During the initial stages of our downturn, individual 401K’s were devastated, many nearly wiped out. Public pensioners, however, were protected. It’s time they shared the pain.
In 2006 or so the “experts” were saying that people like my mother were fools for closing out their 401K accounts and taking the tax hit.
She did take a hit on the taxes but she also paid off her house and didn’t lose huge chunks of her money in following years.
Minimum consequences would be a reversion to territorial status for a minimum of ten years and loss of representation except for one non voting congress critter in the house. If an entire state, total forfeiture of electoral votes as well. If a subdivision of the state, then proportional reduction.
They would get reduction of federal income taxes and federal aid commensurate with their downgrade to territorial status. If they play their cards right, they will use said reductions to attract jobs, investment and opportunity to gain readmission by the following decade.
If they choose to continue their parasitic activities, then they can march toward third world status all that much quicker without dragging the rest of the country along for the ride.