When you Google "Illinois Pension Reform 2011" the very first thing that pops-up on the search result is a website "sponsored," or PAID FOR, by a group wanting to continue the same old practice of "rewarding" politicians for supporting class warfare. There is the "class" that can choose their own boss, a boss who then pays them from funds NOT actually generated from selling a good or service but from funds TAKEN from the residents of a community, and then there are the "rest of us"...
Let's dispense with the usual arguments against rational reasoned pension reform pushed by the extremists and simply state:
The rest of us are IN FAVOR of good schools, good teachers, good administrators, good firemen, and good police officers. The rest of us are AGAINST poverty, illiteracy, and social injustice. And, the rest of us NEED reasoned public pension reform.
So the "rest of us" can let the MILLIONS of dollars collected from the salaries of HUNDREDS of thousands of public workers dictate the actions of politicians, *ahem*, I mean "elected officials," or the majority of the population can stand-up to say “enough is enough.” The "average" voter sees the POLITICAL CAMPAIGN referenced in this Chicago Tribune editorial: pictures of nurses, firemen, police officers...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/
The rest of us need to get the truth out.
THE TRUTH: Illinois Residents =13 Million.
Public union members who bask in generous benefits=700k (about 5%)
Suckers without public pensions = 95% of the population.
Suckers who pay higher taxes = 95% of the population.
THE TRUTH: Suckers = The REST OF US…
THE TRUTH: The State couldn’t afford these generous benefits even before 2008.
For years, Illinois politicians skipped pension payments.
Ironically, this was usually to pay public employees’ salaries for a given year.
THE TRUTH: As the payments for benefits grow and grow, they crowd out the real social support structure for the state’s most needy.
THE TRUTH: Like the GM pensioners who had to wait and pray for President Obama to deliver BILLIONS to rebuild their broken pensions, Illinois pensioners are at the mercy of an obviously broken and over promised program.
The average voter has been swayed by pictures of teachers and police officers and the slick PR produced words so they will push back on a fiscal conservative stance with social arguments. Don't get sucked into a debate that does not apply.
The topic is Illinois pensions, not Iraq, not Medicare, not political affiliation, and not who did what in what year! Too often I hear fiscal conservatives get dragged down into verbal mud-holes planted by the talking heads. Don't confuse the issues.
Relax, and stay focused on the truth about public pensions here in our beloved state.
The truth is that the "rest of us" need to stand-up.