In We-Are-Out-of-Money Headlines

* Villaraigosa Warns of Bankruptcy if L.A. City Council Blocks Electricity Rate Hike

* Delco Schools Running Out of Money for Pensions

* Michigan Works Youth Summer Jobs Program Running out of Money

* [State Controller] DiNapoli: We're Running Out Of Money (Again) 

* [Miami] Close to Declaring a Fiscal State of Emergency

* California Led States in Increasing Taxes Last Year

* Anger Mounting Over Tax Increases to Pay for Public Pensions

* Trillion-Dollar Pension Crisis Looms Large Over America

* Public Pension Deficits Are Worse Than You Think

* Unions Want Washington's Help With Pension Funds

* Government Pay, Benefits Top Private Sector by 44 Percent

* The IRS is Churning Out Tax Liens

Many links care of Pension Tsunami.

Comments

[Episiarch]

No wonder the politicians are getting worried, as they should be. I predict that someone is going to get hurt (or killed) soon.

[Mike M.]

I hope to God your prediction doesn't come to pass. One nut going too far would be all the excuse that Obama needs to become an absolute dictator.

[Episiarch]

I don't think that would work out like you fear. I don't think it would be peaches and cream, but...a little chaos never hurts, in my opinion.

[Rich]

I don't think that would work out like you fear.

I fear that would not work out like you think.

[Ebeneezer Scrooge]

I hear you. But I don't think we've got much Roman blood flowing in us here in the States.

The Romans knew how to throw a public fit every so often, and keep within bounds. I doubt Americans are capable of it.

[P Brooks]

Tar.

Feathers.

Mix well, apply liberally.

[kinnath]

No No No Apply Tar Liberally, then dump on the feathers.

[hmm]

Well that's a great fucking way to welcome the weekend.

Fuck you too sir!!!

(good idea and nice links)

[P Brooks]

The most painful thing you can do to a politician is to throw his ass out into the street on election day.

Physical injury to a sitting legislator would make a martyr out of it.

[R C Dean]

What's bubbling along underneath our shiny new trillion dollar spending program is trillions more in liabilities at the state and local levels.

Has anyone aggregated total spending, debt, deficits, and unfunded liabilities for all levels of government in the US?

[The Gobbler]

I seem to have seen something like that and for some reason the figure $74 Trillion pops into my brain.

[Ska]

I thought I heard the figure $68 trillion. What's $6 trillion amongst future indentured servants?

[Pablo]

A trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.

[sage]

I think Cray is at work on that right now.

[Mr. J]

I heard one their supercomputers began to smoke and then caught fire when attempting to calculate this.

[Parker]

California will no doubt show the nation how to tax and spend your way to prosperity...

[?]

I predict that someone is going to get hurt (or killed) soon.

Historically, numbers like these are closely followed by millions of people being killed. Over/under is 9 mil. Bet under, but hedge.

[The Libertarian Guy]

Tony, Chad, and MNG are moaning in post-orgasmic glee over this kind of stuff.

[dave b.]

Re: IRS link. I read until I got to 'They attach [liens] to all of a deadbeat's property.' Really? Owing money to the gov't means you're a deadbeat? Can the MSM at least pretend to mask their contempt for regular people?

[J sub D]

It's really quite simple. Not paying legally incurred debt to a home lender makes you a victim eligible for government imposed loan restrucuring. Not paying legally(?) imposed debt to the government makes you a deadbeat, eligible for confiscation of all your worldly assets.

[Pro Libertate]

And to think we were once free.

[John]

Freedom was surrendered long ago to the lazy, the incompetent, the arrogant and the malicious. We who believe in Reason and Justice had all the power. They had nothing more than fear, guilt and shame. We surrendered little by little to their obnoxious whining manipulations.

Violence will only do harm to us. They WANT us to do anything violent. It is their only way to win. Resist the temptation!

I am convinced that the recent threats, including calling Rep. John Lewis the "n-word", was done, not by the Tea Party folks, but by operatives on the other side, masquerading as Tea Partiers. THEY believe the end justifies the means, THEY believe in the initiation of violence, their idea of "justice" is the slavery of higher taxes and more intervention and control. Why would they not do this mini-Reichstag Fire?

We believe in Liberty - Justice precludes violence as a means to an end. (Initiation of) Violence to reach Justice is a contradiction. We are not supporting legislation to enslave the others; but they do support legislation to enslave us - that is what "Obamacare" is all about. It has nothing to do with the "needy". We are trying to be free of the burdens they place upon us, we do not try to impose burdens upon them.

If they could identify even one of us committing these acts, we would be grilled for lunch. But no one has been identified - could it be that they do not catch their own?

Only Reason and Justice can win.

[Joe M]

It just seems like something has got to give, and soon. But I can't fathom what.

[Mike Laursen]

Likely developments, and hard for the public to ignore, or for politicians to just explain away:

* A state or major city declaring bankruptcy.
* Double-digit inflation.
* Dramatic increase in number of Americans lacking health insurance.

[MikeP]

Sick-leave cashouts grow for San Jose workers

The front page of the paper version headlines it "Cashouts draining San Jose's coffers".

[Mark]

From the article:

Noting that employee costs have grown 64 percent since 2000 ? more than three times faster than revenues ? Mayor Chuck Reed has called for the unionized workforce to reduce their costs next year by 10 percent. But in a sign of union clout on the city council, Reed this week agreed to allow up to half those requested cuts to be temporary, even though deficits are projected well into the future.

Something (or someone) must give indeed...

[Kevin]

No need to worry. The pending Value-added Tax will solve all of these problems. Just ask Europe.

[Nick]

Why do I feel like the government will make sure those union pensions are protected?

[Ebeneezer Scrooge]

Because Democrats will kill the US before they'd let the unions suffer?

[Barry O]

The Unions ARE the United States.

[James Ard]

Kinda makes me wish for a massive pandemic.

[Nick]

They can do amazing things with nanotechnology now. A disease we could control that gives politicians the flaming shits would be friggin' awesome. I don't want them to die. I want them to feel our pain.

[CoyoteBlue]

Yes, the Zombie Plague is our only hope.

God we're fucked.

[Michael Ejercito]

Yes, the Zombie Plague is our only hope.

That would be worse than a plague that kills everyone over fourteen years old.

[Ken Shultz]

"The average union pension has resources to cover only 62 percent of what is owed to participants, according to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp."

----Unions want Washington's Help With Pension Funds

I will never willingly make up for that balance.

[R C Dean]

But you will, willingly or not.

[The Gobbler]

Ever see the last episode of Little House on the Prairie?

[Pablo]

Im not so sure about that. The tipping point may come when taxpayers are asked to bail out union pension plans.

[Nick]

Pensioners should be guaranteed only what the pension investments can pay out. Guaranteeing them a fixed benefit is stupid. I'm so tired of paying for other people's fuckups.

[AlmightyJB]

"I'm so tired of paying for other people's fuckups."

Get used to it. That's how it's going to be from here on out. And if you disagree, that makes you a fringe racist nutjob. Probably either a Libertarian or Anti-Government Home Schooler or something. The sad thing is. Where are you going to go?

[fresno dan]

With all the free stuff we get from the gubermint, pretty soone we won't be able to afford nothin'.

[Johannes Gutenberg]

Oh, now, now. The Fed has it covered. In fact, you don't even need me. What's a few zeros here and there. It's the digital age, yo! 😉

[Mike Laursen]

Yup, sounds like the perfect time to expand government-subsidized health care.