For the past few decades, many local and state governments evaded… [certain set] requirements, using an array of accounting gimmicks and rosy economic predictions to routinely understate pension fund liabilities and overstate assets. All the while, cozy arrangements between politicians and public employee unions fueled pension benefit increases. According to a study by the Pew Center, state and local governments today face at least $1 trillion of unfunded pension promises.
The problem is exacerbated by significant differences between the laws governing public pensions and those in the private sector.
Private sector pensions are required by federal law (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) to conform to certain minimum pension funding rules. These rules require more accurate measurement of pension liabilities and assets and prevent companies with significantly underfunded pension plans from making new promises they can’t afford to keep. State and local government plans are not subject to these federal laws, and many failed to take it upon themselves to responsibly ensure that they would be able to make good on their promises….
Explain to me why we allow government at all levels, local state and federal, to exercise more and more power and control over our lives, and they do things that, if done by private individuals and corporations, would send people to jail for criminal fraud?