There is both the Big Lie and the Unknown Truth that should be under our political microscope

We discuss the Big Lie often but what about the unknown truth? What is the unknown truth?

One of the reasons several pension funds in many states do not have enough money is because during previous years some state governors did not deposit the required contributions at the time required. In New Jersey, for instance, one governor took a "tax holiday" and skipped some payments some years. I know this also happened in Pennsylvania because I have heard Ed Rendell say when he became Governor of Pennsylvania one of things he had to work on was the underfunding of the pension plans. He mentioned payments due in the past into the plan had not been made, and that was a problem. I have also seen stories over the years where this has happened in other states but cannot remember exactly which states those were. I believe California might have been one.

So when it is said what a "burden" these plans present to states, part of that "burden" is the inside information that the state has in some years not paid that which it was legally required to contribute. To change the laws in some cases to lessen or alleviate pension benefits would help offset those past missed donations and relieve the state of the burden to restore that which it should have contributed in past years.

Basically, it is the same principle being applied to Social Security. The U.S. Government has accrued 2.6 Trillion in a Social Security Trust Fund (and there is a Medicare Trust Fund as well that we never hear about) backed by U.S. Treasury Bonds. Those funds have been spent, and Geithner himself has spoken publicly about the difficulty in selling bonds during this time when so many countries have depressed economies.

Guess what? The time has come to pay the pipers (that would be the babyboomers) and the till is empty. Therefore, "Social Security is broke" and must be reformed. Medicare as well. Translation: the U.S. Government needs to relieve itself of part of this debt it cannot repay. It just must reframe the situation to one it can sell to its citizens, and that reframing does not include the literal truth but a different version of the truth that sounds plausible. We have heard several versions by different politicians, have we not?

Additionally, during a crisis situation, the U.S. Government has the legal authority to "borrow" from funds accrued in government employee pension plans. One of the times it did so was right after 911, immediately following the terrorists' attacks. There was a public statement to assure the citizens that we would still be able to run our government despite the fact Wall Street had been shut down, and this was how we could partially accomplish that. The money would be paid back.

During the government shutdown engineered by the Republicans (of course), another public statement was made that during this time the U.S. Government would "borrow" funds from the government employees' pension plans. There is a law which enables the government to do this. In all honesty, during these difficult economic times, should I believe those funds have now been restored? When I hear what a -- here is that word again -- "burden" these plans are putting on government revenue and there must be "reform", cynic that I am I start pondering is the problem the fact the U.S. Government has in that arena borrowed money it cannot repay.

So we have the Big Lie and the Unknown Truth and the Spin to sort through. Personally, my view is that when one borrows money from another, there is a legal and a moral obligation to pay back that debt. Don't float trial balloons to mask the problem and ask for "sacrifice." We the people are just not that gullible.

At least we are aware of the Big Lie. The Unknown Truth is just what is the extent of the underfunding and borrowing from citizens' monies and how will that debt be relieved? Stay tuned.

Sam