Ted Siedle - Documentary "Pension Fight Club"
Oct 20, 2026 · 14 min · 8 segments
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Speakers
Ted SiedleGuestTara GranahanHostMegan KlingenbergHost
Daryl DikeGuest
Oct 20, 2026 · 14 min · 8 segments
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ted SiedleGuestTara GranahanHostMegan KlingenbergHostDaryl DikeGuest
Well, I tell you, as you may and your listeners may remember, in 2013, I was invited to do the first forensic investigation of a state pension fund in history.
And Michael Downey asked me, said, if you can do it, we'd like to hire you to do it.
And since 2013, I've been doing investigations across the country in North Carolina, Ohio, Minnesota.
And most recently, I was asked to do the largest pension in America, California, which is $600 billion pension.
talked to this documentary filmmaker I knew, Doug Orchard, and I said, how would you like to do a movie about this movement that began in Rhode Island and is now in California? And he said he'd love to do it.
He interviewed Michael McDonald at AFSCME in Rhode Island, and then he went all across the country to Minnesota to interview groups of teachers.
And this story really began in Rhode Island with Gina Raimondo in 2011 with her so-called pension reform, which she then went across the country promoting her approach, which was basically to pay Wall Street a lot more money and cut workers' COLA benefits.
Now, today, these tensions have skyrocketed eight, 10 times higher than like in Rhode Island.
it soared
So, like, tell us what we, people who are affected, obviously, here in Rhode Island are definitely going to want to see your documentary.
But what does it look like? You know, in other words, is it interviews? Is it, you know, kind of you got the scalpel out and you're showing how you went through, you know, all of these different states? What does it shape up to be?
It's board members on these pension funds in Chicago, in the state treasurer of South Carolina is in the movie, board members from California.
So you've got board members and you've got people who participate in these funds, school teachers, state workers, they're in the movie.
You've got elected officials like state treasurers, state senators in the movie, and they're all saying the same thing.
Well, I tell you, as you may and your listeners may remember, in 2013, I was invited to do the first forensic investigation of a state pension fund in history.
And Michael Downey asked me, said, if you can do it, we'd like to hire you to do it.
And since 2013, I've been doing investigations across the country in North Carolina, Ohio, Minnesota.
And most recently, I was asked to do the largest pension in America, California, which is $600 billion pension.
talked to this documentary filmmaker I knew, Doug Orchard, and I said, how would you like to do a movie about this movement that began in Rhode Island and is now in California? And he said he'd love to do it.
He interviewed Michael McDonald at AFSCME in Rhode Island, and then he went all across the country to Minnesota to interview groups of teachers.
And this story really began in Rhode Island with Gina Raimondo in 2011 with her so-called pension reform, which she then went across the country promoting her approach, which was basically to pay Wall Street a lot more money and cut workers' COLA benefits.
Now, today, these tensions have skyrocketed eight, 10 times higher than like in Rhode Island.
it soared
So, like, tell us what we, people who are affected, obviously, here in Rhode Island are definitely going to want to see your documentary.
But what does it look like? You know, in other words, is it interviews? Is it, you know, kind of you got the scalpel out and you're showing how you went through, you know, all of these different states? What does it shape up to be?
It's board members on these pension funds in Chicago, in the state treasurer of South Carolina is in the movie, board members from California.
So you've got board members and you've got people who participate in these funds, school teachers, state workers, they're in the movie.
You've got elected officials like state treasurers, state senators in the movie, and they're all saying the same thing.
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