Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 23:38:09 GMT -6
Whow, whow, whow, whow!!! Lotta knee jerk reactions going on here. For one, how many of you live in Illinois? I know some of you do and unless you are living under a rock, this state is in a fargin mess and it has been for some time. For the first time in two years, we finally have both sides willing to come to the table and talk to pass a "Grand Bargain" starting Monday. Both sides are throwing ALL KINDS OF SHIT in to the mix at the last minute as bargaining chips to take out later. I will say that Illinois workers comp laws are currently among the most liberal in the country and it is driving business out of this state every day. How that effects the Bears and NFL players, I have no idea, nor do I care. I have to live here and this state is in dire straights, so how it impacts millionaires and Billionaire associated with professional sports, I couldn't care less.
The fact remains, that DeMaurice Smith is likely on the side of State Democrats and King Madigan, so this could easily be a red herring to add to the press pressure for their side. It wouldn't even surprise me if the McCaskeys weren't even involved. This is all Illinois politics.
I hope they do something with this "Grand Bargain" regarding the budget. But don't kid yourself. It won't be the fat cats suffering. It will be ordinary people. People like us who get the shaft. My taxes here keep going up. The services keep going down. The roads and infrastructure here are decaying. If you do need something from a government office now, you fight to get anything from understaffed offices and overworked people. It's not one party that let this all happen. Both parties are a part of this mess. I am not confident that the "Grand Bargain" is going to be that grand. But that's just me.
If the lawmakers had not taken the pension money and spent it elsewhere, then these pensions would be 100% fully funded today. There would be no crisis.
LINK
PENSIONS 101: UNDERSTANDING ILLINOIS’ MASSIVE, GOVERNMENT-WORKER PENSION CRISIS
Employees do not own or control their own retirement funds under a pension system, nor do they have their own accounts. Instead, state officials and politicians control the pool of funds, allowing them to use workers’ retirement dollars as a political slush fund.
Another major weakness of DB plans is that if funds don’t have enough money to pay out future benefits, it’s taxpayers who must bail them out. That’s precisely what’s happening in Illinois today. Taxpayers now contribute more than three times what state workers contribute to their own retirements.
PENSIONS 101: UNDERSTANDING ILLINOIS’ MASSIVE, GOVERNMENT-WORKER PENSION CRISIS
Employees do not own or control their own retirement funds under a pension system, nor do they have their own accounts. Instead, state officials and politicians control the pool of funds, allowing them to use workers’ retirement dollars as a political slush fund.
Another major weakness of DB plans is that if funds don’t have enough money to pay out future benefits, it’s taxpayers who must bail them out. That’s precisely what’s happening in Illinois today. Taxpayers now contribute more than three times what state workers contribute to their own retirements.