By March 2022, following our forensic investigation of the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio—a review funded by concerned participants—the teachers’ desperate struggle caught the attention of producers of The Jon Stewart Show. As Stewart rightly pointed out in the above video clip, the fees paid to Wall Street by the pension had skyrocketed in recent years, while benefits were slashed for half a million educators.
The Ohio forensic investigation had exposed a massive, hidden wealth transfer: Billions in teacher retirement savings were being transferred to Wall Street.
It was a story no one in Ohio state government—especially Governor DeWine and Attorney General Yost (both of whom depend upon Wall Street for campaign financing)—wanted told.
Today, perhaps not surprising, De Wine and Yost are aggressively targeting the reformers who exposed their scheming.
Our first forensic investigation of the Rhode Island state pension in 2013 exposed a similar wealth transfer scheme orchestrated by then-Treasurer Gina Raimondo (now Secretary of Commerce) and her financial backers on Wall Street.
Thanks, in part, to Raimondo’s efforts aggressively promoting such costly schemes—her so-called “Pension Reform”—over the decade-plus, today virtually all of the nation’s public pensions are being looted by Wall Street as benefits are slashed.
Our most recent investigation in Minnesota last month exposed, once again, concealing of billions in fees paid to Wall Street and manipulation of investment performance results—all to make the pension appear to be better managed. Seems Governor Tim Walz—who reportedly has never bought a stock or bond—may have not been up to the task of overseeing (as Chairman) the $146 state pension system.
No one wants to hear they have been victimized by corrupt politicians and Wall Street scammers. It’s unsettling to learn that their trusted unions, elected politicians, and pension boards—all of whom are supposed to be acting in the best interest of participants—have betrayed them. But, the alternative—to forego transparency and blindly trust unions and politicians with your financial security is the surest path to an impoverished retirement.
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