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Plenty of politicians specialize in cynical press statements, but Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky deserves to be in a special circle of ignominy. On Monday she and six other Democrats from the Illinois congressional delegation urged state lawmakers to end a scholarship program that’s helping more than 9,000 low-income children in their state.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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What happened to Ms Schkowsky that she seems so filled with hate and disdain for working people?
She looks like the angry apple tree in the Wizard of Oz…
She kind of looks like a man.
Terrible do-nothing politician, no accomplishments beyond her vapid virtue-signals, spouse of a convicted crook, yet gets reelected term after term, because she never has viable competition.
Based upon the map of her area gerrymandering hasn’t hurt her either
I often wonder if the map drawers really need to do this to keep the 14D-3R majority. Or if they just draw them like this because they can.
She is a reprehensible human being, as is her husband. I cannot wrap my head around how she has remained in state government for so many years. She is a prime example of the stupidity of voters.
Her husband, Robert Creamer, is also cut from the same cloth. Criminals parading around as public elected officials is what we are dealing with.
Give her the middle finger.
Elimination of this benefit hurts the kids and their future. In addition, giving vouchers to parents for their kids education actually saves the state money. Everyone would be a winner except the CTU and that is the crutch of the issue. The union wants the kids stuck in the crummy government schools and the politicians are willing to sell their souls to curry favor with the union. The voters have put up with this unholy alliance forever so I guess they are complicit. Evil is among us and we all act as though it doesn’t exist. If you voted Democratic… Read more »
I’ll wager she had to take care of Dino the dinosaur in the Flintstone residence. Wasn’t she married to Mr. Slate?
Another bag of wrinkles for supporting term limits on useless politicians.
Democrats have no shame – they are a full blown cult.
Mark and Ted, you should interview some kids and families this has screwed up. Abstract facts paint a nice picture, but first hand stories are something that touches everyone.
Dave, that’s an issue we discuss often and you are not alone in that opinion. However, I generally despise news-by-anecdote, which has become so common. You can paint any picture you want by finding the right anecdote. When I read the NYT, for example, which routinely starts its news articles with anecdotes, I find myself skipping down several paragraphs to see if they have any real, broad evidence of what they are claiming. From all we can tell, most readers feel the same way and prefer our just-the-facts approach, even if it’s more bland. That said, it’s true that our… Read more »
Your comment “You can paint any picture you want by finding the right anecdote” really hits the nail on the head in my estimation. Consider that in Illinois many voters vote on emotion rather than on facts so with the right anecdotes by the media many unelectable suddenly become elected. I recognize that it’s not just Illinois, but have to admit Illinois provides a good example of this situation.
I prefer the way WP writes the articles without all the fluff anecdotes. We get enough of that from the candidates on the campaign trail as well as other media. People that really want to discuss and debate the data would much rather have it presented in a factual manner without the attached sob story. It’s the difference between a factual paper and marketing brochure. I understand Dave’s perspective. He wants sources such as Wirepoints to be used as a marketing arm and doesn’t want open debate. It’s why he gets so upset when people point out anything negative. He… Read more »
No debate? That’s all we do here is debate! I see it as addressing a large market segment (Democrats that are moved by stories and pictures over stats) that Wirepoints neglects. I could bore you guys all day about the science behind it. I’m not advocating making stuff up or embellishing the truth, but merely suggest supplementing your work in a way that will help get your message across. Narratives are how we relate to the world. There’s lots of science backing narratives as the most productive medium for humans to store and process information. Below are some simple examples… Read more »
You’ve got marketing baked into your user name buddy!! So typical: it’s just dandy when you do it. LOL
Sick burn, PPF just got burned real bad. LOL
Looking good Jan! What a puss! Put that dried old prune out to pasture already. Not an active brain cell among the group of Dems encouraging the disinvestment in furthering choice. Special mention for underachievers Casten and Raja.
Whoever replaces her will be worse.