We've written quite a bit over the past couple of months about the pending financial crisis in Illinois which will inevitability result in the state's debt being downgraded to "junk" at some point in the near future (here is our latest from just this morning: "From Horrific To Catastrophic": Court Ruling Sends Illinois Into Financial Abyss).

Unfortunately, the state of Illinois doesn't have a monopoly on ignorant politicians...they're everywhere. And, since the end of World War II, those ignorant politicians have been promising American Baby Boomers more and more entitlements while never collecting nearly enough money to cover them all...it's all been a massive state-sponsored scam.

As we've noted frequently before, some of the largest of the many entitlement 'scams' in this country are America's public pension funds. Up until now, these public pension have been covered by stealing money set aside for future generations to cover current claims...it's a ponzi scheme of epic proportions...$5-$8 trillion to be exact.

Of course, the problem with ponzi schemes is that eventually you get to the point where the ponzi is so large that you can't possibly steal enough money from new entrants to cover redemptions from those trying to exit...and, with a tidal wave of baby boomers about to pass into their retirement years, we suspect that America's epic ponzi is on the verge of being exposed for the world to see.

And when the ponzi dominoes start to fall, Bloomberg has provided this helpful map to illustrate who will succumb first...

Of course, if you live in a state like South Dakota, you may take some solace from the fact that your public pension is fully funded...don't.

Once the dominoes start to fall, and they will, those "ignorant politicians" we mentioned above will think they're doing the right thing when they attempt to "socialize the issue" with federal bailouts and tax hikes. Unfortunately, this is one crisis that will be too large for even American taxpayers to bailout.