"There was a time when no politician would dare to cut back on public safety, let alone their pensions," said David Harris, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh and a specialist in police and police behavior. "Now we are in a different age."
Cops these days are nothing more than tax collecting thugs with guns and badges.
Chicago Police and Fire Retirees are told they are being dropped from Heath plans and must go on OBAMACARE.
I have friends that are SCREWED and they know it!
Double dipping (where the public employee retires at age FIFTY with full retirement then picks up another job) was rampant for awhile. Don't know if it still is.
Welcome to OBanana Republic.
It is time to reform all government pensions at all levels and eliminate guaranteed pensions. They are the last workers to be put into a IRA/401k type of program. It is long over due.
Pay them a market-based salary and let them invest for their own retirements, like adults. It’s really time for unionized government employees to stop hosing the tax base (most of which does not have a pension coming at all).
State governments will also default (and consequently, county governments). Both investors and pensioners will take haircuts. Federal bond problems will make the situation even more interesting.
The Carthaginians in one of their wars with Rome had mercenary armies and when they lost they had to call all those soldiers home. When they got there they told the troops that they weren’t going to get paid. Guess what happened.
Cook taxpayers owe $108 billion, county Treasurer Pappas says: Greg Hinz
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/section/blogs?blogID=greg-hinz&plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&uid=1daca073-2eab-468e-9f19-ec177090a35c&plckPostId=Blog:1daca073-2eab-468e-9f19-ec177090a35cPost:73061b12-c71d-45b0-aad9-130e57727e64&plckScript=b
The average Chicago household now owes a staggering $63,525 to cover local government debt, according to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.
The First 10 City Pensions That Will Run Out Of Money :
#10 Fort Worth...Unfunded liability: $2 billion Unfunded liability per household: $7,212 Solvency horizon: 2023
#9 Detroit...Unfunded liability: $6.4 billion Unfunded liability per household: $18,643 Solvency horizon: 2023
#8 Baltimore...Unfunded liability: $3.7 billion Unfunded liability per household: $15,420 Solvency horizon: 2022
#7 New York City...Unfunded liability: $122.2 billion Unfunded liability per household: $38,886 Solvency horizon: 2021
#6 Jacksonville...Unfunded liability: $4 billion Unfunded liability per household: $12,994 Solvency horizon: 2020
#5 St. Paul...Unfunded liability: $1.4 billion Unfunded liability per household: $13,686 Solvency horizon: 2020
#4 Cincinnati...Unfunded liability: $2 billion Unfunded liability per household: $15,681 Solvency horizon: 2020
#3 Boston...Unfunded liability: $7.5 billion Unfunded liability per household: $30,901 Solvency horizon: 2019
#2 Chicago...Unfunded liability: $44.8 billion Unfunded liability per household: $41,966 Solvency horizon: 2019
#1 Philadelphia..Unfunded liability: $9 billion Unfunded liability per household: $16,690 Solvency horizon: 2015
http://www.businessinsider.com/first-city-pensions-insolvent-2010-12?slop=
14 Cities That Are Being Eaten Alive By Public Sector Workers
http://www.businessinsider.com/cities-that-are-being-eaten-alive-by-their-employees-2011-7?op=1
The reason why public-sector pension costs have not been addressed is that the full bill has never been revealed to taxpayers.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13988606
Top Ten Most Dangerous Cities in America (Each Led by a Democrat)
http://www.examiner.com/article/top-ten-most-dangerous-cities-america-each-led-by-a-democrat