Pensions are funded assuming a steady rate of return (“NY Record Hit,” May 30). During the boom times of the late 1990’s and mid-2000’s, these same pension funds had huge overages. Where did that money go? The politicians in Albany swiped every last penny to spend elsewhere. Now that the bust portion of the cycle has arrived, the pension funds have huge shortages.

The state’s leadership, in the form of Gov. Paterson and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, as well as The Post, chose to point the blame for these shortages at New York’s police officers, firefighters and teachers. In fact, the problem is not the unions or the existing pension tiers, but the politicians who spent our pension money through the boom times while failing to plan for the always inevitable bust.

Robert Maher, Wantagh