A Chicago Tribune editorial Thursday noted the following:
A moving van leaves Crystal Lake taking the belongings of a family to a western state.
But while the obstructionists pretend that newcomer [Bruce] Rauner is the problem, Illinoisans are voting with their feet.
U.S. Census Bureau numbers show that in the most recent measured–July 2014 to July 2015–Illinois lost more people to outmigration than any other state.
That period marks the second year in a row that Illinois lost population.
Demographers already are speculating that Illinois will lose still another seat in the U.S. House.
How much longer until the remaining citizens of Illinois demand that their legislators change course and revive their state?
Last Sunday at the First Methodist Church of Crystal Lake we sat behind a couple from Sun City.
I mentioned that I thought the price of homes would really go down if the legislature decided to tax retirement income.
The wife agreed, telling us that a retirement tax was the talk of the area.
Taxpayers are the states “customers.”
We don’t want to lose customers.
We want more customers.
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What is causing the need for more tax revenue of which tax hikes are one solution?
Pensions are the main reason the state and most local governments need more tax revenue.
Pensions were hiked by passing state laws to hike benefits, and hiking salaries, both of which hike the pension one receives.
There are 20 public sector pension systems in Illinois, including:
– 5 “state” pension systems
– 7 Chicago pension systems
– 3 Cook County pension systems
– 3 County, Municipal, and public safety pension systems covering communities outside Cook and Chicago
– 2 transit pension systems
All, plus retiree healthcare, are guaranteed by taxpayers when voters approved a rewritten Illinois State Constitution on December 15, 1970, that included one sentence on pensions.
That sentence allows UNLIMITED benefit hikes and UNLIMITED salary hikes, which drove up the need for more taxpayer revenue to fund pensions.
The taxpayer has been a sitting duck ever since.
Predatory politicians have created a financial disaster that cannot be fixed with current law.
The best solution is to repeal the enabler, which is the pension sentence, and then scale back some benefit hikes and otherwise reduce pensions for both those currently receiving a pension and active workers.
Another solution, allow local government bankruptcies, and if past municipal bankruptcies are any indication, bondholders will suffer more than pensioners.
So public sector workers with a pension would favor bankruptcy over repealing the pension sentence.
Here is the pension sentence.
“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.”
—
The longer a politician has been in an office, the longer they have been a participant in the Illinois Pension Scam.
—
Public sector workers, unions, and lobbyists in general will never acknowledge it’s a scam.
—
The easiest way to recognize the scam is to go back in time to the inception of each of the 20 pension systems.
Over time, benefits were hiked via the legislative process while the pensions were already underfunded.
Over time, salaries were hiked while pensions were already underfunded.
That’s the scam.
Until concerned taxpayers start to vote in larger numbers, until more taxpayers become concerned candidates for political office willing to serve, government control will increase. To pay for more government control, more taxation will occur.
The primary Illinois government cost problem is PUBLIC PENSIONS!!
We MUST change the State Constitution as stated by mark so eloquently so many times.
A quote from Illinois Policy:
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/to-fix-education-funding-cullerton-should-focus-on-reforming-pensions/
The courts have already told us we cannot fix this problem with legislation until we change the State Constitution!
Do we want more costumers. or gov sized to the demand of the costumers here seems more logical.
If unions are the problem how can Canada have as many unions as in the 1960’s, have lower taxes than us, and are doing well.
globalization is the problem.
Since Reagan we have outsourced all of our jobs and with every trade agreement we make a small percentage of people richer while we displace others fro high paying jobs and they retrain for a lower paying job.
If the 1970 constitution caused these problems where were all of you since then?
You owe a debt.
Brownback from Kansas has dessimated their roads, schools, etc.
Bobby Jindahl took a surplus and left it a deficit.
Scott Walker is ruining Wisconsin’ premier university system, Snyder poisoned an entire town (which no ISIS ever did) all to save a $100 per day and to pursue the republicans goal of privatizing water.
The rich in Illinois have to pay more taxes.
Who are the rich?
Republicans and some dems in Illinois cannot even put a 3% tax on millionaires to pay for education.
Illinois is supposed to pay 50% for schools but we are the worst state in the nation for school funding.
Where has this school funding gone but to give tax breaks to businesses (TIF’s).
Schools were derelict also because until recently they welcomed new growth thinking they would get more money.
You may want Rauner’s agenda but I think he will be another Snyder.
What do “costumers” have to do with the SoS ?
At any rate, Del Webb set a new record for home sales in 2015, with more to come in 2016.
Little do the new homeowners know what they are in for courtesy of the taxing bodies of McHenry County and Mikey Madigan’s gang of thieves in Springfield.
Not to mention the HPD who can’t solve/catch home and auto burglars in Sun City, but have plenty of time and manpower dedicated to “revenue enhancement” activities within.
In fact, that was one of the reasons why many of the residents have fled.
Many of us have struggled for years to communicate the need for some sense of duty and reason in government to those who would lead.
Many different arguments have been employed and none have been successful as those who wander the halls of power no longer think they are your neighbors.
They believe themselves untouchable, mostly due to the fact they have been proven right over and over again.
Without any accountability children will become as wild animals (Lord of the Flies) without any sense of order above what they themselves believe and self enforce.
The entirety of government is infested with these feral children with zero impulse control.
None.
No personal boundary exists, no professional incompetency is recognized, no political objective is deemed to base to pursue and no human being recognized as having dignity outside of what they can enforce for themselves.
For those parochial enough to believe in party politics still look to Mike Madigan, clearly the despotic leader of all government and Democratic politics in Illinois, and one of the Republican leaders of Illinois, Matt Murphy.
Madigan’s sins against the citizenry within his vision for Illinois are so manifest and manifold it defies description.
If you cannot recognize him for the horror show he truly is then please don’t ever vote again as he is the architect, designer and enforcer of your enslavement under his dictatorial reign.
Matt Murphy, a part of the leadership on the Republican side, has been asked to attempt to assuage the anguish of The People in many different ways on many different occasions by innumerable different people and his interests are so tied to the destruction of The People he won’t even approach small common sense reform (tort, workman’s comp, tax, union, property…).
For those who wish to still believe in the Separation of Powers to balance the scales we can see the interplay between Rauner (Executive), Madigan (Legislative) and the Judiciary.
Madigan has a veto proof majority (meaning he can write any law and pass it anytime he likes without consulting the Executive or Judiciary branch whatsoever).
Madigan messages Rauner is obstructionist( fallacious argument and laughable to anyone beyond a 6th grade education) while Rauner messages he is powerless (fallacious argument to anyone capable of understanding the power of money) with the seeming complicity of the Judiciary as without specific Federal or Constitutional guideposts they are forbidden from legislating from the bench all while the House of Illinois burns.
Who do The People turn to in this dire circumstance for relief?
Government which functions in a way consistent with the American Principle’s of Individual Liberty and Individual Value.
This is NOT a descriptor assigned to the Local, State or Federal government over the citizenry of Illinois.
There really are only two ways to relief for Illinoisans.
Move or fight.
Throughout history only the smallest part of society makes the conscious decision to fight.
Most people are cowards, with good anthropological reason.
Who wants to be deemed crazy (the fighters are wildly in the minority with those in power holding seemingly endless credibility despite their clear violations of their fellow man) or killed by the enforcers of those in power (police are not out of control without the complicity of those in power and they are wildly out of control)?
How many people in the United States have any understanding of how few people (Founding Fathers) stood up to the most powerful nation on earth( England) at the time to fight for the freedoms we have lost in Illinois today?
There are many running for office locally clearly in the pocket of powerful interests and a few very wealthy benefactors.
Is this who we are as a People here in McHenry County?
Mere chattel to be manipulated and moved by whatever local strongman or their wealthy benefactors wants to feign interest in our well being?
Look to the unwilling.
Look to those who will actually damage their professional and personal standing in the community to serve.
Those who will increase their standing or wealth are not to be trusted.
At all.
Those who are endorsed with the stamp of approval of another are merely their playthings, rarely independent.
You can win your freedom locally through the courage to read and vote peacefully.
The other option is to pack up yourself and your loved ones and get them to safety in a place where those in power will be more amenable to your vision of life which better more courageous people have fought for there.
There are a small minority here who will continue to fight.
Frankly this is all it takes.
We know you’ll be there “praying” for us from a safe distance.
The citizens of Illinois have been reduced to nothing more than political prisoners of the power mad Democrat party despots and the useful idiots who attend them.
And they have done so of their own free will.
Who in their right mind would continue to waste their precious time and resources in an attempt to salvage Illinois ?
Even if this were possible it could not be accomplished in our lifetimes.
To engage in such thought is a fools errand.
Many people have come to this realization and have already fled for their own protection.
I hope to join them ASAP.
Despite the obvious exodus, Woodstock city council still insists on spending $90k on a special census in the hope the town has grown to 25,000 so they can impose “home rule” and collect more “revenue”.
Where is the accountability?
There you go again, The Nob.
I too, was puzzled by costumers.
I believe you meant customers, but like HOnest Abe said, still doesn’t make much sense.
Maybe the word in play should be conundrum.
Here’s mine:
I just got a call from a granddaughter in another state asking if I was still moving in February.
I really don’t know now.
Don’t see how I can afford to move with the market being so bad; yet don’t see how I can afford to stay in this state!
Re: ” how can Canada have as many unions as in the 1960’s, have lower taxes than us, ”
The person that wrote this is displaying phenomenal ignorance!!
From the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/01/13/canada-grocery-prices_n_8972976.html
The Looney is tanking!
Ignorance can be dangerous:
The latest U.S. census numbers available are for 2013 for education spending.
Illinois ranked 14th from the top with an amount of $12,288 per pupil.
While funding from the State in Illinois may be less than most other states, we sure make up for it with local property taxes!!
Wisconsin ranks 22nd with $11,071.
Indiana ranks 31st at $9,566.
The primary Progressive state of California ranks 36th with $9,220.
http://www.census.gov/govs/school/
Keep me honest Cindy. 🙂
Mark used customers, my comment was reference to his.
It’s not the number of people living here, is the right size gov to service who is here was my point.
dropped the t in it’s. 🙂
http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/politics/wisconsin-republicans-just-snuck-through-legislation-that-guts-veterans-benefits/
Meanwhile, 670 People that used to work for Caterpillar, Illinois will now be jobless.
It just keeps getting better.
You know it’s the truth Cindy, because Obama said so. LOL !
Another related problem with Illinois?
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/jailed-e-c-councilman-sworn-into-office/article_3d5730c4-11db-5229-830a-aa8df1dd7e88.html
**The best solution is to repeal the enabler, which is the pension sentence, and then scale back some benefit hikes and otherwise reduce pensions for both those currently receiving a pension and active workers.**
This “best solution” would have ZERO impact on current pension liabilities, and would have zero impact on anyone currently in the system.
It would ONLY have an impact on those hired after the change in constitution.
And those folks are already all in a Tier 2 plan that is pretty awful.
**Cindy said: Another related problem with Illinois?
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/jailed-e-c-councilman-sworn-into-office/article_3d5730c4-11db-5229-830a-aa8df1dd7e88.html**
Ummm… Cindy. You are aware that East Chicago is in Indiana, right?
Repealing the pension sentence allows reducing current and future pensions.
Tier 2 funds should have been kept separate from Tier 1 funds.
Tier 2 is just propping up the Tier 1 ponzi scheme of hiked benefits.
There are all sorts of adjustments that need to be made.
Repealing the pension sentence absolutely allows current pension liabilities to be reduced.
There are going to be reduction to pensions sooner or later, one way or another, be it bankruptcy, repealing the pension sentence, the funds running out of money, etc.
The pensions in their entirety coupled with other “promises” such as the bond debt, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, etc. are unsustainable when all the local, county, state, and Federal numbers are added.
The Illinois numbers on education spending don’t include the State contribution to the TRS pension fund.
The Illinois numbers are understated, and the same may be the case in some other states.
The comment on customers is directed towards revenue generation.
Taxpayers, businesses, those customers generate revenue.
Of course their are costs associated with more customers.
Of course it is important for everyone in the equation to be efficient to grow standard of living.
If we don’t grow our tax base that puts more pressure on current taxpayers.
If the tax base shrinks, even more pressure on current taxpayers.
Right now we are in dire straits and the #1 driver is pensions and the #1 cause of that is hiking benefits and salaries to pensions that were already underfunded which is a scam and the obligating taxpayers to the scam by adding a sentence to the Illinois State Constitution.
Here is the current House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment (HJRCA) in the 99th General Assembly to repeal the pension sentence.
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=9&GAID=13&DocTypeID=HJRCA&LegId=83979&SessionID=88&GA=99
http://www.ilga.gov > Bills & Resolutions > House – Joint Resolutions Constitutional Amendments > 0001 – 0046 > HJRCA0009 > Conamend – Repeal Pension Rights
Thus it is HJRCA 0009 (HJRCA 9).
Constitutional Amendment to Repeal Pension Rights.
House Sponsors are Joe Sosnowski & Thomas Morrison.
History:
January 23, 2015 – Filed with Clerk by Joe Sosnowski
January 23, 2015 – Read in full first time.
January 23, 2015 – Referred to Rules Committee.
February 28, 2015 – Added Co-Sponsor Tom Morrison.
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The pension sentence being in the Illinois Constitution, Article XIII, Section V (Article 13, Section 5).
Legislative details
Synopsis as Introduced
Proposes to amend the General Provisions Article of the Illinois Constitution.
Repeals a provision that specifies that,
“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.”
Effective upon being declared adopted.
——
40 words.
One sentence.
Very important to understand.
It obligates taxpayers to UNLIMITED legislative pension benefit and salary hikes to pensions that were already UNDERFUNDED when the hikes occur.
Underfunded means taxpayers already owed money to the pension fund.
Well if taxpayers owed money, the hikes resulted in taxpayers owing even more money.
It was akin to charging more to a credit card when there was already an unpaid balance from previous months spending.
It made no fiscal sense.
None.
Completely uncalled for.
It was done because it was legal and a lot of special interests benefited from the scheme.
My apologies, Dave. I picked it up from the Gunny.
He mentioned Illinois, and I didn’t even notice it was East Chicago.
Thanks for pointed that out.