Bloomberg: SHOCKER - Californians Back Limits On Public Pension Benefits!

When I first saw this headline, I thought to myself "somebody must have mixed up California with another state.'

Thankfully, and quite stunning, is the fact that the headline is accurate; a poll really did make the case that California voters are willing to limit public pension benefits!

This is still difficult to believe. I would be SO happy if this were the case. This news story must be enraging George Soros, Maurice Strong, and the rest of Obama's Puppet masters!

Jared Law – 9/12 Project

Here's the story from Bloomberg:

Californians Back Limits on Public Pension Benefits, Poll Shows

By Christopher Palmeri - Mar 17, 2011 9:00 AM ET

California voters support limits on public-employee pensions by a 3-to-1 margin, according to the Field Poll.

Seventy-three percent of those surveyed favor a cap on the amount of salary used to calculate pension benefits, compared with 20 percent opposed, according to the statewide survey by Field and the University of California, Berkeley, released today. Forty-two percent said the pensions are “too generous,” up from 32 percent two years ago.

“California voters have changed their views in recent years about the pension benefits of state and government workers,” Mark DiCamillo and Mervin Field of San Francisco- based Field Research Corp., said in a statement. In 2009, “more voters believed that the level of pension benefits that most public workers received was acceptable.”

Public pensions have become a flash point across the U.S. as the cost of benefits has risen and government revenue has fallen after the longest recession since the 1930s.

San Francisco’s annual pension costs will double to $1 billion in five years, topping what it now spends on police, fire and other public-safety departments, according to a report by San Franciscans for Pension Reform on March 15.

Voters by wide margins support other changes to public pensions, such as requiring higher worker contributions, increasing the minimum retirement age and adding elements of a 401(k)-style plan that would reduce guaranteed payments, according to the poll.
Only 26 percent would back a temporary tax increase to pay benefits owed, while 67 percent opposed that notion.

Collective Bargaining

Voters rejected, 50 percent to 42 percent, the idea of combining budget-balancing measures with taking away collective bargaining rights for government workers, such as in Wisconsin. Republican state senators had suggested linking their support for Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed tax extension to pension reforms.
The telephone survey of 898 registered voters was conducted in English and Spanish Feb. 28-March 14, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

THE DICK MORRIS POLL FINDS AMERICAN VOTERS BACK GOVERNORS AGAINST PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNIONS

Published on DickMorris.com on March 17, 2011

The Dick Morris Poll of 1000 likely voters throughout the U.S., conducted by live telephone interviews from March 10-15, 2011, found support for the Republican Governors of Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio in their battles with their public employee unions by 47-39. 

Voters harshly condemned Democratic State Legislators who are boycotting their legislatures to deny the Republicans a quorum so they cannot pass legislation on collective bargaining and municipal unions.  By 61-25, they rejected the Democrats' argument that the boycotts were "necessary to stop legislation restricting unions from being passed" and said they "should return to the legislature and respect the decisions the voters have made in the last election."
Commenting on the poll results, Dick Morris said, "The liberal media has tried to sell the myth that the public is siding with the unions in these battles.  This poll shows the opposite.  They largely agree with the restrictions the governors are trying to impose."

Voter attitudes toward collective bargaining are complex.  They wholeheartedly support the right to collective bargaining by public employees. By 39-59 voters reject elimination of collective bargaining for public employee unions and by 43-48 they oppose limiting the bargaining to wages and benefits.  But, by 66-25, voters agree with limiting "collective bargaining so that the union contract does not stop the dismissal of incompetent teachers and allows teachers to be paid based on merit not on seniority."

For the full results, click here to read the report.

Dick Morris has more than 35 years of polling experience in the U.S. and abroad. He polled for President Clinton and has also has polled for 30 Senators and Governors and 14 foreign Presidents and Prime Ministers.