The Pensions are Promises that Just Can't Be Kept

Some promises just can't be kept. That is the sad truth that teachers, state and municipal workers are going to have to come to grips with. In 1969, when the world and I were young and America had just landed on the moon, the future was full of promise of great things to come.

I mean, if we could reach the moon in 1969, what marvels would happen in the 21st century? They promised us all sorts of outlandish things.

 We were promised flying cars and robot butlers and maids. My favorite was we were promised personal jet packs to get around town like on the TV show "Lost In Space." We didn't get any of those things. They even promised us phones you could carry with you that didn't need a cord connected to the wall! (OK, so that one came true, but still ...)

The promises made to our teachers and state workers can't be kept. I wish they could be, but they were too outlandish. Folks, it's $9.3 billion! We can't, and I really mean we can't, raise that money. Let's face it, even without addressing the pension issue, we will struggle just to keep our heads above water for basic operations.

If even without addressing the pensions we might not cover our bills. How can we possibly afford $ 9.3 billion more?

The answer is we can't. And we won't. The unions can come to that conclusion sooner or later, but it is the only answer there is. The unions can sue and they can scream and they can make honest politicians pay with their positions for speaking the truth, but at the end of the day, they are not going to get their full pensions. The money won't be there. This includes my wife!

If Rhode Island were a business, it would be already in bankruptcy, and if the unions are not reasonable, then that is where the state is heading. And it will cause great strife and suffering. If the state were a regular business, the pensioners would be getting pennies on the dollar for their pensions, and the people who shorted the funds for years would go to jail.

But this is the state, so it will take longer and there will be angry voices, finger pointing, and trying to milk the last dime out of a failed system. All for promises that cannot be kept.

The really crappy part is, that like workers in factories who got screwed out of their pensions in the last recession, the teachers and the workers did nothing wrong. Except they believed the lies of their union leaders and the lousy politicians that they bought. They believed they would get their flying cars. And there is just no such thing.