[randita]

“Retirees who earned their modest security in retirement, they always paid their share. And they should not be punished for the failures of politicians,”

The taxpayers shouldn't be punished by the failure of politicians, either.

A third way is to cut other areas of the budget to pay the retirees. Probably not a popular choice, but residents would no doubt prefer that to rising taxes. But there's probably so much in the budget that's mandatory spending, that it can't be cut much.

[TurboZamboni]

Illinois State Constitution Article 13, Section 5. Here it is in all it's awful glory:

Section 5. Pension and Retirement Rights Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.

Sadly, this will be the ONLY part of ANY Constitution that Statists in grubermint actually faithfully abide by.