the housekeeper doesn’t put out the fire. Not voting is a vote. No apples. I’m no collectivist. And you ARE frustrated.
“Firing the housekeeper doesn’t put out the fire.”
Steps to putting out a fire:
#1 Stop whatever is causing the fire from continuing to do so.(in this case, stupid voters, which you can’t stop)
#2 Put out the fire.
If you try to put out a fire without stopping the person lighting more you’ve done nothing.
“Not voting is a vote.”
lol…nope…black doesn’t equal white
“I’m not a collectivist.”
With all due respect, you are:
“If a guy is a sloppy housekeeper and awakens to find his home on fire, due to his negligence”
Equating the mass empowerment of stupid people via the vote with individual “sloppiness” is collectivism my friend.
Non sequiturs are not arguments.
I’m sorry you don’t follow, I can’t help you.
The fault of the non sequitur is in the writer, not the reader, so, I don’t think you can help yourself.
Not when the reader can’t comprehend the writing…as in this case.
Is this the part where I answer, out of frustration with the ignorant antecedent, epithets and euphemisms and expletives? I think I’ll pass it on to the waitress.. no cleanup.
No, I really am trying to make a point.
If I’ve offended your delicate sensibilities in the process and it’s interfered with your ability to dispassionately evaluate my argument, I’m truly sorry-but I can’t help.
And I am showing the fallacies of your arguments.
Well then, color me the one unable to understand.
Plenty of questions need answers.
There’s significant evidence of fraudulent activity coming from the State Treasurer’s Office. How was the Treasurer’s Office able to pay the Bank of New York Mellon’s custody bill’s last summer and fall? Were funds diverted from other agencies and budgets such as DMV funds? Do Chief of Staff Clarissa Adams’ initials appear on the approval form for the diversion of these funds? How much did this six figure payment cost? Did the legislature give approval in the state budget? Why has so much money been diverted from Unclaimed Property this year? Did Curtis or Clarissa approve this transaction? What is it paying for? Why have fees increased so much in the Local Government Investment Program? What are they paying for? Who are the contract employees making hundreds of dollar every hour they work to implement an IT system? Have there been cost overruns? How much did settling the Amick case cost the taxpayer? Did Curtis break the law? Did he settle it to avoid it coming up the primary?How much does the State still owe the Bank of New York? Why does the State owe money after the lawsuit was settled? Did the settlement funds come in as cash? Or was it a reduction in the amount the State owes Bank of New York?
This post is criminally libelous. It is disgusting. Behavior like this is the reason why the investment commission can’t bd trusted. .
I hope they suck the literal marrow right out of state employees bones. The employees got their wonderful pension on the backs of productive people, so it’s karma that they themselves lose it to bloodsucking parasites.
Cool. Next time you get raped or robbed, maybe your house burns and your kid is trapped inside, we’ll say “f#ck you, it’s YOUR problem” and move on.
Sounds good to me, all you’d do is get there afterwards and file a report anyway.
The investment commission staff and backers will do anything to keep their hands on the money. They want total control. They know that only a handful of people in the world can have control over that much moneyy and they want it all!
Greed is a powerful thing!
WTF do you think Curtis is after???
Transparency and accountability. Loftis volunteered to have a full audit of his office. First in 24 years. He has hired CPA’s , lawyers and consultants to bring the office from the 1980’s to the modern age.
Just because some fool write anonymous crap about the treasurer does not mean it is true.
where did all the money come from? Wasn’t in the budget was it?
millions being paid out to the consultants…how you getting the money for that you friggin thief!
I hear a fat cunt typing away!
fat cunt, shut the f up. I can smell you ass breath from here!
But has it occurred as of yet?
Curtis does not make 6 figures a year, the Commission staff does. Curtis does have a million dollar a year consulting contract, HEK does. Curtis does not make $475 per hour, the audit company does. The investment managers made $455 million last year, not Curtis
Seeing a trend? Those fighting Curtis are getting rich. Curtis is trying to protect out money!
You’re right! Curtis makes 7 figures a year. It used to be 6 figures a year until he got elected, not it’s over a million!
Greenbacks, you are a Stupid fat cunt
no, actually he is spot on. Curtis is raping and robbing this state…all that bull shit about a moral core…he wouldn’t know a moral core if it stuck the tip up his ass. And his chief of staff is the most unethical, manipulative, deceitful tank of a troll this state has even seen. They both need to be behind bars.
Curtis is laughing his way to the bank on the backs of the people he pretends to give a shit about. Disgusting piece of garbage.
Nothing says I am a fat cunt like writing trash like “give me a break”
Nothing says I’m a herpes infected elected official like writing “fat cunt”.
Investment Commission should answers questions.
There’s significant evidence of fraudulent activity coming from the Investment Commission . How was the Investment Commission able to pay the Bank of New York Mellon’s custody bill’s last summer and fall? Were funds diverted from other agencies and budgets such as DMV funds? Do Chief of Staff Michael Hitchcock’s initials appear on the approval form for the diversion of these funds? How much did this six figure payment cost? Did the legislature give approval in the state budget? Why has so much money been diverted from retirees funds this year? Did Michael or Reynolds approve this transaction? What is it paying for? Why have fees increased so much in the Investment Program? What are they paying for? Who are the contract employees making hundreds of dollar every hour they work to implement an IT system? Have there been cost overruns? How much did settling the Smithson case cost the taxpayer? Did Hitchcock break the law? Did he settle it to avoid it coming up the general assembly session?
How many retirees would benefit from the 490,000,000 if fees? How many private jets did the Investment Commission staff use, all paid for by their vendors, that were unreported?
Answer these questions now or abolish the Investment Commission
Sam/Curt how mature. I understand your not wanting to answer any of these questions. It would be difficult for you to admit you made a mistake and that your broke the law. Nice try with the rewording! Unfortunately for you, the IC has had 4 independent reviews and has been transparent in publishing the results. The Treasurer’s office has had zero independent reviews… for now.
Lies lies and more lies.
Re whistleblower
This is written by a stupid fat cunt that was lazy as hell and got fired.
Very Stupid and very, very fat.
Not even close, Curtis. You have no idea who I am. You’ve cheated and wronged so many people, I could be one of many willing to share my knowledge. Are you scared of what might be revealed in the upcoming weeks? You certainly should be. You can mistreat people as much as you wish, but they won’t forget it. Just think how many employees have left your office that have inside information to tell. Don’t you wish you had been a little nicer now?
Fat cunt! Very fat cunt!
S527 must be passed by the general assembly. Loftis numerous references to body parts reflect his inability to get along with people, to do the work of Treasurer and to stand on the Investment Commission. A vulgar bully
Vulgar is a stupid fat cunt of an old man that is a coward and a bully.
A waste of a bod, that old fat cunt. Loftis beats your ass on a regular basis and like a big fat baby cunt you go on the internet and cyberbully.
You big horrendous fat ass cunt!
Fat cunt, u are a ugly fat cunt!
Curtis fired his chief of staff? Damn, how did I miss that news?
Investment Commission should answers questions.
There’s significant evidence of fraudulent activity coming from the Investment Commission . How was the Investment Commission able to pay the Bank of New York Mellon’s custody bill’s last summer and fall? Were funds diverted from other agencies and budgets such as DMV funds? Do Chief of Staff Michael Hitchcock’s initials appear on the approval form for the diversion of these funds? How much did this six figure payment cost? Did the legislature give approval in the state budget? Why has so much money been diverted from retirees funds this year? Did Michael or Reynolds approve this transaction? What is it paying for? Why have fees increased so much in the Investment Program? What are they paying for? Who are the contract employees making hundreds of dollar every hour they work to implement an IT system? Have there been cost overruns? How much did settling the Smithson case cost the taxpayer? Did Hitchcock break the law? Did he settle it to avoid it coming up the general assembly session?
How many retirees would benefit from the 490,000,000 if fees? How many private jets did the Investment Commission staff use, all paid for by their vendors, that were unreported?
Answer these questions!
Curtis shouldn’t be so childish when it comes to answering questions. There are no personal questions or personal attacks in the questions. There is nothing mean or ugly. It’s based on his duties as State Treasurer. He can try to loop it in with some of the other personal stuff on here, but these questions are based solely on his responsibilities.
He should answer them
Only a fool would answer question from anonymous posters on line.
Troll are liars and malcontents.
Curtis answers questions from anonymous posters online every day. He spends more time doing that than he does recruiting for the dozen open positions at this office or scamming the taxpayer.
Hahaha. That is funny. Say what you want, it ain’t true.
Just because you got fired for not working but accepting tax dollars for your time does not mean people believe you.
You are a liar, you always have been and you always will be.
no one meaner in the entire world than a government employee that loses their job for being a lazy fat cunt
He recruits. But no one wants to work for him. His office has more turnover than a fast food dive. Even the recruits he actually hired himself are leaving.
The bill has slowed down. I know my Senator does not think mush of it because is removes accountability from the system. Any system that pays a half a billion dollars a year in fees needs more accountability, not less.
Totally surprised that any state bureaucrat would be allowed anywhere near your g’ment employee pension plans … Way too much room for what seems to be a regular occurrence.
Even most big name unions know better than to let their own management in that hen house without significant watchdog over sight. (Those unions can even rat to the FBI / NLRB if money flows in the wrong directions.)
The system want to become separate and apart from state government.
It is appalling that they would even try!
So, OK, fine. Let the state examine the books regularly … that is you state Attorney General’s job, and He can rely on the FBI and the NLRB for assistance if there appears to be improprieties.
Out here in Taxifornia, the socialists wanted the pension funds to stop investing in (profitable) Big Oil. That lasted about three weeks … the g’ment unions found out how much money the pension funds would lose.
Funny thing about Curtis saying the bill is dead is that it’s scheduled to come out for full committee vote on Tuesday and will be on the senate floor after that.
where did Curtis Loftis say that?
He did not say that. It was just lie. A lot of lies are told
You are right about that and Loftis tells most of them.
As usual, you can’t prove what you say. For God’s sake, get a job and find something useful to do!
Actually the fact that he can’t document his wild charges that passage of S527 will result in increased taxes and loss of the Triple A credit rating leads me that he is either ignorant, lying, or both. You choose.
Hey fat cunt, the bill was not mentioned in today’s meeting. You were wrong. All your dumb ass, sky is falling predictions turned out to be as dumb as you are , you dumb fat, cunt.
PS…your post above is just your fat cunt talking again, blithering like Sam’s old bureaucrats asshole when he is around his political masters.
The bill was not on the agenda for today. It will be on the agenda next week and according to my vote count will be reported out favorably.
Thank you.
fat cunt can count the rolls of fat on his fat old ass!
So dumb fat cunt can count!
the loss of the AAA credit rating IS ALL ON CURTIS! He drove out the head of the department, got rid of the successor, and then hired his friend (actually just someone who could help him politically) who has ZERO experience with debt management. Add that to the list of departments he has DESTROYED at the STO.
the state enjoys its AAA rating and has a positive outlook.
Why would you lie about such s thing?
the loss of the AAA credit rating is right around the corner numb nuts. you run the effing office, and know its about to happen, so quit acting like a little bitch. we are no more than 6 months out from the loss of our AAA. Thanks a lot sCurt.
Oh fat cunt. You be crazy!
Asperger syndrome in adults includes repetitive vulgar statements, violent temper , difficulties getting along with others, leaving a conversation abruptly, leaving a room abruptly, breaking and throwing things.. So, Seth, Patsy, Mitch, Tell, Kerry and more.. check Asperger syndrome. Interesting and could be of benefit to you all.
You fat cunt, bark vark
I think the pigs running this corruption operation, getting fat ass bonuses, all need to be shown how a baseball bat is properly swung in a major league game.
I agree! Retirees make $20,000. Retirement commission make 600,000 bucks per year.
That ain’t right.
Basic fact is that they are gonna fuck us all. I had 32 years in, and am a retiree – but am of the age (retired 22 years ago) that they didn’t pay us very much (perhaps 52% of the “civilian equivalent”), and expected us to work “overtime” and not take “compensatory time” which, while not “time and a half overtime” was the only way to make it up. If one took “comp time” then you could bet the bean counters would descend upon you, and you wouldn’t get your “cost of living” nor your “proficiency” raises next time the General Ass, decided to give us one as well as their annual one. Shortly after I retired, they reclassified my old position to another in a much higher grade, some $35,000.00 higher than it had paid (for 20 of the 25 tears prior) and my successor (who died in office) was fortunate enough to be compensated much closer to the “civilian” position. I begrudge no one anything they have been able to get since 1992, but all or nearly all of us who worked for the State prior to then really got screwed on our retirement. And now, the Retirement System has decreed that we may no longer have our “Guaranteed Return” option.
Don’t get me wrong. I thoroughly loved my job until the politicians and the ass-kissing Commissioners gutted it, and would go back to it in a skinny minute if us ol’ folks could be treated fairly and objectively, rather than be required to kiss ass somewhere along the line to protect or not prosecute a “criminal constituent”. I refused to pucker up, and took the only honest alternative. “Jes’ don’t fuck with my pension”,
The Inspector General should look into these serious red flags. These are not personal attacks or mean spirited attacks. These are legitimate red flags raised about the practices and performance of the state treasurers office. It’s a matter of law, not politics.
There’s significant evidence of fraudulent activity coming from the State Treasurer’s Office. How was the Treasurer’s Office able to pay the Bank of New York Mellon’s custody bill’s last summer and fall? Were funds diverted from other agencies and budgets such as DMV funds? Do Chief of Staff Clarissa Adams’ initials appear on the approval form for the diversion of these funds? How much did this six figure payment cost? Did the legislature give approval in the state budget? Why has so much money been diverted from Unclaimed Property this year? Did Curtis or Clarissa approve this transaction? What is it paying for? Why have fees increased so much in the Local Government Investment Program? What are they paying for? Who are the contract employees making hundreds of dollar every hour they work to implement an IT system? Have there been cost overruns? How much did settling the Amick case cost the taxpayer? Did Curtis break the law? Did he settle it to avoid it coming up the primary?How much does the State still owe the Bank of New York? Why does the State owe money after the lawsuit was settled? Did the settlement funds come in as cash? Or was it a reduction in the amount the State owes Bank of New York?
Whislteblower was fired from the state treasurer’s office for poor performance, poor attendance, failure to report leave, and insubordination.
Everyone at the treasurer’s office is very happy that whistleblower is gone. But now we have to read these silly post.
Had whistleblower worked at the job as hard as posting, whistleblower would still be employed!
You can always tell when the investment commission is not getting its way. They start posting mean shit about Loftis and anyone near him.
The best reason to keep Loftis as the custodian is these post. People this sick shoul never have control of retirement money.
You can always tell when its loftis posting stupid comments because the spelling is always incorrect, he uses foul, vulgar language, and he is always so paranoid that the investment commission has paid people to post on political trash blogs. People as sick as him should never be in charge of an office, not even a bug control office.
You are a dumb cunt! Yes, a really dumb cunt!
the funniest thing about your comment is that Curtis pays friggin interns from USC to monitor Fits and post all day long. Have seen it with my own eyes. Pathetic.
He literally accuses everyone else of things that he himself does. Its called deflection, and its all he knows. Every single time he opens his mouth and accuses someone of something, you can bet your ass he is doing it himself and trying to deflect his own misconduct.
PIG!
Do u have any belief that one person on the planet, other that your fat cunt friends, would believe your post?
U are a fat dumb cunt!
no no dear…I’m not Clarissa!
Does this mean that Larry Martin and David Thomas won’t get their $30K this year? I kinda doubt it.