What is going to happen with this pension debt in Illinois? (Union: home, bankruptcy)

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by emathias

A business can go bankrupt. A business can't force their customers to pay them so there is a hard limit to the money they have access to.

There is also a limit to how much money a State can raise in taxes before it implodes. Illinois is obviously not their, but this constitutional protection is ridiculous.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

It boggles my mind that a COLA is constitutionally protected.

I literally gagged on my lunch as I read this -- 40% of ex-judges' pensions higher than old salaries

n 2015, 311 judges made an average of $25,304 more in retirement than they were paid in their final salaries. All told, those same judges will receive nearly $7.9 million more this year than the combined total of their final salaries.

The article goes on to quote some flak from the "State Judges Associations" about how they're easy to pick on because if they were attorneys in private practice they'd make a lot more. CRY ME A RIVER. I know dozens of attorneys that would jump at CONTINUOUS GUARANTEED LIFETIME INCOME and being able to knock your gavel at 5PM sharp and say "adjourned till tomorrow" beats the heck out of racking up countless nights on the road at some client in the middle of nowhere, with senior partners hounding you to bill 5000 hours, and the constant pressures of the new hires being forced to live in the office for a shot at partner...

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I literally gagged on my lunch as I read this -- 40% of ex-judges' pensions higher than old salaries



The article goes on to quote some flak from the "State Judges Associations" about how they're easy to pick on because if they were attorneys in private practice they'd make a lot more. CRY ME A RIVER. I know dozens of attorneys that would jump at CONTINUOUS GUARANTEED LIFETIME INCOME and being able to knock your gavel at 5PM sharp and say "adjourned till tomorrow" beats the heck out of racking up countless nights on the road at some client in the middle of nowhere, with senior partners hounding you to bill 5000 hours, and the constant pressures of the new hires being forced to live in the office for a shot at partner...

Ugh, and they get rule on these things. Something is not right.

[PerseusVeil]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

They did that throughout the South after the Civil War [Reconstruction].

Call me when Illinois has risen up against the federal government. Until then, however, your example isn't comparable in the slightest, and there's nothing the federal government is going to do.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by chet everett

In the "real world" if I have a job and someday I think it would be nice to leave my kid doing it my employer would toss me on my ear if I said "my son / daughter is taking over for me" -- the insider mindset in Illinois has seen that happen so many times I have lost track:

Pucinski, Lipinski, Stroger, Daley, LaHood, Mell ...

In the real world, when somebody does not show up, they stop getting paychecks...

In the real world, when somebody rips off the employer they don't generally get another shot at doing it again...

...and Madigan, too, I believe..

That business with the judges is hard to swallow, but not completely surprising. Here in MA, we had the case of ex-MA Senate president/UMass president Billy Bulger's ( yes, the brother of infamous criminal/murderer Whitey Bulger) fights with then-Gov Mitt Romney over his pension benefits, which were simply outrageous, under any circumstance..

And abuse in the private sector? Look no further than Jack Welch from GE..

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

It boggles my mind that a COLA is constitutionally protected.

Some pretty low watt bulbs drafted the Illinois Constitution, so it doesn't boggle mine. It needs to be changed. Immediately. I doubt we'll see anything this radical but I'd love to see it changed such that all the pension money gets shoveled into 401ks. Then they'd have to balance how much to put in bonds, mid-cap value, "high yield" growth, etc. just like the rest of us schmucks.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by BRU67

Some pretty low watt bulbs drafted the Illinois Constitution, so it doesn't boggle mine. It needs to be changed.

Great point.

[MSchemist80]

Originally Posted by PerseusVeil

Call me when Illinois has risen up against the federal government. Until then, however, your example isn't comparable in the slightest, and there's nothing the federal government is going to do.

The federal govt is like a parent and the states are like partially independent minors. In the case of the civil war the Federal govt took over and revoked their autonomy until they formed a non-rebellious govt that partially respected black's civil rights [they eventually gave up on that part] like how a parent controls a delinquent juvenile. In Illinois' case it is not that the state is rebellious it is that they are corrupt and unable to handle their finances. It is like having a teenage son addicted to gambling and running up their debt into the hundreds of thousands. The parent needs to step in and manage their finances and help them on their addiction.

I agree it won't happen but since the Illinois constitution acts as a straightjacket and the dummycrap/union unholy alliance seems impossible to break I don't see how Illinois straightens out.

[PerseusVeil]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

The federal govt is like a parent and the states are like partially independent minors. In the case of the civil war the Federal govt took over and revoked their autonomy until they formed a non-rebellious govt that partially respected black's civil rights [they eventually gave up on that part] like how a parent controls a delinquent juvenile. In Illinois' case it is not that the state is rebellious it is that they are corrupt and unable to handle their finances. It is like having a teenage son addicted to gambling and running up their debt into the hundreds of thousands. The parent needs to step in and manage their finances and help them on their addiction.

I agree it won't happen but since the Illinois constitution acts as a straightjacket and the dummycrap/union unholy alliance seems impossible to break I don't see how Illinois straightens out.

Then why make dubious and illegal suggestions if you know they won't happen?

[MSchemist80]

Because something has to happen that there is no legal framework for. They can't pay the pensions, they can't alter them because of the state constitution, and they can't declare bankruptcy because of the US constitution. So we have an unstoppable force hitting an immovable object.