Posted on 04/04/2018 2:34:57 PM PDT by Beave Meister
Methinks the IL constitution says that pensions can’t be ‘diminished or impaired.’ So instead ‘tax’ them. Extremely rare for politicians, especially good lib ones like those running Chicago and its pet state for years to say they can’t tax anything they can think of taxing. I’m not aware the IL constitution includes any such language. So let them get their pension benefits then tax most of them right back. If they can tax something as specific as non-diet sodas, why not tax pensions from state or local government in IL? Make it nice and progressive so the small pension folks don’t take as big a hit, but the big pensioners earning far more than they’d ever ‘need’ and who have also been earning big salaries all along (so far as I can tell the main reason IL pensions were ‘underfunded’ was that their funding kept being diverted to current pay .hikes.) Just make their total compensation retrospectively honest.
“Methinks the IL constitution says that pensions can’t be ‘diminished or impaired.’
Correct. Section 23 in fact. It’s already been litigated to the Illinois Supremes.
“So instead ‘tax’ them.”
That’s next, for sure. Of course any Dem politician who votes for it will be run out of town on a rail by the union goons. Then there’s the small problem of taxing the pensioners who’ve already moved out of Illinois.
L
No problem, thanks to what Milton Friedman said was his worst mistake: withholding. Their pensions originate in IL governments. Treat them as the delayed payroll the are. Take out at least what you guess they owe before you send them. Being liable for state taxes in multiple states from income earned in multiple states is already the norm. And if they don’t file a return withhold more or even all of it. Bet Illinois will find it has as many graveyard pensioners as it has graveyard voters! Requiring a return would help clean out the former.
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