By: Diane Benjamin
The Democrat Party of Illinois isn’t going to reform pensions with a Constitutional Amendment. Next year they do have a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot to hand unions even more power. https://www.illinoispolicy.org/press-releases/what-is-amendment-1-an-illinois-constitutional-amendment-on-the-ballot-next-november/
If local elected officials across the State demanded a Constitutional Amendment to reform pensions, they would prove they care about your budget, property taxes, people leaving the State, and EQUITY.
Anybody with a brain knows the current pension system is bankrupting Illinois citizens. The private sector threw out defined benefits years ago because they are unsustainable. Citizens shouldn’t be forced to fund the retirements of government employees in their 50’s at 80% of their final salary with benefits that increase 3% every year. It got worse when life expectancy tables were updated requiring even more funding since retirees are living longer than ever.
Kevin McCarthy doesn’t have a problem with how pensions are structured in Illinois. He has a problem with the State requiring 90% funding by 2040. He knows municipalities all over the State are struggling with funding. (Duh Kevin)
What’s Kevin’s plan to fix pension funding? He wants you to contact your legislators and get them to fix the funding date! He of course voted for the higher tax levy, they need more money for pensions!
Enjoy this clip, tomorrow there will be more.
Reform is the only solution but individuals like Mr. McCarthy can’t recognize the obvious. Nor does the vast majority of legislators, the political class and government employees, including the GOP. An implosion is coming if IL does what they are doing now regarding pensions, government health care, school district and taxing body consolidation.
A date 20 years out to balance/fund something that should already be funded? Try that with your own bank, your own budgets, and tell me how that will turn out, how quickly you will need a plan with actions before you lose it all. These jokers are not trying to solve an operations problem at all. They are trying to solve for themselves. Hold your own government accountable, people. They work for you.
Move to another state, in Illinois they don’t.
We’re going to need a replacement for Dan Brady and everyone seems to think it’s Scottie Preston. Looks to me like McCarthy would fit right in with the Springfield mentality.
Preston and McCarthy frequently vote the same way, so not much would change with either.
Illinois has the potential to be a great state! Sadly voters have elected democrats, that by mismanagement, theft and corruption are leading Illinois into bankruptcy.
Sad!
Everybody wants to blame this on the Democrats, but how do you explain over 20 years of Dan Brady in the state legislature? What’s he done to reform a broken pension system? Same could be said of Keith, Jason and Bill. All Republicans who’ve done nothing.
Neither Illinois or BN have any potential to be great at all. That horse left the barn years ago. The economies and governments are so corrupted they have no chance at surviving long term. Leaders had no interest in economic diversification. Most communities in Illinois have only one large employer. When that goes poof, they are all out of luck. Illinois is run by a corrupt government/ crony capitalist oligarchy in most instances that features kickbacks for the political class from the heads of those corporations to keep the scam running that only enriches the top level of both. See Rivian for the preferred business model. (How to get rich promoting the zero emissions EV scam). Through time, the vehicles will pollute far more than the combustion engine. That is only one example of the newly planned farce economy that BN and Illinois have gone all in. Great areas are are the North Carolina business triangle, Greater Indianapolis, Greater Atlanta ( for now), Greater Orlando and locales outside the borders of Illinois.
Agree. The problems in government aren’t the domain of democrat or republican, as tempting as it is to cite the ruthless persistence and effectiveness of the chicago graft machine, They are the sum total of the quality of elected officials. The results are what they are, and the facts speak for themselves. Neither party has any public victory to claim. They’re both inept as public servants /stewards. The ancient Romans had it right. Serve your single term, get measured, and then get back to your day job.
I’m accustomed to understanding and fixing things that are broken. Wish I had something truly productive to offer here, because I’m just a complainer unless I actually do something. The only thing I can do after a lifetime of trying is to leave the state. A pretty easy choice financially and otherwise, but sad. Our system isa good one, based on representation, which also implies a certain level of interest from the public being represented. Citizens need to become interested, informed and engaged, Then insist on accountability with their engagement and with their VOTE. If citizens don’t care to exercise the right (and responsibility) that good people have fought and died for to make possible, that makes a lot of room for the bad actors who know they will never be taken to task. High taxes become the lesser immediate problem until the compounding effect of time kicks in. How much will you pay in taxes to live in Illinois for the next 10 years? 20 years? Is it well spent? So there it is – this blog is a good spark. Go start some conversations.
let me see everyone wants to blame democrats but they are not the problem., I have observed for years the political climate in Illinois, it is a known fact that labor unions have supported and voted for democrats for years, minorities have supported and voted for democrats for years. They don’t vote republican because republicans say they are going to fix our problems cut cost and programs. Net result the democrats have remained in control in Illinois politics. Brady is not a good example I believe him to be a Rino.
I blame democrats because they are in charge of the sinking ship
I blame them because they controlled the ship until it ran into an iceberg.
I blame shitty politicians. McCarthy is one. RINOs like Preston are as useful as McCarthy to fix problems.