Government employees across America get outrageously generous pensions paid for by taxpayers. Here’s one of them.
Who’s pigging out: Frank Benest
Ingredients for this pig-out: Benest worked for the city of Palo Alto, Calif.
How big is this pig-out? $174,946 every year
Average annual private sector retirement income: $31,757
Who pays for this pension pig-out?: The taxpayers of California
How can this happen?: Public employee pensions in California are so generous the state now has a $535 billion unfunded future liability, equal to $36,000 for every household in the state. That’s more than the gross national product of either Sweden, Switzerland or Saudi Arabia. California is not unique; have you checked your state’s public employee pensions lately?
Public sector pig-out is researched and written by Mark Hemingway of The Washington Examiner’s editorial page staff.
