Bloomberg:

State governments from Rhode Island to California have run up estimated pension-fund losses of $865.1 billion, forcing some to cut benefits for new hires.

Assets for 109 state funds declined 37 percent to $1.46 trillion over the 14 months ended Dec. 16, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of stocks fell 41 percent in the period.

The $865 billion in losses, which exceed the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program that Congress approved in October, comes as states face budget deficits totaling $42 billion.

State funds have enough money on hand to pay benefits for the foreseeable future, said Alicia Munnell, the center’s director. “Even if markets recover, this will be a one-time loss that will have to be made up in the future by taxpayers,” she said.

My comment: Why do taxpayers have to make up these short falls. Quite a few taxpayers have lost jobs and have had their pensions wiped out. Are the taxpayers obligated to people who lost their pensions in the private sector. The arrogance of the parasites and mooches in government is beyond belief. Everyone else has to lower expectations and their standard of living except for the highly productive people at the state DMV. This is nonsense. I am sure that there will be taxpayer revolts over this nonsense or least I hope there will be.

John Polomny
The Real Deal