KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Thursday May 5 Housing and Economic stories

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TOP STORIES:

New California prison guards contract lifts cap on saved vacation – (www.latimes.com) Gov. Jerry Brown negotiates a new contract for California's prison guards, who will be allowed to save unlimited amounts of vacation, potentially leading to massive payouts when officers retire. Deep in the 200-page contract that Gov. Jerry Brown recently approved for state prison guards is a provision that could generate a cash windfall to the officers when they retire. The guards, who are among Brown's largest political benefactors, would be able to save an unlimited number of vacation days under their new deal. When they leave state service, those days could be exchanged for cash at their final pay rate, which would probably be higher than when they earned the time off. The governor is extending this benefit only to members of the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., a union that spent nearly $2 million to help him win election last year. Removing the decades-old limit on accrued vacation — now 80 days for most state employees — would be a "huge liability" for taxpayers, said Nick Schroeder of the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. Schroeder said he had not determined the cost of lifting the cap, but his analysis of the deal showed the average corrections union member has accumulated nearly 19 weeks of leave time to date. All of that time off has "a current cash value of over $600 million," he said. The deal also would give the members 18 more days off over the life of the two-year contract, according to Schroeder, bringing the typical prison guard's time off to more than eight weeks in the first year.

Greek PM: Ratings agencies running our lives - (www.finance.yahoo.com) Greece's prime minister has lashed out at credit ratings agencies, as borrowing rates in the crisis-hit country at record levels threaten plans to return to the bond markets next year. George Papandreou in a written statement posted on a government website early Friday said the agencies, instead of elected governments, "are seeking to shape our destiny and determine the future of our children." Major rating agencies have all relegated Greek bond status to below investment grade amid the continuing debt crisis. The move has angered the government which argues the fiscal benefits of its austerity program are being ignored. Yields on 10-year Greek bonds rose above 15 percent, compared with the German benchmark rate of 3.27 percent, before the Easter long weekend.

The city that outsourced everything - (www.businessinsider.com via Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) Hello public unions. Meet Sandy Springs, Georgia: The City that Outsourced Everything. Numerous people asked me to comment on that video. Here goes ..

1. Sandy Springs proves without a doubt that cities can get along perfectly fine without collective bargaining, without public pensions, and without public unions.

2. The Sandy Springs model delivers more services for the money an any public union model ever can.

3. Sandy Springs is run the way cities ought to be run.

Please play the video and tell me why Sandy Springs should not be the model for every city in the country.

As Shoppers Reduce Spending, ‘Green’ Loses Allure - (www.nytimes.com) When Clorox introduced Green Works, its environment-friendly cleaning line, in 2008, it secured an endorsement from the Sierra Club, a nationwide introduction at Wal-Mart, and it vowed that the products would “move natural cleaning into the mainstream.” Sales that year topped $100 million, and several other major consumer products companies came out with their own “green” cleaning supplies. But America’s eco-consciousness, it turns out, is fickle. As recession gripped the country, the consumer’s love affair with green products, from recycled toilet paper to organic foods to hybrid cars, faded like a bad infatuation. While farmers’ markets and Prius sales are humming along now, household product makers like Clorox just can’t seem to persuade mainstream customers to buy green again. Sales of Green Works have fallen to about $60 million a year, and those of other similar products from major brands like Arm & Hammer, Windex, Palmolive, Hefty and Scrubbing Bubbles are sputtering. “Every consumer says, ‘I want to help the environment, I’m looking for eco-friendly products,’ ” said David Donnan, a partner in the consumer products practice at the consulting firm A. T. Kearney. “But if it’s one or two pennies higher in price, they’re not going to buy it. There is a discrepancy between what people say and what they do.”

Team Obama Targets Oil Traders and Speculators; Scapegoating 101 - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) Instead of investigating fraud and corruption at banks, and instead of questioning the Fed's policy of US dollar debasement, and instead of pondering the role his administration's budget deficits have on the price of commodities, Team Obama Targets Oil Traders and Speculators. President Barack Obama said on Thursday the U.S. attorney general was assembling a team to root out any fraud and manipulation in the oil markets that might be contributing to higher U.S. gasoline prices. "The truth is, there's no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away," Obama said in prepared remarks for his opening statement at a townhall-style meeting in Nevada. "The Attorney General's putting together a team whose job it will be to root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices - and that includes the role of traders and speculators. We are going to make sure that no one is taking advantage of the American people for their own short-term gain," Obama said.