I think these stories are related

Yesterday, Warren Buffet announced that he has been reducing his investment in municipal bonds, stating that "There will be a terrible problem and then the question becomes will the federal government help."

And then today, this story came out about a woman named Camille Cates Barnett, who "will get nearly $50,000 annually from the [Philadelphia] city pension fund for the rest of her life after June 30, when she leaves her post as Philadelphia's managing director after two years, five months, and 24 days."

It goes on:

On the same day that a City Council committee moved to close the loophole that allows short-time employees such as Barnett to buy credit in the city's pension fund based on public service elsewhere, the Board of Pensions and Retirement revealed that Barnett had done just that.

Barnett has paid $122,303 to become vested in the pension plan, according to the Mayor's Office and the Pension Board, a privilege unionized employees are entitled to only after serving five years.

I just ran a quote for a Single Premium Immediate Annuity that would produce a lifetime annual payout of $50,000 for a 60 year old female (I'm not sure how old she is), and the cost is almost $750K. She got the same thing for $122K. Amazing.

[Update]

Apparently, this was not the first time she had pulled off something like this. Line one of this article from 1999 reads: "We are "shocked, shocked," to discover the District is paying Camille Barnett $500,000 for one year's mediocre work."