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Illinois must not delay on pension reform- EDITORIAL:
NWI.com ^ | June 13, 2012 | By Doug Ross

Posted on 06/14/2012 2:20:09 PM PDT by tflabo

The Land of Lincoln is rusting away. Public sector pensions underfunded by $83 billion are a crisis Illinois has faced for years but still has not resolved.

Credit-rating agencies have threatened to lower the state's bond rating, and it is already among the worst in the nation.

Finding the necessary $83 billion to fulfill this promise to employees is not easy. For one thing, the Illinois Constitution forbids reducing pension benefits. That's out of the equation.

(Excerpt) Read more at nwitimes.com ...


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: ilpensions
Illinois Constitution forbids reducing pension benefits.

What the hay? Hack Unionists wrote the IL Constitution?

1 posted on 06/14/2012 2:20:15 PM PDT by tflabo
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To: tflabo

It may be tough, but changing the state constitution may be the easiest fix.


2 posted on 06/14/2012 2:23:33 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (Liberals, at their core, are aggressive & dangerous to everyone around them,)
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To: Balding_Eagle

They want to shift the outstanding pension unfunded balance of 83 billion onto the local school districts. Can you say ‘property tax increases’?


3 posted on 06/14/2012 2:26:43 PM PDT by tflabo (Truth or tyranny)
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To: tflabo; BillyBoy; Impy; Dr. Sivana; PhilCollins; BlackElk

4 posted on 06/14/2012 2:43:10 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (If you like lying Socialist dirtbags, you'll love Slick Willard)
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To: tflabo
Illinois Constitution forbids reducing pension benefits.

But there is nothing in there that says you can't tax them at 100% for anything over $50,000...

5 posted on 06/14/2012 2:45:44 PM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
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To: tflabo
cut cut cut is the answer..... send all administrators back into the classroom for double duty make em juggle both jobs....if they dont like it too bad...hire only the ones with talent enought to do both their admin duties and assigned classroom stints; make the kids responsible for school maintence to the greatest extent possible...raise retirement age to sixty seven... lean and mean thats the order of the day.....that should put smiles on the bond boys faces...
6 posted on 06/14/2012 2:52:01 PM PDT by jimsin (S)
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To: 2banana
But there is nothing in there that says you can't tax them at 100% for anything over $50,000...

Then pensioners would move out of state. Illinois couldn't tax those people.

7 posted on 06/14/2012 3:26:52 PM PDT by Koblenz (The Dem Platform, condensed: 1. Tax and Spend. 2. Cut and Run. 3. Man on Man)
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To: Koblenz

I really need to get away from states like Illinois


8 posted on 06/14/2012 4:25:22 PM PDT by STD ([You must help] people in the communityÂ…feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless)
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To: tflabo

No problem. Change the Constitution.


9 posted on 06/14/2012 4:41:14 PM PDT by glorgau
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To: tflabo

Bump


10 posted on 06/14/2012 4:52:23 PM PDT by WashingtonSource
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To: Koblenz
Then pensioners would move out of state. Illinois couldn't tax those people.

Their lib friends in DC tax out of the country earnings all the time. Liberals think they can tax ANYTHING. Alinsky them by enforcing their own beliefs. It's only fair. If they won't bargain in good faith and won't let you revise or otherwise get around the letter of the law, including the Illinois constitution, implement a windfall pension tax. And implement it as withholding, i.e. you take it out automatically when you disburse the pension; they can always file to get a refund - next year - if they have overpaid. And throw their own class warfare rhetoric back at them when they squeal like the stuck porkers they are.

11 posted on 06/14/2012 6:12:36 PM PDT by JohnBovenmyer (Obama been Liberal. Hope Change!)
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To: fieldmarshaldj; BillyBoy; Impy; Dr. Sivana; BlackElk

I retired from the navy reserve with 21 years of service (11 on active duty and 10 in the reserves). I was near Baghdad for six months, and I have to wait until I’m 60, to get the pension. Few state or local employees risk their lives, for their country, but they get large pensions, starting in their 50’s.


12 posted on 06/15/2012 7:57:01 AM PDT by PhilCollins
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To: PhilCollins; BlackElk; Impy; Dr. Sivana; Dengar01

You were in the wrong bidness, buddy. See, if only you had become a good Combiner thug, you’d be living high on the hog now. Vacation homes in Aspen & Gstaad, Grand Cayman and a 300-lb waistline. Doesn’t pay to do honest work in a Democrat state.


13 posted on 06/15/2012 2:27:29 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (If you like lying Socialist dirtbags, you'll love Slick Willard)
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To: fieldmarshaldj; PhilCollins; sickoflibs; BillyBoy; GOPsterinMA; AuH2ORepublican; NFHale; ...

Public sector pensions are bankrupting the country.

They are undeserved and should be ended other than for the military.

This brings me to my favorite fantasy issue. It is time to end the civil service and bring back the spoils system. Governor Walker could have simply fired the union scum like the good old days. All of them.

Used to be Republicans were hired under Republicans and Democrats under democrats. Now it’s all union dems all the time and festering leftist bureaucrats at places like the State Department and CBO.

It’s not fair and I don’t see any downside to going back to the spoils system.

Former Governor Ernie Fletcher tried to clean house in Kentucky and was lynched because of it. This is the bone marrow of the democrat party. It needs to be killed.


14 posted on 06/18/2012 5:45:28 AM PDT by Impy (Don't call me red.)
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To: Impy; All

“Public sector pensions are bankrupting the country.

They are undeserved and should be ended other than for the military.”

Now you’re talking!

“This is the bone marrow of the democrat party. It needs to be killed.”

Damn right!!!


15 posted on 06/18/2012 5:14:54 PM PDT by GOPsterinMA (The Glove don't fit.)
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To: tflabo

Yep. It’s written in Section 23 of the Illinois Constitution as amended in 1970. We are so screwed...


16 posted on 06/18/2012 5:16:36 PM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: tflabo

Governor Quinn keeps saying school districts are getting a “free ride” but the last time I checked my property tax bill here in DuPage County fully 60% of it is specifically designated for school district pensions.


17 posted on 06/18/2012 5:19:41 PM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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