I have already talked about my feelings on the illegality of the current Pension systems.  The Politicians figured out many decades ago that if they agree to these outrageous benefits they can garner the votes of the union members.  It is a symbiotic relationship.  The Politician agrees to outrageous benefits for the public unions and the Union leadership looks great to the membership.  The Politicians get re elected year after year because the Union membership will come out to vote in droves while the rest of the voting public stays home during most elections.  It is a credit to the Union organizations but is surely sucking the life out of the American dream. The taxpayers get to foot the bill and the problem now is that these bills are coming due.  The Union members, for the most pat are decent people.  Ask them if they think that the pension/disability benefits they can receive are really fair and the general response is that they know that the benefits are outrageous but they are entitled to them.  The fact that they are unsustainable is not the issue for them, just the fact that they are available legally.  This is why the only way to stop this lunacy is to tackle the legality of the contracts that have been signed.  One way is for the State/local governments to simply declare bankruptcy and let the Bankruptcy judge negate the contracts.  If the government wants to operate like a business then they should be subjected to the same rules.  In a bankruptcy, it is relatively easy to dissolve the contracts with the Unions and simply fire and rehire under a different set of rules.  I know this sounds a little far fetched but we are dealing with a crisis that will need to be dealt with in a very agressive and unprecedented way.  Otherwise, do the math.  It will not be long before tens of millions of our public employees are collecting fat pensions and golfing or sunning themselves while the rest of us struggle to make ends meet.  We can not let this stand.

 I invite and appreciate any comments.