There is a simple, but not easy, way to deal with these unfunded liabilities If you've despaired of finding a way to deal with politicians who give away the treasury to help finance their political careers, who could blame you? It seems to go on everywhere, and there seems to be no solution. 

But it's there, right in front of us. All it takes, at every level of government, is just one person. 

The problem is as old as government. Once in office, politicians can serve others, or serve themselves. In California, there are so many ways to practice self-dealing legally it is almost a surprise when a public official stoops to ordinary, criminal bribe-taking. 

The best illustration of legal self-dealing, because it was so blatant and on such a grand scale, was the performance of Gov. Gray Davis. In exchange for a few million dollars in campaign contributions, perfectly legal, he "negotiated" contracts with the state prison guards' union that made them the highest paid by far in the nation, with the most lavish pension benefits, and in addition, handed over most of the management control of the prison system, which now is an abysmal mess. 

For that, and other reasons, he was recalled from office. But his performance already had inspired similar payoffs to all other state employees, as well as state legislation enabling (inciting is a better word) counties and cities to grant fabulous pension benefits at local levels. 

Consequently, local governments all over the state have piled up many billions of dollars in pension liabilities. In a few, like Long Beach, pension liabilities are funded or nearly funded, but most local officials have no idea how anyone will pay for them over the years, nor do most of them care. 
What can voters do about the plundering of their money? The Gray Davis recall solution is hardly practical for thousands of politicians, and even if it were, how would voters know who should replace them? Political candidates don't proclaim in advance that they will do this sort of thing. 

The answer is to elect a reformer like Arnold Schwarzenegger, who refuses to take any money from the prison guards, to an office with veto power over public-employee handouts. That's doubly ironic, because first, Schwarzenegger has so far reformed nothing and has put California into worse financial shape than Davis did, and second, the prison guards now want to recall him because he won't give them Davis-style, lavish handouts. 

The one example of a respected and effective elected local official willing to take on pension issues is Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach, who represents the communities of Rossmoor, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos and others. But why are almost no other politicians doing anything about this costly mess, when it would be relatively easy to fix? 

Because they don't have to. Voters haven't demanded it. 

Not yet, anyway.