Sunday, February 21, 2010

"All Governments Lie " Herbert's first law operating in the State Governments

Frank Herbert the author of the sci-fi great DUNE once declared Herbert's first and second laws: 1. All government lie. 2. Never forget the first law.

Well the state are proving him right in spades. Read this short article from Bloomberg. I quote a sample:
 Pension Gap of $1 Trillion Is ‘Daunting’ Bill to U.S. States
U.S. states must contend with a more than $1 trillion gap between what they have saved and what they have promised to retired workers for pension and health-care benefits, the Pew Center on the States said in a report today.

States have saved $2.35 trillion of the $3.35 trillion owed to workers as of mid-2008, the center said. The Washington-based group expects the deficit to grow because of investment losses states sustained in the second half of 2008, the report said.

Illinois,Connecticut and New Jersey were among the 16 lowest-ranked in terms of funding pension and retiree health care, according to Pew. The gap reflects “states’ own policy choices and lack of discipline” in failing to set aside enough money and expanding benefits without deciding how to pay for it, the report said.

I live in the state of Illinois and this is just one more example of the corruption and cowardice regularly on display in state and local government here. The legislators who have played along with the charade of fiscal probity that has allowed this situation to be hidden from the public eye are all guilty of moral crimes if not actual crimes. Furthermore if this is not illegal why not?

Throw the bums out of office, all of them, both parties.




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