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.

Census Bureau Reports Public Pension Assets Increase More Than $257 Billion for State and Local Public-Employee Retirement Systems in 2010

I bet she's also a big supporter of Obama.

Teacher upset she can't retire at 47 - HUMAN EVENTS

Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican who represents Colorado's 6th Congressional District, wants the permanent political class in Washington to feel some of the pain of their constituents, who are footing the bills.

Coffman has been serving on Congress since 2009 and obviously hasn't been brainwashed by the political lifers who run Washington.

Rep. Mike Coffman: Time to Kill Congressional Pensions and Cut Pay - HUMAN EVENTS

Before the current sex abuse scandal that brought down legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, the last time I wrote about JoePa was in December 2007 when there was a controversy about keeping his salary secret. The Associated Press reported on Monday that Paterno is eligible for a $554,000 annual pension based on his most recent salary as PSU's head football coach.

Here's a look back at the 2007 column:

Why revealing Joe Paterno's salary is important

By Tony Phyrillas

Pennsylvania ranks 49 out of 50 states for having the worst open-records law in the country. The Paterno salary story, which made the front page of every newspaper in the state, should be a wake-up call to Pennsylvania residents.

The world now knows how much Joe Paterno makes as head football coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions.

My life hasn't changed one bit since I found out that Paterno earns $512,664 a year. I graduated from Penn State but it never occurred to me to ask how much Paterno made when I attended school in State College or in the years since I left Happy Valley.

I never gave any thought to Paterno's salary until I learned that a newspaper had been trying for five years to get the information.

Paterno's salary was one of the best-kept secrets in Pennsylvania, a state where keeping the public in the dark is one of the primary missions of government. Pennsylvania ranks 49 out of 50 states for having the worst open-records law in the country.

The State Employees' Retirement System released Paterno's salary a week after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that his salary and those of other top Penn State officials are public information.

How much the 80-year-old coach makes isn't as important as the fact that so many government and university officials worked so hard for so long to keep the information out of public sight.

The revelation that Paterno makes $512,000 was almost anti-climatic. Most people were under the impression that Paterno was making more than $1 million a year based on his longevity at Penn State and the success he has brought to the school's football program.

"I'm paid well. I'm not overpaid," Paterno told reporters. "I got all the money I need."

What a refreshing statement from a public figure in a state where greed has become the norm. Pennsylvania legislators, already among the highest paid in the country, voted themselves pay raises of 16 percent to 54 percent during a middle-of-the-night session on July 7, 2005. Gov. Ed Rendell signed the pay grab into law. It took a backlash from Pennsylvania residents to get the Legislature to rescind the pay raise.

And let's not compare Paterno's salary to that of some other coaches who run big-time football programs. Alabama's Nick Saban is the highest paid coach at $4 million per year. Oklahoma's Bob Stoops makes over $3 million. Florida's Urban Meyer, Ohio State's Jim Tressel and South Carolina's Steve Spurrier make $2 million annually.

Paterno, the second winningest college football coach of all time, is underpaid compared to other coaches. Paterno is Penn State. His value to the school cannot be measured in dollars and cents. And let's not forget that Paterno and his wife have donated $4 million to Penn State over the years.

I don't think anyone can argue that Paterno isn't worth every dollar Penn State pays him. The salary revelation should put renewed focus on the current debate in the Pennsylvania Legislature over open records.

The reason the Harrisburg Patriot-News had to fight so hard in the courts to get the salary information is because Pennsylvania law presumes that all government and quasi-government agencies are entitled to keep secrets.

The public, through newspapers and other media outlets, have to persuade courts that the information should be public. This presumption is backwards. The burden should be on the government to show why information associated with how it spends the public's money or conducts the public's business should be kept from the public.

Political commentator Lowman Henry has an interesting take on the Paterno salary disclosure:

"Why then would Penn State's power brokers fight so hard to keep such information confidential? In a word: arrogance. It has become apparent they simply believe, despite the fact PSU receives hundreds of millions of tax dollars each year, We The People have no right to know what they are doing with our money. Clearly the Paterno salary is not untoward, and the university is generally perceived as one of the finest in the nation. Why then the secrecy?"

The Paterno salary story, which made the front page of every newspaper in the state, should be a wake-up call to Pennsylvania residents. They need to be engaged in the current debate about revising the state's open-records laws. This is not about giving newspapers special access. This is about giving the people of Pennsylvania the right to know how their elected officials are conducting the people's business.

A vote on revisions to the open-records law could come any day now. Make sure your elected representatives know you're paying attention and will not tolerate any more secrecy.

The political aristocracy, both Democrats and Republicans, continues to feast at the expense of taxpayers, who are struggling for table scraps.

State pensions tip of the iceberg for area reps' benefits - pottsmerc.com

Notorious bank robber Willie Sutton once was asked, "Why do you rob banks?"

He had a straight-forward answer: "Because that's where the money is."

Fast-forward to 2011 and you could ask your favorite public servant, "Why do you run for office?"

The answer? "Because that's where the money is."

USA Today has published a scathing look at how politicians milk the system to collect millions in pensions.

In many cases, the politicians have qualified for benefits at the state level while moving on to higher office at the federal level, where they will once again reap the financial rewards of "public service."

From USA Today:

More than 4,100 legislators in 33 states are positioned to benefit from special retirement laws that they and their predecessors have enacted to boost their pensions by up to $100,000 a year, a USA TODAY investigation found. Even as legislators cut basic state services and slash benefits for police, teachers and other workers, they have preserved pension laws that grant themselves perks unavailable to voters they serve or workers they direct.

Pennsylvania politicians are among the worst offenders, according to the investigation.

From USA Today:

Since 1996, 67 retired Pennsylvania legislators have collected $7 million in pension checks that they could not have received if they' had the same retirement age as most state workers, USA TODAY found. Another 40 who took early retirement also benefited from the younger retirement age.

Those benefiting include seven former state legislators now in Congress, earning $174,000: Democrats Chaka Fattah and Allyson Schwartz and Republicans Charlie Dent, Jim Gerlach, Tim Murphy, Todd Platts and Joseph Pitts.

Read the full story at the link below:

How state lawmakers pump up pensions in ways you can't – USATODAY.com

Can you spare another $1,400 in taxes every year so public sector workers can enjoy lifetime pensions?

Taxes: Study - $1,400 Tax Hike Needed to Fund US Pensions - CNBC

Study: To Fund Public Pensions, Taxes Must be Raised $1,400 Every Year for 30 Years | The Weekly Standard

This is Ed Rendell's idea of pension reform. The bill, which was backed by the teachers union, was passed with the support of Rendell and the Democratic majority in the state Legislature.

From The Associated Press:

Structural changes passed last month in Pennsylvania's large pension plans for state government workers and school district employees will still leave taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars in new costs in the coming years.

The cost to the state government and school districts will go from $1.25 billion this year to just under $2 billion next year, but the average annual price tag for the coming decade amounts to $5.3 billion.

Pension law leaves taxpayers with $5B annual cost - pottsmerc.com

Rep. Curt Schroder (R-Chester County) says he voted against a pension "reform" bill that he believes only postpones the pension crisis and creates even larger budget problems in the near future for Pennsylvania taxpayers.

From a Schroder press release:

"House Bill 2497 is not the answer to Pennsylvania's pension crisis," said Schroder. "In January, we will have a new governor and a new House. This important issue should not have been decided by a lame duck governor and 21 legislators who are no longer accountable to the taxpayers. Instead of passing a deficient and short-sighted piece of legislation, I believe we should have taken the time to thoughtfully consider a defined contribution pension plan for new employees, similar to a 401(k). This is the direction most of the country is taking and I believe it is the best solution for the long-term health of Pennsylvania's pension plans."

Pennsylvania is facing a multi-billion dollar unfunded liability in its pension systems. Schroder said that while HB 2497 addresses some of the more immediate issues concerning the pension system, without further changes the plan will again require huge taxpayer contributions in a few years that will force the issue to be revisited. "Anyone who believes this issue is now solved will be in for a rude awakening by 2015," Schroder said.

"The state employee and school pension systems currently have a guaranteed rate of return, and they have been underfunded for many years. This underfunding continues with passage of this alleged pension fix. With the economic downturn, we can no longer afford a system that guarantees a return on investment when the returns are not there. HB 2497 assumes that Pennsylvania will experience gains of 8 percent over the next several years even though recent gains have been only about half of that. It also assumes employee contribution rates will rise and make up the difference. It is highly speculative that either would happen."

The bill passed Monday evening in the House by a vote of 165-31 and is awaiting Gov. Ed Rendell's signature.

The Pennsylvania House overwhelmingly passed a flawed pension "reform" bill Monday that does little to reform the golden pension plans enjoyed by government workers and teachers and will end up costing Pennsylvania taxpayers billions of dollars.

A number of Republicans joined the lame duck Democrats in pushing the bill through.

The Commonwealth Foundation, an independent, non-profit public policy research and educational institute based in Harrisburg, offers some insight into HB 2497:

HARRISBURG, PA — The Commonwealth Foundation expressed disappointment with today's passage of House Bill 2497, which defers significant pension costs on to future generations while failing to adequately reform the state's largest defined benefit pension systems.

"We attempted to bring fiscal sanity to the pension discussion, but the reality was that self-interested unions were successful in drowning out the voice of the taxpayers," said Matthew J. Brouillette, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation. "Despite arguments to the contrary, this bill didn't 'save' the taxpayers any money. Taxes will still be going up with this 'reform' next year — $646M more just to pay for PSERS and SERS — and every year thereafter. But it did prevent moving new employees into a Defined Contribution plan — a major victory for labor unions like PSEA, AFSCME and SEIU."

"Yet we remain hopeful that a new administration and new legislature will begin the process of fully reforming Harrisburg to protect the taxpayers in the future," said Brouillette. "Many lawmakers voted for HB 2497 as the 'first step' to pension reform. We look forward to working with lawmakers who understand this cannot be the final action, and with new leaders who understand the need for real pension reform and controlled spending."

The only silver lining on this cloudy day is the fact that the Legislature can revisit the pension fiasco in 2011 when both chambers will be controlled by Republicans and Gov.-elect Tom Corbett will take office.

The Commonwealth Foundation has posted a complete roll call of how the House voted here.

From a story by Debra Erdley on the underhanded tactics of Harrisburg politicians:

Pennsylvania increased benefits for state and school employees and lawmakers in 2001, added a cost-of-living raise for retirees in 2002, and then reduced contributions to the funds and spread costs out over a decade to soften the blow of market declines.

Pennsylvania State Education Association spokesman Wythe Keever said 1998 was the last year contributions covered the state's and school districts' shares of the full costs of benefits Pennsylvania's school employees earned that year. He blames projected steep cost increases on that, rather than the benefit boost or market decline.

"What we are saying and continue to say is, our members have done what they were supposed to do. They contributed on average 7.3 percent of their salaries to provide pension funding. The General Assembly needs to understand that the decade of underfunding has created a debt that's now due," Keever said.

Read the full story at the link below:

'Day of reckoning' expected for Pennsylvania public pension plans - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

How well do Pennsylvania politicians take care of themselves?

Robert Swift, Harrisburg Bureau Chief for The Citizens' Voice, reports that state Sen. Bob Mellow, the Democratic leader, will triple his current salary when he retires at the end of the year.

It sure beats working for a living.

From Swift's story:

HARRISBURG - Sen. Robert Mellow could be eligible for an annual taxpayer-funded state pension amounting to three times his $110,250 salary when he leaves office in November.

Mellow, 67, is eligible to collect the bulk of his pension through the state government's defined-benefit plan. In addition, Mellow can collect supplemental pension benefits to reach a minimum $313,000 annual payout he may be getting through the little-known state-run Benefits Completion Plan.

The combination of two pension streams will enable Mellow to have retirement benefits that greatly exceed his current $110,250 Senate salary as well as the incomes of average Pennsylvanians. In addition to generous pensions, state lawmakers enjoy top-level health benefits that cover medical care, eye and dental care and prescription drugs in retirement. Since 2006, current and retired senators contribute 1 percent of their incomes toward health benefits.

Mellow, D-Peckville, has said he won't seek re-election to an 11th term, wrapping up a career that began in 1970. Efforts to obtain comment from Mellow and his spokeswoman, Lisa Scullin, were unsuccessful.

The exact amount of Mellow's pension won't be known until early next year, and will be influenced by a variety of factors.

Read the full story at the newspaper's Web site.

Have you opened your 401(k) statement lately? Don't bother. You've lost most of your money in the collapse of the U.S. economy over the past six months -- unless you're a government worker in Pennsylvania.

You can't lose because the taxpayers are obligated to pay your entire pension regardless of how much of that money is lost in investments.

What's so special about state workers, you say? Why should you bail them out?

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is wondering the same thing. The newspaper concludes in an editorial that state workers should have the same type of retirement plan as those in private industry. When the market goes up, everyone benefits. When the market goes down, everybody shares the pain equally.

The state must renegotiate existing public-sector pensions to make them defined-contribution plans and establish a unified statewide retirement system for public employees, the newspaper argues.

Otherwise, Pennsylvania residents will see huge jumps in property taxes to cover the costs of guaranteed lifetime pensions for state workers.

Read the full editorial, "The pensions crisis: Only one solution," at the newspaper's Web site.