by John Laesch, posted on Monday, April 8th, 2013 at 7:13 pm
I first heard Pat Herrmann, a retired art teacher from Wheaton, Illinois, ask the question, “when did it become acceptable to take money from old people?” during a public pension discussion hosted by the DuPage Coffeehouse. Herrmann is a deep-thinking activist. The multiple messages on her signs reflect her ability to conduct careful research and see the bigger picture. Her question about taking money from old people reflects her ability to see the human impact; something lawmakers don’t see.
Of course those reaching into the pockets of old people don’t want to talk about how this will impact living, breathing human beings. They want to talk about numbers, budgets and other inhuman things. Consider Tom Cross’s recent letter to the Chicago Tribune that makes this all sound like a tragic math problem. Cross, after 20 years in Springfield, takes no responsibility for the state’s past 40+ years of delinquency. I am not giving Democrats a free pass on this either. The primary drivers of pension reform in Springfield are Mike Madigan, Pat Quinn, Elaine Nekritz and Dan Biss (all Democrats). All of them, Democrats and Republicans, are singing from the same sheet of music. Watch the video of Bernie Sanders below the fold.
by John Laesch, posted on Monday, January 7th, 2013 at 4:15 pm
A special thanks to our distinguished panelists (list and video links below), State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia, East Aurora High School and all of the volunteers who helped make one of the first “democratic pension discussions” a success.
Illinois State Representatives Linda Chapa LaVia and Elaine Nekritz address the Northern Illinois Jobs With Justice forum, “Funding Strong Schools and Fair Pensions,” East Aurora High School, Aurora, Illinois, January 2, 2013.
Retired teacher Fred Klonsky address on “The Politics of Pension Reform,” at the Northern Illinois Jobs With Justice forum “Funding Strong Schools and Fair Pensions”, East Aurora High School, Aurora, Illinois, January 2nd, 2013.
by John Laesch, posted on Sunday, December 30th, 2012 at 2:07 pm
While many are following the manufactured cliff debate in Washington, in Illinois, a Democratic House, Senate and Governor are attempting to wash their hands of their financial mismanagement of teachers’ pensions once again.
Illinois’ veto session is our “lame duck” session and, hard to move legislation like public employee pension rip-offs is back on the table. In Springfield there is no progressive voice in the room proposing that the general assembly rescind the $85 million/per year tax break to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). There have been no proposals to implement a tax on contracts at the CME (our Wall Street) and, there have been no proposals to modernize Illinois’ tax code with a graduated income tax.
by John Laesch, posted on Saturday, April 28th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Teachers and retired teachers filled a school cafeteria in Naperville, IL to hear a presentation from Dick Ingram, the Executive Director of the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) on Thursday, April 26th.
The staff at the high school had to set up extra seats to accommodate an estimated 300-400 people.
The presentation itself was very “matter of fact” and seemed to be a part of a PR effort to let teachers know that Governor Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly were about to deliver a hard-hitting punch. Most of the information presented was not new, but the use of multiple events and participation by the news media re-enforced the message, “the sky is falling and teachers have to make concessions.” Before delivering the bad news, Ingram did talk about how great it was that teachers had lived up to their responsibility by paying into the retirement system all of these years. He also acknowledged that teachers are not eligible for Social Security (a point that is often missed by the public and seems to be ignored by lawmakers).