Promises made that cannot be kept, a continuing series

As a companion piece to my usual rantings about Social Security, here’s a story in the Boston Globe about the massive bill coming due when public officials hit retirement: “Public retirees’ benefits adding up – New rules reveal staggering debt”

The bill is coming due for years of benefits bestowed upon the nation's public employees, and it's a stunner: hundreds of billions of dollars over the next three decades, threatening some local governments with bankruptcy and all but guaranteeing cuts in services like education and public safety.

Forget about pensions, it’s healthcare coverage that will sink cities and states into unimaginable debt. JP Morgan estimates the present value of unfunded healthcare and nonpension benefits at somewhere between $600 billion and $1.3 trillion. Yikes. Sorry kids, no more free lunches.