there are losses all over, the pensions need to be cut back, simple as that. The taxpayer is tapped out.

This is the result of decades of union control of the City Council. They made their bed and they can sleep in it. They will now have to explain themselves to the property taxpayers of Minneapolis who will have to foot the bill.

They should read the cards and take them for what they are. 'Combining' pensions does nothing more than take that from those that have and give it to those that want but have nothing to take from anymore. Many of these pension setups were unrealistic from the beginning whether the economy is in recession or not they were going to fail. It is time to adjust. For the life of me, I cannot get how they want to pass responsibility from one party to the next through mergers etc. It doesn't make the problem(s) go away. This does NOTHING to deal with the root of the problem.

the entire state is going to have to pay more. when are you lefties going to stop demanding other people's money!

Another city will be running to the state for money! THIS IS A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THIS IS THE NEXT SCANDAL! THE CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND THEY ISSUED THEIR OWN BONDS...AND THE STATE OF ILLINOIS IS NOW ON THE HOOK FOR THE DIFFERENCE IN THE ACTUAL RATE OF RETURN FOR THEIR BOND AND THE CTA'S PROJECT RATE OF RETURN. AND GUESS WHAT? THE MEMBERS DO NOT PAY A DUE INCREASE!

TOO BAD SO SAD.......SUCK IT UP!, EVERYBODY IS EXPERIENCING LOSS, DEAL WITH IT AND ADJUST ACCORDINGLY. WHAT MAKES THE PENSIONERS THINK THEY ARE SPECIAL AND IMMUNE?...GREED. I SAY NO TO ANY TAX INCREASE TO MAKE UP ANY DEFICIT, THATS RIGHT.....NO NEW TAXES AND NO INCREASED TAXES PERIOD!.

You wanted less government. Years of reckless lending and unrestrained greed by investment banks and this is the result. A global financial meltdown. You can thank Alan Greenspan, Dubya and his political appointees who did nothing as bad behavior ran wild for years. The sad part is most right-wingers have no clue about why this is happening.

Time to reconsider the formulas used to establish public pensions, as well as revise those liberal rules permitting effective scams of "the system". Government will tell you these benes are "guaranteed" but obviously they're only a sure thing as long as the money's there. And the federal gov't has no mechanism to "guarantee" other government pensions, so we're on our own.

You live in a naive and simplistic world.

Shoppers feel much safer knowing that retired police and firefighters are vigilantly standing duty at the entrance to every Wal-Mart. "I used to carry a uniform and keep the peace, now I wear a blue vest and deter shoplifting," said retired sergeant Sven Olsen. Olsen came out of retirement when the Minneapolis pension fund went belly up and he could no longer afford the rent at the Dodging Bullets Assisted Living Center.