Tension Over Pension Funds

Re “The Right’s Attack on Public Pensions,” Commentary, Feb. 7: Treasurer Phil Angelides has connected the dots that explain the attack by the governor and those ideologues who would destroy one of the finest examples of a fiducially sound and ethical public pension plan. CalPERS and the State Teachers’ Retirement System have had the audacity to expect accountability from the giant corporations such as Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, et al. Their reward has been an attack by “free market globalists” who are also pushing for privatization of Social Security to effectively destroy a public pension system known for its integrity! A coincidence? Hardly!

Charles O’Connell

Stevenson Ranch

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The altar of state Treasurer Angelides grows ever taller, like the proboscis of Carlo Lorenzini’s Pinocchio as he weaves his tales about CalPERS and other public pension funds. Cal- PERS and Cal- STRS were not ordained by their creators to serve as the omnipotent regulators of our nation’s securities markets, as Angelides would have everyone believe. If CalPERS’ infinite wisdom were so great in the first place, its portfolios would not have contained the likes of Enron, WorldCom and Tyco.

Angelides makes the best argument for why the retirement investments of public employees should be privatized with individuals managing their own 401(k)-style accounts when he says that large pension funds must invest to “mirror” markets. When an investment fund grows so large, it cannot outperform the markets. It has become the market. Such is the case with CalPERS. Future government employees would be better served managing their retirement savings themselves than being captive lemmings of a state pension fund system run by special interest leaders and politicians.

Robert M. Brower

Irvine