Uncle Sam can’t bail out states if he’s broke

Published February 16, 2012 5:00am ET



Large federal budget deficit numbers are becoming routine. President Obama’s new budget confirms a deficit of more than $1 trillion for fiscal 2012, the fourth year in a row with a deficit of that magnitude.

But $4.4 trillion? That’s the state and local pension and health care underfunding presented in a new Senate Finance Committee Republican staff report, equal to about four years of federal deficits.

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