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Our representatives have done us a great disservice by providing pensions to public employees that cannot be sustained. The rosy outlook of stocks continuing their nineties record growth into the long term was foolish and it is costing us dearly. As taxpayers we have to pay the difference in higher taxes and reduced services. It may be near impossible to reform existing pensions but new hires must be placed in much more amenable retirement plans. These pensions are a ticking time bomb that leave my generation and generations beyond footing an unbearable cost. How many have you heard the nightmare that San Diego is in regarding pensions? They have to pay billions of dollars to meet pension demands due to poor fiscal management on the part of elected officials. Rather than be fiscally prudent, they allowed a ticking time bomb to be set and thus push the problem onto the next generation. Now we have the city of Vallejo in the Bay Area that has filed for bankruptcy due to extravagant pensions. This is ridiculous. The taxpayer has to foot the bill because of corruption and fiscal malfeasance. If it isn't pensions that will bury us, it is unfunded healthcare mandates. We have $45 billion in unfunded healthcare mandates for our public employees in the state of California. $45 billion in the red. Where are we going to get the money for that? Taxes? Spending cuts? Both? It is time we demand fiscal responsibility. I suggest that politicians who agree to such deals are financially liable if the deals go south. I mean it. If the politicians realize that their necks would be on the line for some of these egregious plans, then they may actually demand some answers of their own. Then they won't be quick to acquiesce. How about a little fear of jail time or heavy fines to get these politicians to stop selling us down the river for their short term political gain.
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