It shouldn’t surprise anyone. Public watchdog groups have been pointing this out for years. I pointed it out when I ran for Comptroller in 2005. I even saw Mayor Bloomberg mention it – once. Public pension costs are probably the single most impotant item creating the structural deficits in New York’s state and local governments. The simplest analysis showed it many years ago. But our polticians are so grossly and criminally irresponsible that they’ve continued to pile up more and more costs even as late as last year.
This article in the NY Times online illustrates the problem – as if this is news.
“It’s alarming, eye-popping and unthinkable,” said Stephen J. Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties. “To manage that liability in the face of this deep decline in government revenues is going to be a challenge,” he said. “Where is this money going to come from?”
Where will the money come from? Taxpayers – are you listening for the huge sucking sound?
Now – who’s up for government health insurance?