Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: The “gift” that keeps on “giving”
Next Post: Question of the day
Posted in:
* George Will makes some good points in his latest column about Illinois, so you should definitely read the whole thing. However, let’s look at the quotes he included from Gov. Bruce Rauner…
Illinois’ government, says Rauner, “is run for the benefit of its employees.” Increasingly, it is run for their benefit when they retire. Pension promises, though unfunded by at least $113 billion, are one reason some government departments are not digitized at all. […]
The government is so thoroughly unionized (22 unions represent almost all government employees), that “I can’t,” Rauner says, “turn on a light switch without permission.” He exaggerates, somewhat, but the process of trying to fire someone is a career, not an option. […]
Rauner let the tax lapse. To their demand for more tax increases, he sweetly says: Let’s talk. About pension reforms and tort reform. And about exempting local governments from paying on construction projects the “prevailing wage” — which Rauner says is, effectively, “whatever unions tell them they want it to be,” and which raises costs 30 to 40 percent.
* But I really liked this line from Will…
Illinois is a leading indicator of increasing national childishness — an unwillingness to will the means for the ends that it wills.
That applies to both sides in this fight.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:04 pm
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: The “gift” that keeps on “giving”
Next Post: Question of the day
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
==Illinois Democrats are, however, selective constitutionalists: They will die in the last ditch defending the constitution’s provision that says no government pension can be “diminished or impaired.”==
I’m no fan of pension reform, but really? This seems to ignore quite a bit of the past few years, including both Madigan and Cullerton’s efforts. Plus, it seemed to be the one issue where there was bipartisanship this summer.
Comment by AC Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:14 pm
“They will die in the last ditch defending the constitution’s provision that says no government pension can be “diminished or impaired.” Another good point made by Will that gets overlooked by many.
Comment by People over Parties Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:15 pm
The only foolish about Illinois pension system is that the legislature and many past Gov. has not properly funded them.
Comment by facts are stubborn things Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:16 pm
“…serenely expecting that when it expired they would enjoy the truth of Ronald Reagan’s axiom that there is nothing as immortal as a temporary government program.”
Kind of like the temporary government program enacted by Reagan called Mortgage Welfare. Be curious to know what George’s feelings are on that ricketty old Entitlement program.
Oh, and by the way in case your forgot. Here is what Reagan actually said in his State of the Union address about the Government:
“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
Thats right! He said “In this present crisis….”.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:17 pm
Only a fool thinks it is ok to give citizens services that they don’t pay for by using the pension system to pay for it and then complain about the pension liability.
Comment by facts are stubborn things Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:19 pm
===The only foolish about Illinois pension system is that the legislature and many past Gov. has not properly funded them.===
Totally agree with that. My mom has a state pension that pays here roughly 1/3 of what she made as an employee (less than my father-in-law’s Cat pension by the way). Fortunately, my parents were savers that are very debt averse so they will be fine. But to act as if the pension system is so great that you can live like royalty is utter hogwash.
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:22 pm
I was hoping you’d discuss this OpEd. Much of it is so disingenuous that it’s hard to know where to start. You picked up on most of the issues I had with it.
=…some government departments are not digitized at all..=
Is that a reference to the “200 people in a room with no computers” thing?
The complaint about so many unions is “Rauner as victim” again.
Rauner did not “let the tax lapse.” Will knows this as well as anyone.
And then this, from a writer who is usually a staunch defender of the Constitution…
=What is misleadingly called the state’s Constitution…=
It’s not the state’s Constitution? I guess I’m missing something.
And further on…
=Illinois Democrats are, however, selective constitutionalists:=
Um, yeah, it’s just the Dems who do that, right? Sure.
Comment by MSIX Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:23 pm
George Will is carelessly repeating Rauner’s lies of mythical savings which have been thoroughly disproven.
These Rauner lies never die.
Comment by Chicago 20 Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:24 pm
If George Will is ever looking for a job, I’m sure he could find work with the Illinois Policy Institute, along side Scott Reeder. Both like to omit relevant information.
Comment by Joe M Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:26 pm
Oh boo hoo boo hoo I can’t do nothin’ those mean ol unions and that mean ol man in Chicago have all the power I can’t even turn on a light switch boo hoo.
Just pathetic.
Comment by IllinoisBoi Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:34 pm
–That applies to both sides in this fight.–
I agree with this mostly. However, a lot of Rauner’s bill signings lead me to believe that one can work with the Governor to cut a deal, but one can’t necessarily work with Madigan to cut a deal. Madigan doesn’t want to cut deals, he wants to dictate. I would love for the man to completely prove me wrong.
Comment by Ahoy! Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:35 pm
I agree with one word, “hopeless”.
Comment by blue dog dem Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:36 pm
So….”there’s nothing as immortal as a Rauner lie”. OK!
Comment by BumblesBounce Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:37 pm
This is not the first time George Will has written columns similar to this. He despises public employee unions and has many times before repeated the meme that public pensions are way too generous — which is the only way he can defend his support for stiffing public retirees. With all the discussion today of increasing inequality, how nice that Illinois’ filthy rich Governor with the help of worn out pundits like Will, are doing their best to reduce the wages of middle class Americans.
Comment by kimocat Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:44 pm
George fails to mention that Bruce’s current positions on union membership and social services were absent on his run up to governor.
George also forgets that Bruce needed revenue to balance his projected budget.
Comment by Jocko Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:46 pm
Will talks about issues but is basically a shill for Rauner here. My main point of contention is his giving Rauner a pass on never presenting a balanced budget. Will puts this forward as a principle, but his arguments are nothing but politics. In doing this he is as much a part of the problem as anyone. As a fellow Trinity College alum I am disappointed.
Comment by Earnest Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:51 pm
George overlooked or “forgot” a lot of things in this opinion piece, and that is what it is- opinion. Though he might be able to sign on as a reporter for Proft!
Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:54 pm
Proof that an intelligent man with partial information can reach wrong conclusions. If he were a reporter instead of a columnist, he might have dug deeper.
Comment by Last Bull Moose Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:56 pm
“They will die in the last ditch defending the constitution’s provision that says no government pension can be “diminished or impaired.”
What on earth does this even mean? Isn’t it their job to defend the constitution? And if they chose not to support that part of it, as Will suggests, wouldn’t THAT be selective constitutionalism?
Comment by JohnnyPyleDriver Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:56 pm
I pay no attention to George Will.
And increasingly many others do not either. He is part and parcel of the Republican elites that most Republican rank and file voters detest.
He hates Trump but he and his establishment types have made Trump the Republican candidate for President. That fact that he can not or will not connect those dots on this obvious reality only goes to show how out of touch he is.
Comment by Federalist Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:57 pm
To all on the right that want to cut the pensions of the people in government that serve the people, ask yourselves, what is different between the people whose pensions you want to cut, and some other government employee who also earned a pension… for example, in the military? Why is one pension sacred, but the other is not? Both were earned.
Comment by Delimma Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 2:03 pm
==“They will die in the last ditch defending the constitution’s provision that says no government pension can be “diminished or impaired.” What on earth does this even mean?==
As most folks are failing to note, the preceding sentence states, “What is misleadingly called the state’s constitution requires balanced budgets, of which there have been none for 25 years.” Hence the irony of selective constitutionalism.
Comment by City Zen Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 2:15 pm
==Illinois Democrats are, however, selective constitutionalists: They will die in the last ditch defending the constitution’s provision that says no government pension can be “diminished or impaired.”==
It was truly amazing the way the Democrats in the Senate and House used their procedural wiles to kill SB 1 despite the Republican supermajorities in both chambers.
Comment by Whatever Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 2:17 pm
“high-tax Illinois”….???
Hey, George - buy a computer and try the google.
Comment by TinyDancer(FKA Sue) Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 2:17 pm
Boy, there are a lot of haters out today. But, say what you will, the man can turn a phrase.
Comment by Keyser Soze Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 2:23 pm
Delimma- it’s not.
The only difference is whose get cut first. It’s divide and conquer. It always has been divide and conquer.
Cut private pensions. Use the people who lost private pensions to push to cut nonpublic safety union pensions (teachers, etc).
Once those are cut go after police and fire pensions.
Then decimate Social Security.
They’re human locusts
Comment by Morty Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 2:27 pm
Let’s be clear. THERE HAS BEEN LEGAL PENSION REFORM! Tier 2 for people hired after 1/1/2011 was the pension reform that was legal under the State Constitution. It drastically cut benefits for new hires. And, given enough years (like the 30 or 40 it took to get into this mess) plus proper contributions by the State, Tier 2 will solve the pension problem.
Everyone is still looking for a magic bullet to eliminate the pension debt instead of voting for the tax increase needed to fund BOTH the pensions and necessary State services. The IL SC has been crystal clear: THERE IS NO MAGIC BULLET!
Comment by RNUG Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 2:31 pm
George Will is best when he sticks to baseball.
He either does not know or does not care what the courts have said about the State’s obligations to the CURRENT SYSTEM.
Comment by Bluegrass Boy Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 2:36 pm
==THERE HAS BEEN LEGAL PENSION REFORM! ==
The people who want to go after the pensions don’t care. They could pass a bill switching all new employees to 401k plans (since that seems to be the “in” thing) but they haven’t because they are too busy twisting themselves into a knot trying to take away benefits that cannot be taken away.
Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 3:10 pm
Will and Rauner’s insistence that public pensions are too generous reminds me of a quote from the founder of Amazon criticizing their failed economic ideology,”The most insidious thing about trickle-down economics isn’t believing that if the rich get richer, it’s good for the economy. It’s believing that if the poor get richer, it’s bad for the economy.”
Comment by DHSJim Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 3:15 pm
I think George Will must have swallowed a thesaurus.
Comment by Buster crab Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 3:24 pm
==Rauner let the tax lapse.==
Not correct. The Democratic Party controlled General Assembly let the tax lapse.
Comment by Enviro Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 3:27 pm
== Increasingly, it is run for their benefit when they retire. ==
Not true. Tier 2 (See comment at 2:31 pm for details.)
Comment by Enviro Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 3:31 pm
That line is so true. So much chaos could end if Dems would budge on a few labor reform issues and Repubs on revenue issues. The answer is RIGHT THERE. So crazy.
Comment by BK Bro Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 3:53 pm
RNUG is the best
Comment by Southern Dawg1 Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 4:02 pm
RNUG nails it. Every time. Tier 2 has dramatically lowered the annual cost of the pension. Big time. By hundreds of millions.
The annual debt repayment is not going to go away. That is the big ticket item. Reamortize and adjust goals and things will improve.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 4:11 pm
I am tired of the children and bullies running this state but apparently the voters aren’t.
Comment by neverp Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 4:13 pm
George Will, also a selective, and opportunistic, constitutionalist, fails to understand that the “shall not be diminished” clause is law.
Plain and simple, George. Law.
Comment by Now What? Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 4:18 pm
It bothers me that George Will is blaming the democratic legislators for something that the state’s Supreme Court has been enforcing.
The Democratic controlled legislature and the Democratic governor attempted pension reform and it was ruled unconstitutional.
Rauner hasn’t proposed a constitutional pension reform and the judicial branch isn’t going to go away.
Comment by Anon Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 4:26 pm
Typical George Will column — other than his name at the top, the remainder of the facts cited are, well, not actually facts.
Comment by Chucktownian Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 4:27 pm
Wouldn’t Will wail when we all want a graduated income tax?
Comment by Norseman Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 4:36 pm
Rauner is losing another articulate, albeit misguided for supporting Rauner) legislative mouthpiece. Glad Matt Murphy is moving from the looney farm for the betterment of his family.
Comment by Norseman Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 5:58 pm
Illinois currently has the third highest state and local tax burden in the nation. What do the citizens get for this burden? A coddled public workforce with outrageous benefits.
Comment by Ron Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 6:12 pm
We all don’t want a graduated income tax.
Comment by Ron Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 6:14 pm