NEWSMAX: …More and more cities, counties, and even some states will face the harsh reality of having to fix their pension systems or deal with a Detroit-style bankruptcy.
“This is happening in too many cities and towns across America, where social services, because they can be cut, are cut. Because pensions and bonds constitutionally cannot be cut, they’re the protected class,” Wall Street financial analyst Meredith Whitney told CNBC…
A study by the Pew Center earlier this year looked at 61 cities — those with populations over 500,000 plus the largest city in each state — and found a total gap of $217 billion between pension and retiree healthcare obligations and the funding saved to pay those costs… (more)
EDITOR: This is another of those articles that do not lend themselves to excerpts and should best be reviewed in full.
Given the alternatives, bankruptcy may be the correct solution. Somehow pensions and assets must come into balance. Public employees or not we are all subject to the same economic laws.