The Conservative Cave
Current Events => Economics => Topic started by: thundley4 on July 03, 2012, 03:27:21 PM
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Fallout from the recession continues to hobble state finances, particularly in states crippled by pensions they can't afford to pay.
Chief among them is Illinois, which has racked up the largest unfunded liability in the nation. Politicians there pledge to fix it.
In 2010, only one state, Wisconsin, had enough money in the bank to fund all of the retirement benefits it had promised its employees. The rest had collectively racked up nearly $1.5 trillion of pension debt, according to a recent study by the Pew Center on the States.
"What we're seeing is not the result of one bad year or two bad years — it's the result of a decade of bad choices in states like Illinois, where policymakers really have consistently fallen short of what they should have been doing," says David Draine, a senior researcher with Pew.
Draine says politicians are letting down not only the workers counting on those benefits, but also the taxpayers who fund them. The study also places Connecticut, Kentucky and Rhode Island in the bottom tier of states with the lowest percentage of funded pension liabilities.
But Illinois is the worst.
NPR? Really? (http://www.npr.org/2012/07/03/156188908/illinois-services-threatened-as-pension-hole-grows?ft=1&f=1001)
The DemonRats have already increased income taxes by 66% in 2011. This state is well and truly :censored: as long as Chicago and unions are calling the shots.
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NPR? Really? (http://www.npr.org/2012/07/03/156188908/illinois-services-threatened-as-pension-hole-grows?ft=1&f=1001)
The DemonRats have already increased income taxes by 66% in 2011. This state is well and truly :censored: as long as Chicago and unions are calling the shots.
And for years after they are not in control - if that ever happens.
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And for years after they are not in control - if that ever happens.
Illinois? Not likely.
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Alternate Headline: Decades of union bribery, rigged elections and rent-seeking coming to a head in IL
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Alternate Headline: Decades of union bribery, rigged elections and rent-seeking coming to a head in IL
The sad thing is that most cities will be facing similar problems on a smaller scale than Illinois .