States Deceive Voters and Taxpayers Regarding Unfunded Liabilities

Hiding facts from voters and taxpayers, is the dominant paradigm in Washington DC.

[From article]
Aside from the nearly $18 trillion national debt, many state governments are looking at future budgets that are trillions of dollars in the red. And they've hidden the numbers by dramatically under-reporting that debt, according to a new report by the think tank State Budget Solutions.
The group looked at what are known as "unfunded liabilities" -- or debt states will owe down the road. It found a number of states are fudging their numbers -- big-time -- using tricks like assuming their stock investments will soar.
The book-cooking could mean bad news for public pensions and other programs that rely on these budgets. The report finds that, nationwide, states have unfunded liabilities of nearly $5 trillion, or $15,000 per American (even though the states allegedly low-ball that number at $2.7 trillion).

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/13/report-state-budgets-fudge-numbers-projected-debt-worse-than-reported/

Report: State budgets fudge numbers to hide massive debt
By Maxim LottPublished
November 13, 2014
FoxNews.com