The big problem is that most cities, states, and the US are bankrupt.  The amount of money they are in debt is ridiculous and way out of proportion to the services they provide and the taxes that they can collect.  For instance the city of cambridge, MA has over 1.2 Billion dollars of debt/unfunded liabilities for 70,000 people.<p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/30/cambridge-massachusetts-opeb-pensions-ratings-opinions-contributors-peter-schweich.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/30/cambridge-massachusetts-ope...</a>