Like thieves in the night, Illinois Gov. Quinn and machine-boss Mike Madigan, heisted more than $100 billion from the teachers' pension fund Wednesday. Not only that, but the Chicago Civic Committee, calling the heist, "reform," wants more."This bill is a small step in the right direction but it doesn't begin to solve the state's urgent fiscal problems," said R. Eden Martin, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago. "The only way to achieve significant cost reductions now is to reform retirement benefits for current state employees prospectively and new hires moving forward."Question: Why hardly a peep from the leaders of the state's teacher unions?
A disgrace!
ReplyDeleteThe CTU's President Stewart claimed in a WBEZ interview yesterday that she didn't know about the pension bill before it was brought up. Huh? If that isn't reason enough to throw her out of office, there is none.
And IEA President Swanson is worse. At the state convention four days before the General Assembly vote, Swanson (over the pleas of student IEA members who would pay the biggest price for the gutting of the pension system for incoming teachers) forced a change in the union's stand of "just say no" to any pension changes. Madigan, seeing this as the sign of weakness from the teachers' unions that it was, jumped on it. Only a constitutional provision has kept the Civic Committee from getting what it really wants: The destruction of the pension system for all current state employees. And who knows whether the constitution will be enough?
-Fred
Reform, yes we all need to reduce spending to help balance the state's budget, since the Illinois congress acted so swiftly in cutting state employees pension , I would like to see them ante up by cutting their own pensions. Come on guys, this just might save your political jobs in the up coming elections. I know I will be working hard to vote you all out of office.
ReplyDeleteA Teacher
illinois congress