In an interview with the New York Times, Comptroller Daniel W. Hynes, of illinois, admits that his state is so deficit-ridden (12,000,000,000 “dollars”) that its employee (French for “government worker”) pensions fund is 50% under-funded, and he is unable to pay government vendors: “This is not some esoteric budget issue; we are not paying bills for absolutely essential services.  That is obscene.”

       [added 8/28/2021] Thanks to Freedom’s Phoenix for this entry.