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"This audit shows that the governor, that the program was rampant in overspending. It spent well in excess of 200 percent more than what was estimated in budgets and in appropriations," state Senate Republican leader John Curran said. "And it also showed that the governor was unable to manage this program."
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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While Pritzker squanders, panders, and bloviates, free and prosperous Red States take the lead in establishing state ‘DOGE’ efforts:
‘These Red States Have All Launched Their Own DOGE Task Forces as Elon Musk’s Efficiency Drive Spreads Nationwide’https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/these-red-states-have-all-launched-their-own/
All for illegal aliens, and growing.
…and this is only on program. Imagine the waste, fraud and corruption in the rest.
Nothing to see there. JB the Hutt told you so.
JB care more for illegals than citizens. His identity policies need to go.
Once again the voting power of the free stuff army shows itself as wild overspending causes no alarm to them. Why would they care because they are not paying for it?
Pritzker’s personal wealth is estimated to be $3billion. Maybe that will put the $1.6billion cost overrun into perspective for him. His liberal policies are out of touch with citizens, but the fiscal irresponsibility of his actions is criminal.
Why should he do that? The people of Illinois elected him to make these types of decisions and now the people of Illinois must pay the costs of his decision making. The residents of Illinois are responsible for the expense either through their vote or their complicit agreement by living in Illinois.
If the voters don’t like it, I would suggest they vote differently. If an individual doesn’t agree with the majority they are free to leave the state. Life is filled with decisions and consequences to those decisions.
Life is filled with decisions and consequences.
Public unions made the decision to bet the farm on investing in leftist politicians to keep the gravy train running. The investment has paid off handsomely so far.
But as we all know, past results are not a guarantee of future performance.
Considering the pension constitutional amendment was sponsored by Republicans and Gov Thompson (R) gave them a 3% annual annuity increase regardless of inflation, I wouldn’t lay this all at the feet of leftist. That’s not even mentioning the Edgar ramp that has caused the state to submit an unbalanced budget ever since. Leftist have been brutal with their spending but Republicans in Illinois have not helped in any way.
If public unions invest in Democrats and Republicans still give them even more benefits, why would they change their voting habits. Seems like a smart strategy that provides a great ROI.
Last century. Past performance. Maybe we should be talking about Richard J Daley when discussing Chicago now.
I’m sure it’s easier for you to ignore history than admit the problem is on both sides of the aisle. Your elected leaders are counting on people such as yourself. Instead you would rather blame the current teachers, police officers and firefighters for any short fall instead of those that actually caused it.
You are right about it all being history. The money is owed. There is no sense in blaming anyone. The only thing left to do is pay the bill. This is what the people of Illinois voted for.
LOL as Madigan controlled both chambers of the legislature and the Supreme Court with an iron fist for 45 years and you say “Muh both sides, huh?”
Edgar’s ramp and other ‘Republicans’, using that word loosely given Edgar’s TDS (which turned into cancer), they were mere bystanders to the Democrat control of the state. There’s been a Republican here or there but all the while Democrats have had control.
You willfully lie and misstate facts to perpetuate the ‘both side’s lie. It’s infuriating.
Around 90% of political donations from public employees and their unions have gone to Democrats for decades. I guess PPF is trying to convince us public employees are too stupid to understand that Republicans have been their real benefactors lol. Along with perpetuating the lie that the only problem with pensions is that they haven’t been fully funded.
Don’t forget the the people who want to be politicians usually say what the potential voters want to hear. This is especially true for first time pols but once in office they become part of the establishment. They may have promised the moon to voters but must answer to the “Party” first to see if they approve. Then they learn the ropes because for first time pols they either go with the status quo or they will be replaced in short order. If they play the game the party will approve some minor bills benefiting the voters so that in… Read more »
With rare exception, a politicians priorities lie with their own survival. If they have no fear of any repercussions from lying then they will lie if it benefits them. It really is that simple. I also understand the gerrymandering issue but that doesn’t offer any explanation for state wide offices. The fact remains that the majority of Illinois voters are getting exactly what they want.
“I also understand the gerrymandering issue but that doesn’t offer any explanation for state wide offices.” Republicans have held statewide offices in my lifetime. In fact, it’s been a ping-pong back and forth between Republicans and Democrats my entire life, with whomever could get 1,700,000 votes would be the winner. But that changed in 2018, when JB ‘found’ 800,000 new midterm voters, all of whom decided to vote straight ticket Democrat, all of whom had never voted in a midterm in Illinois history. He had a whopping 2,500,000 votes, more than any other statewide office holder in history. Sure, he… Read more »
“Vote differently” or actually vote. In the recent Dolton election only 26.94% of registered voters took the time to vote. I assume that means that 73.06%, or almost 3/4, of the people were totally content with things the way they were. Illinois voters are certainly a complacent bunch and while I may get some bad vibes about Dolton not representing the State watch the upcoming elections in the next couple of months particularly the school board votes and see if the voters finally say they have had enough. My guess is they wont because it is Illinois and Illinois voters… Read more »
I think actually showing up to vote falls under “vote differently”. Complacency is also part of the problem. That’s because voters are told more benefits for everyone and the other guy is buying. Our politicians then lie about the true costs and submit budgets that aren’t truly balanced. That’s why I continually state that we should raise taxes to fully fund our budget. Besides being the right thing to do it force the true costs of all the spending directly in front of the voters. If that doesn’t give them a wake up call then they deserve even higher taxes.
Quite a novel solution that I doubt would ever be implemented in Illinois because how else would the politicians be able to buy votes with what people think is other peoples money? The old axiom of “Don’t tax you and don’t tax me, let’s tax the man behind the tree” comes to mind. I should add that when an Illinois politician baits their hook with that line the public seemingly takes the bait every time.
Well put. I’d add that he would unlikely run any of the businesses in his vast holdings the way he runs the state. Now a state government is not the same as a business but business like fiscal discipline and discipline in execution of services is absolutely needed if doing one’s fiduciary duty, which he is not. Spending decisions are one thing, crossing into virtue signaling for political gain is quite another.
Is anyone the least bit surprised at this…?
If anything, I’m surprised the amount is not higher…