December 1, 2013 By: Mark Glennon   Under a particularly galling provision in the outline of the pension deal recently released, today’s fat cats get special protection.   Means testing should be a key theme in any pension cuts. That is, small pensioners who really need their pension, who worked to a true retirement age and didn’t spike or double dip, deserve more protection than fat cats with excessive pensions. Towards that end the pension deal appropriately includes a “pensionable salary cap” — the salary on which pensions are based would be maxed out at about $110,000.   But

Illinois’ unemployment rate dips below 9 percent in October

December 1, 2013   Republican candidate for Governor Bruce Rauner today sent the following mass email, in opposition to the pending pension deal:   This Tuesday a group of Springfield insiders, many of whom caused the pension crisis with decades of bad deals and giveaways, will try to rush through a pension deal without giving Illinoisans an opportunity to study the details. They want us to trust them. We don’t – and can’t. In the early 1990’s, Senate President John Cullerton was on a committee of 10 legislators who inserted language into a pension bill that allowed 23 government union

http://www.nwherald.com/2013/11/29/our-view-term-limits-should-make-2014-ballot/a18y2ed/

http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2013/12/over-next-30-years-illinois-taxpayers-will-pay-out-620-billion-in-state-employee-pensions.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: typepad/dlacomb/illinoisreview (illinoisreview)

In the 2010 election cycle – when Illinois last had a governor’s race and several other statewide contests on the ballot – public sector unions donated nearly $12 million to various candidates, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics. In 2012, they contributed $7.4 million to races for Illinois House and Senate and for judicial contests. Time to cash in on that. via Unions target Senate Dems in pension reform battle – News – The State Journal-Register – Springfield, IL.