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Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski joins Scott Slocum on his morning show on WJOL. They discussed skyrocketing pensions and how it’s tied into Illinoisans paying some of the highest property taxes in the nation.
Wirepoints pieces:
Summary and audio linked here.
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
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.
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Audio and summary
The Illinois Pension Scam.
A state and local governmental scam.
Created and hiked by politicians for special interest groups.
The largest and most powerful of those special interest groups are public sector unions.
The rank and file union members elect union leaders.
Similarly, the voters elect politicians.
The voters approved the sentence added to the state constitution as part of the state constitutional rewrite, all of the aforementioned which passed at the infamous December 15, 1970 special election.
A Democratic Scam.
A legal scam.
There’s a naive, trusting sucker born every minute.
Frequent Commenter PensionsPaidFirst is a staunch defender of a single professions’ rights (the Professional Political Class, including Public Teachers) to destroy the economy of a State, because that profession has been successful as a result of being so corrupted of any identifiable human attributes that they will justify extreme harm to everyone in their own community in order to get what they desire. OVERGRAZING THE COMMONS rewarded richly here! Bring your sheep (but only if you pay-off the right people). PPF is absolutely right. Kudos to Illinois Teachers for being so brilliantly sociopathic, so single-mindedly predatory that they literally ‘eat… Read more »
The root of the problem can easily be found by checking local election results and uncovering the perennially and abysmally low voter turnouts. When only 15-20% care enough to pick the people who make big decisions for them (it’s called a republic) the winners at the ballot box do what they pretty much please. Look no further than 10-12 miles east in Community High School District #210where voter apathy led to Lawrence Wyllie building a hand-picked board that allowed him to destroy the pristine finances that had been maintained for over 50 years. Learning the positions of candidates and then… Read more »
Go figure admin do not pay into the fund nor do they pay into there medical. They then receive the full benefit when they retire. Look it up. We reward them with our taxes. They are thief’s.
Wow. This smug vermin will steal $8.4 million in taxpayer money. At least with a Bank he might be shot as he walks out the door. Instead these entitled scum gloat and feel superior to the real working and taxpaying chumbolones. There is a special place in hell for this sort of thief.
They are playing by the rules. They did nothing wrong at all. Kudos to them for negotiating.
Except the balanced budget amendment, the second amendment and first. All to get pensioners paid. So, yea they are playing by the rules
Some key things were said during this interview.
This is on the taxpayers not the public employees. It’s only natural that Illinois taxpayers will and should pay for the cost of our spending.
you truly are a government dependent low life,this is all gonna crash eventually,i ll loan you a couple bucks so you can buy some cigarettes when it does dummy
That 250k per year in pensions will be just fine. You keep your money. You’re going to need it. I on the other hand will be enjoying prime ribeye steaks and fine red wine. Maybe in 20 years you’ll finally get the courts to offer some small adjustment. Of course by then that 250k in pension payout will be over 450k per year. Maybe the courts will enforce a 5.5% cut like they did with Detroit pensioners. That pension payout will be reduced to 430k per year. Oh my, how will I survive? May need to downsize my 40 foot… Read more »
You sure you have that long to live? I know more than a few that checked out pretty quick. A few were lazy state employee types with nice big waistlines from gorging themselves. Sound familiar?
I’m good but thanks for your concern. Strength training and regular cardio is the key. You just need to make sure you carve out time out of your busy day. The other thing that helps is to avoid stress. So many on here are so stressed out about their finances and that it is surely taking years off their lives. My advice would be to set up a retirement plan so you know you will be ok in your golden years. Otherwise you’ll spend your final years being jealous of retired public employees and complaining about taxes. Such a miserable… Read more »
PPF – I am not jealous or even particularly concerned that public employees often hit the retirement lottery in Illinois. The key issue is whether the current state of affairs is sustainable. It doesn’t appear to be, but the political/union complex in Illinois has some of the most accomplished rent seekers on the planet. This may just go on an on, with grinding misery to escalate in the next two decades (think the West Virginia of the Midwest). One could ask whether you care, and frankly in an I’ve Got to Get Mine state like Illinois it is understandable to… Read more »
Crickets…
“So here’s the rub, and I simply have never had a progressive meaningfully answer the question. Are higher taxes exogenous to economic productivity?” I didn’t answer your question because it appeared that you were looking for a response from a progressive, which I am not. I am someone that merely believes the state is legally and morally responsible to honor these contracts. That typically would fall under conservative principles but since public employees tend to vote more with democrats the new GOP is perfectly fine attempting to steal from retirees. In fact it was the Republicans in 1970 that initiated… Read more »
I’m listening to what you’re saying, and I see your lips moving, but all I heard is that rich old retired white people think it’s OK to use ‘muh constitutional amendment’ to steal from poor working class BIPOC who can least afford to pay.
The constitution was also used to justify slavery and segregation in the recent past too.
Racism keeps rearing its ugly head again and again.
You’re aware of the 1848 Illinois Constitutional Amendment prohibiting ‘colored person’ migration to the state of Illinois, right? It was put to the people and they voted for it! 1848 Illinois Constitution Schedule 17, § 10. That this constitution shall be submitted to the people for their adoption or rejection, at an election to be held on the first Monday in March, 1848, and there shall also be submitted for adoption or rejection, at the same time, the separate articles in relation to the emigration of colored persons and the public debt. MUH CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT! CONTRACTS CLAUSE!!!! CAN NEVER BE… Read more »
Your are right about that. The short life expectancy of the government worker slugs on these pension plans my be the only thing that prevents a default. Most government workers that I know are morbidly obese pork rind and orange soda drinking data points tilting the actuarial charts like they bend their lawn chairs. These lazy sloths go into government work in order to spend as little effort as possible and still collect a paycheck and they live their lives the same way.
Sure, the average worker, but the higher paid professionals are healthy, have the best healthcare, and are trying to live forever
yea,good luck dummy,this will all go dry soon,you ll be eating hot dogs and ramen noodles if youre lucky lowlife
When Jabroni? You keep saying soon and yet nothing is on the horizon. There were people back in 1970 saying this would collapse but yet the checks just keep on coming…plus a 3% increase. I sense from all of your name calling and anger that you know I’m right. You better start cutting expenses now so that you can afford the tax increases that are coming your way. Your ramen noodles idea could really save you some money.
yea,ok,jb’s twin
PPF – I didn’t name call or engage in ad hominem attacks. Yet you have not endeavored to answer my questions.
im willing to guess toilet cleaners such as you even get a pension,could we tell the difference between u and jb if u were standing next to each other?!