This is totally the state’s fault. They should have been saving for these retirees the day they started working. I don’t feel sorry for the states at all. They have basically spent all the savings they had on junk. Well time to pay the piper. What happened to all that tobacco money all the states received? Spent it. No pity at all for these states. In fact, I hope it HURTS them badly. Next time they will not be so free to spend FREE money and yes tobacco money was free.
native son, king barry will rescue them all with another executive order.
It is totally the fault of the last three governors (two of which went to jail...) for raiding the pension funds and then substituting the annual payments with "IOU's" because the State used the money elsewhere.
Not that I'm a fan of public unions by any stretch, just saying what's happened.
Yeah, Mike Madigan and Cullerton are to blame for alot of this mess too.
Aside from shutting down the state government (which I endorse!) the only other option is for the State Legislature to re-write the State Constitution to get out of this mess.
Chances of that happening: ZERO. State Legislature is still run by powerful democrats aligned with the public unions.
It is not a matter of feeling sorry for the states. The courts have handcuffed the current state government from addressing the problem reasonably. Where is the money going to come from? Current taxpayers and perhaps a federal bailout. The states should be allowed to reduce benefits just as was the case in Detroit.
if you think these democrat states aren’t going to engineer a federal bailout, you are badly mistaken.
the democrats in DC will see to it that ALL US citizens end up paying the retirement benefits and pensions in failed democrat states like IL and CA and NY.
Wrong. What you're implying is that the state should have shaken down the burdened taxpayers even more than they did.
States made promises they could not, in a million years, possibly keep. Politicians bought votes with their recklessness and public sector employees made a pact with that devil.
Those public sector workers should have saved for their own retirement like the rest of us do. A state worker can retire after 25-30 years with a hefty pension. If they're 50-55 years old and live until they are 75-80, they are drawing decent pensions and benefits for 25-30 years - as many years as they actually worked!
Meanwhile, taxpayers in private jobs have to work until they are 65-70 years and they are whacked heavily in taxes in part to pay for the public sector employees who are living a life of leisure.
Everybody needs to have skin in this game, not just the already heavily burdened taxpayer.