One of the most Leftist dominated cities, perhaps the most dominated, has a major problem that goes beyond its murder records. The problem, in fact, extends beyond the Windy City and affects a number of municipalities which catered to government employee unions. I wonder if the problem arises out of Liberal stupidity, incompetence, chicanery, or a combination of all of the above. Whatever, the consequences are really quite disturbing.

Zitat

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Chicago's recent tax hike will help fill a multibillion-dollar hole in its public pension funds but it won't be enough to close the gap, according to a report Tuesday by bond rater Moody's.

"Despite significantly increasing its contributions to its pension plans, Chicago's unfunded pension liabilities could grow, at a minimum, for another 10 years," the report said.

Last month, the Chicago City Council approved a $7.8 billion budget that includes a highly unpopular tax hike proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to make up for years of underfunding city workers' pensions. The package included a $543 million property tax hike, phased in over four years, increases in other fees, and spending cuts aimed at filling a $20 billion hole in the city's pension obligation.

With one of the largest and most troubled pension systems in the country, Chicago and its efforts are being widely watched around the country by millions of public retirees in dozens of older cities with large badly underfunded pensions.

Last year, Moody's estimated that U.S. public pensions don't have nearly enough to pay what they owe current and future retirees. The top 25 biggest public retirement systems alone — covering 40 percent of the $5.3 trillion in total public plan assets — are at least $2 trillion short of what they'll need to make good on the promises to millions of police, firefighters, teachers and other public sector workers.

Since then, those unfunded pension liabilities have continued to rise faster than revenues for state and local governments. Some have responded with benefit cuts, delayed retirement ages and increased contributions from pension plan participants.

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http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/c...ocid=spartandhp