Politicians make promises to labor unions in return for votes and campaign contributions, but the money to fund lifetime pensions for union retirees eventually runs out.

Watch Pennsylvania taxpayers get screwed again. It doesn't help that voters continue to return the same members of the permanent political class to Harrisburg every election.

From a report in Bloomberg by Romy Varghese:

Pennsylvania's two public pensions face a combined shortfall of $41 billion, and their costs will consume 62 percent of fiscal 2014 revenue growth, according to a report from the state budget office.

The State Employees’ Retirement System has 65 percent of assets needed to cover projected liabilities, and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System is 69 percent funded, the report said. The plans cover 817,000 people.

Read more about the pension time bomb in Bloomberg.