Out of control underfunded pensions

     This is a problem that the entire nation is facing, at the local, state and federal levels. Do citizens have any idea who is going to be paying this? Just as the government took over GM, the taxpayers will be on the hook for all these debts. Teachers, state workers, firemen, policemen, city workers, federal workers, all will be eligible for some sort of stimulus from the feds when the pensions come due and there is no money. First read Fred Barnes' article in Weekly Standard to get a good background on this (link here):

Let’s start with horror stories of pensions run amok. If these tales of wretched excess at the expense of taxpayers don’t infuriate you, you’re jaded from decades of overindulgence by governments large and small:

• In Contra Costa, California, the final salary of one fire chief, 51, was $221,000. He was given an annual, guaranteed pension of $284,000. Another chief, 50, whose final salary was $185,000, got a pension of $241,000. Credit the Contra Costa Times with uncovering this.

     Now take a look at the website to which Fred refers in the article. It can be found here at Pensiontsunami. You can search the million dollar university salaries in California at this website.
     So where is this money going to come from? Easy. We can print more for now, but we'll have to raise taxes to cover the mess we are making by printing money. Read this from 2008 in the NY Times:

LINK ONLY