It should also be noted that the unions were fighting the “pension holidays” all the way, precisely because they knew that they (unions and workers) would be the ones to take the blame when it all came crashing down. But, politicians being politicians and all…they were able to expand spending on other things because of the “savings” on pension contributions, and could brag (temporarily) that pensions were “free” and all of the new programs and goodies handed out to special interest groups could go on forever, too.
Yes, it was stupid, and many of us were saying so back then. 🙁
