Anarchism is founded on the observation that
since few men are wise enough to rule themselves,
even fewer are wise enough to rule others.
Edward Abbey
Image of the Day
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| Via Lew Rockwell |
Having One's Cake and Eating It, Too
Facebook Corner
(IPI). While the state waits for the Supreme Court’s SB 1 ruling, Governor Bruce Rauner and other lawmakers are working up a pitch to amend the state constitution.
Republicans use the constitution for every defense so Democrats have every right to protect people's pensions. This wasn't free money. People worked 30 to 40 years and didn't pay in #SS. Lawmakers on both sides of the isle failed to make the payments to the pensions over the last 20 years. They keep deferring it. If this was the private sector someone would be in jail.
The usual parasitic corrupt unionist indulgent whining, pretending that Republican governors muscled anti-taxpayer pension promises on behalf of Dem special interests through Democrat-controlled state legislatures; how STUPID do you think Illinois voters are? Listen, troll OP, promises to Illinois bondholders and vendors are NOT "less equal" than absurd million-dollar pensions/retirements to public parasites at the expense of future taxpayers without pensions of their own.
Rauner realizes only an amended state constitution can withstand an assault on taxpayer property rights by self-serving state jurists. But mark my words, union puppet: if and when corrupt pension transfer of wealth from taxpayers occurs at the expense of essential public services, you are going to face a taxpayer blow back/revolution that will make Democratic political whores an endangered species.
(Additional comment).
Second bite of the apple: the economic illiteracy of the OP troll is staggering. What is it about an increasing ratio of retired to active state workers do you simply not get? There's a reason that somewhere over 90% of companies have instituted 401K programs, only a few large companies (many of those with a union workforce) have pension systems--and quite a few of those are under negotiation.
Whereas the state hasn't always paid its annual match, let's not pretend this is a state contribution problem--even if the state matched a state worker's accumulation of $180K or so, it's not enough to finance million-dollar outflows; this is just not sustainable. THIS IS AN ACTUARIAL PROBLEM; whereas pension holidays made a badly financed pension system even worse, some workers will actually live in retirement at half pay or better for decades--sometimes longer than in public service. This was wrongly thought to be affordable by statistical illiterates--until the most populous, longest-living Baby Boomer generation started retiring. Some public governments have seen their pension expenses quadruple over the past 15 years. It's not just Illinois.
Thats good. We can also change the constitution to remove the flat tax requirement and instead go to one based on levels of income. We can also us this oppertunity to close those tax loop holes that the Gov uses to save himself and his friends from having to pay taxes. WHOHOOOOO
My, the morally corrupt troll OP's are on the loose. I'll tell you what, you corrupt thief, eager to steal and spend hard-earned money out of other people's pockets, let's go to a per capita tax, where each pays the same money for government services; that's fair, isn't it? After all, a rich man pays the same price to buy a loaf of bread from the supermarket. Stop trying to steal more a proportional share of income. Under a flat tax system, if a worker makes 10 times more, he pays 10 times more in taxes. You greedy bastards are actually giving people a growing incentive not to maximize their income, which is perverse and actually not in the best interests of revenue collection.
(IPI). Illinois’ pension debt is so large that it would take 3 years of a complete government shutdown, during which the entire general fund went toward pensions, just to break even.
A couple of points 1) the republicans controlled the executive branch for 25 years during te build up of the pension mess and 2) that messy matter of the unambiguous language of the Illinois constitution
The fact that the troll OP served in two Republican administrations and for US Senators, presumably also Republicans, and IS BITCHING ABOUT "LOW" TAXES makes him the poster boy of unprincipled Republican whores. The idiot seems to be confused about the difference between a state legislature dominated by union bought-and-sold Democrats and Republican governors, who can't spend public money or pass laws on their own. No, you unprincipled tax-and-spender, no more bailouts of corrupt political promises.
(separate comment)
A second "bite of the apple". Under what theory of the rule of law can a state constitution pretend that unsustainable promises to the state worker class are "more equal" than promises made to bondholders and other vendors? Only a morally corrupt. self-serving parasite thinks that a state constitution requires future taxpayers to bail out deferred pension expenses.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Michael Ramirez |
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| Courtesy of Chip Bok via Townhall |
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| Courtes of the original artist via Patriot Post |
John Denver, "Looking For Space". One of my all-time favorites and the end of a #1 string from 1973 on the A/C chart, broken only by "Thank God I'm a Country Boy"--which went #1 on the Hot 100. Denver would later add 2 more #1 A/C hits.
