I don’t write this to convince the people who are intentionally lying or have some ideological end-game here (as in, destroy unions and the middle class). I write this for those people who are still living on the planet Earth of reality. So, here it is: Wisconsin has a great, financially-sound public pension system. There is no need to change it or "reform" it.

   The facts, from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy and the Center for Economic and Policy Research, show that because contributions were consistently made at the full funding level:

…while the fund’s holdings dipped during 2008 due to stock market losses, it remains one of the most solid in the country and has enough funds to cover the promises made not only to current retirees but to those in the future. A report by the nonpartisan Pew Center for the States concluded that Wisconsin is a “national leader in managing its long-term liabilities for both pension and retiree health care.”

   And actually it is way above the standard set by the GAO:

…since 2006, the WRS has been able to meet no less than 99.6 percent of its pension obligations directly out of its pool of assets. By comparison, the U.S. Government Accountability Office recommends that at least 80 percent of liabilities be financeable through assets.

   And, surprise:

In fact, the WRS would currently be overfunded if the value of its assets, which are invested partly in stocks, had not plunged as a result of the market collapse in 2008-2009.

   So, here we come back to a common theme. The people in the country were screwed by a financial crisis engineered by a small coterie of Wall Street gamblers and bankers whose irresponsibility and criminal behavior cost us millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in wealth.

    Except for the wealth of the very bankers and Wall Street gamblers who continue to receive huge pay and benefits. They didn’t go to jail or lose their jobs. No, they continue to siphon off the wealth of the richest nation on the planet.

   And, while all that is happening, they participate in a fraudulent p.r. campaign (a la "The Wisconsin pension system is in trouble") to blame who? The workers who were the victims of the crisis.

   You cannot make this up.