Those of us in the public pension world know that the vast majority of plans are on solid financial ground – and that the few that aren't are in jurisdictions whose legislatures have consistently failed to make some or all of the actuarially required contributions to those plans, even in boom economic times.

In the wake of the Great Recession, state and local politicians seeking to convert public DB plans to DC plans and/or cut plan benefits claim their jurisdictions simply do not have the resources to make the necessary pension payments. They claim that without the changes they want, core government services will suffer. They claim that pension costs are bankrupting their communities.

The rhetoric has been as impressive as it is deceitful. There's money there to fund public pensions. It just isn't going to public pensions – it's going to wealthy corporations.