72 Comments - Frenchie Mendoza - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:17 am: This is just a Sandack tweet on speed. Nevermind that there’s also — on the part of Rauner, apparently — a messiah-complex that’s starting to rear its head. If isn’t already in full-force. - Omega Man - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:18 am: If this kind of thinking we’re applied to the infrastructure crisis, we’d blow up all of the bridges to force some “positive change”. - Daniel Plainview - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:18 am: What’s next, should we all read Atlas Shrugged and really get into the fantasy? - Johnny Pyle Driver - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:19 am: Read the whole thing, kept waiting for an analysis. Then I looked for a simple thesis statement: Blame Madigan! Funny there’s no analysis of what his reforms have to do with the state in which we find ourselves. I guess we’ll just take his word for it that worker’s compensation reform and redistricting will rid the state of corruption - NoGifts - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:20 am: “the state’s legacy Democratic leadership” Ha - as if people didn’t VOTE for them …. they’re just taking up legislative seat space because they’re left over from the past? I think not. - SAP - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:22 am: =This is a state where the previous governor walked union picket lines, where over 11,000 public retirees collect tax-free, six-figure pensions as high as $450,000 per year…= I’m glad to see Investors Business Daily pushing for a tax on retirement income (snark). - Paul - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:23 am: Where are the facts that these statements are true? As other commenters have said, nothing but empty words. - Frenchie Mendoza - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:24 am: In my other over-coffee-thought-experiment I wondered: Radogno and Durkin — shrill now — and shrill for years past — but imagine if this editorial — in some alternate universe — were written about a D governor who, in her first year, accomplished nothing substantial but had decided to “stay the course” and “reverse the GOP status quo”. Man, the entire GOP infrastructure would be exploding with seismic outrage. Shrill wouldn’t even begin to describe the sound of the indignation and fury. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:25 am: Rauner did not run as a candidate on the proposals he now holds us hostage over. Consequently, Rauner has no mandate. Had he been elected telling voters about his Turnaround Agenda, then he has a case. He didn’t. As a result, Rauner needs to sell his Agenda to voters that elected him, as well as win over those who hadn’t. Rauner tried to do that during his first six months in office, and he had failed spectacularly. His Agenda is supported by a minority of Illinois citizens and a minority of Illinois voters. Bruce Rauner could not have been elected honestly, so now Bruce Rauner is abusing the office he was elected, by being dishonest over what he had promised during the campaign. It seems that Investor’s is ignoring this basic point. This publication would not support a governor who broke his campaign promises. would not support a politician who locked up and abused a state government in order to force through reforms he had no political support to force through. Investor’s wouldn’t support a governor who believed that the office entitled him to run amok over a majority of citizens. Investor’s is being two-faced here. So not only do they overlook an essential problem Rauner created for himself, they misdiagnose deliberately the dilemma Illinois faces. They overlook how this new governor took a budget solution and stripped away that solution, forcing onto Illinois the crisis it currently faces. Governors are supposed to not make things worse, yet Rauner has deliberately done so. Consequently, Rauner should not “benefit” from the very crisis he generates. The man who attempts to drown a swimmer is not celebrated if the swimmer survives. Investor’s is dead wrong. Rauner should be happy he duped them. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:28 am: Dear Governor, I read it. Thanks. I prefer McKinney. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/section/pensions I know you don’t. I’ll let it sit there. OW ===The unions and public employees were the top beneficiaries of the Illinois train wreck. Illinois can’t be fixed without curtailing their clout. It’s a testament to how much power unions have in Illinois that it was considered a great victory for reform when exhibitors at McCormick Place no longer had to pay a union electrician to plug in their printers.=== Dear Labor, especially the Trades; Rauner chose this article because Rauner isn’t after public sector Labor, Rauner wants Labor in Illinois to disappear(?) Rauner chose this article to make sure you, Labor, all Labor, understand… you need to pay, and Rauner will make sure every chance he can he will try to discredit your Movement. All of you. Remember to “Raunerite Yellows” when Labor needed the former GOP legislators to do right by you? I do. If you let ONE Raunerite off the hook, you will fail. Pick your spots, be inpactful, inflict damage, and send a message. Oh… Lincolnshire is still pushing RTW. Remember? I do. I’m gonna go back and read McKinney now. I read my fiction full today. - Fusion - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:28 am: My favorite part: ==Michael Madigan has all but ruled the state with an iron fist since becoming speaker of the Illinois House in 1983. Virtually every bad decision since happened with his approval. Some people now dub the state Madiganistan.== The author has his tinfoil hat on pretty tight. - Person 8 - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:29 am: If Rauner was out to “curtail” unions, that’d be one thing, but he is out to DESTROY, unions. - Streator Curmudgeon - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:35 am: Naturally in a business publication, you’re going to get an anti-union slant, but who supplied their “facts”? Illinois Policy Institute? So there was one mention of both parties being responsible for the pension mess. Did GOP governors sign off on it in the past? First we had corporations outsourcing jobs to China and India. Then we had corporate lobbyists and PACs buying off Congress with “campaign contributions.” Now we have GOP governors across the country working to bust whatever unions are left. Anybody else notice a pattern here? - Spliff - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:36 am: The article is written by a senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute which is a neo-conservative think tank funded by the Koch brothers, the Walton family and others … can’t imagine why they would be happy with Illinois going down in flames. - Urbs In Horto - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:38 am: More Manhattan Institute blather. Rule of thumb: when someone introduces an assertion with “make no mistake,” there’s an 80% chance it’s BS. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:40 am: –Enter Bruce Rauner. An independently wealthy financier, he was elected governor as a Republican in 2014 on his second attempt,– Huh? The Manhattan Institute shilling for Rauner is about as shocking as IPI and Dan Proft carrying his water. They know which side their bread is buttered and constantly have their hands out. Read More At Investor’s Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-perspective/010416-787963-illinois-is-sick-man-of-america-bruce-rauner-needs-to-save-it.htm#ixzz3×2oUHcxD Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter | InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:40 am: Say something in favor of progressive taxation and they accuse you of class warfare. This screed is the voice of Capital. Of course Rauner prefers this approach, but I’m sure he wouldn’t agree that it’s also class warfare and his side is winning. - cardsmama - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:44 am: Have I been under a rock? WHO calls it “Madiganistan”? Rauner? Superstars? - A Jack - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:45 am: How much did Rauner pay the writer of this opinion? - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:46 am: I thought the part about the huge exodus of manufacturing jobs from downstate was well stated. The Democrats are supposed to be the party of the average working person. They have walked away from those in the private sector and would rather see the Mitsubishi plant empty than have it go non Union. Big reason why Trump is getting 20% support from Democrats - Robert the 1st - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:49 am: =Have I been under a rock? WHO calls it “Madiganistan”? Rauner? Superstars?= Read a comment section on any other site. The Tribune, Crains, you name it. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:52 am: ===Have I been under a rock? WHO calls it “Madiganistan”? Rauner? Superstars?=== The Owl Herder Kass… … I preferred “The Combine” but then Rauner, a Rich Daley donor, would have to be included so Kass can’t have that. - olddog - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:55 am: === WHO calls it “Madiganistan”? === Kass. What else do we need to know? - Johnny Pyle Driver - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:55 am: yea i’ve never heard madiganistan and i troll lots of comments sections - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:00 am: ===… would rather see the Mitsubishi plant empty than have it go non Union.=== Hmm. Two points; Mitsubishi explained chapter and verse why the plant was closing and they didn’t cite Labor. If you’re quip was even in the parkin’ lot of the ball park of beibg remotely true, Rauner and all his negotiatin’ to fill it, and his failures… Rauner, never shy to bash Unions… would’ve said so. So… (Sigh)… there’s that. - RNUG - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:07 am: All of the pension “facts” were citing outlier cases. No mention that the State failed at the funding. No note that the sweetheart deal of a pension for one day’s work was engineered and taken advantage of by a politician. Selective reporting at its’ finest. - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:07 am: OW can you fill us in on all of the Democrats plans to revive the manufacturing sector in Illinois? Like fixing workers comp, tort reform and flexibility on unions? The status quo does not seem to be working too well- hence the exodus of good paying jobs. Rauner has cited all of these when discussing the Mitsubishi plant, please keep up - wayward - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:10 am: The whole premise of the article was faulty. It was like, “The status quo was bad, Rauner is different than the status quo, therefore Rauner must be better.” - deadguy - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:11 am: Illinois is dying a horrible, painful death. Rauner is simply accelerating the death, so in that respect , he could be viewed as a mercenary. - Reality Check - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:14 am: Let’s be clear who wrote this column: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Manhattan_Institute_for_Policy_Research - Johnny Pyle Driver - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:16 am: Can anybody confirm this is accurate: Weighted average annual pension in Illinois: $39,231 Not exactly living high on the hog - illinois manufacturer - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:26 am: Only 11000 over 100000? That does not seem like a lot considering how many are covered.RNUG is that right. I bet those are Med school profs and a few overpaid people but that does not seem as high as I expected. I can speak on downstate manufacturers.That a due to the bad trade policies that that right wing publication pushes. I outsource to another Midwest state with eve higher taxes.So this is nonsense. - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:26 am: 11,000 public sector retirees collecting six figure tax free pensions that go up 3 percent annually are not outliers. Not to mention health care benefits that far exceed what the private sector gets. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:26 am: ===The status quo…=== There’s a new Status Quo now; Hurt people, “short term pain”, no budget, hostages. If ya could, try to understand what Rauner is doin’. Thanks. ===…Rauner has cited all of these when discussing the Mitsubishi plant, please keep up.=== You commented… ======… would rather see the Mitsubishi plant empty than have it go non Union.=== That’s disingenuous, at best… lol. Please, check your “In-Box” for revised Raunerite Talking Points. You need them. - Johnny Pyle Driver - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:45 am: it drives me absolutely batty when people justify the destruction of middle class pay benefits by pointing to workers in the private sector who have seen their slice of the pie shrink in the last couple decades. Shouldn’t we concentrate on building up those wages instead of tearing down everybody else’s? And why is the work of a government worker (most jobs which require degrees) compared to that of the private sector (where the prevalence of low-skill, no degree-required jobs are much higher)? - wordslinger - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:45 am: –Like fixing workers comp, tort reform and flexibility on unions? The status quo does not seem to be working too well- hence the exodus of good paying jobs. Rauner has cited all of these when discussing the Mitsubishi plant, please keep up– Keeping up, eh? Do you mean in non-sensical catch phrases or facts? –Annual production at the (Bloomington) factory has fallen to 64,000 vehicles from more than 200,000 in 2002. The company sold only 82,000 vehicles in the U.S. last year, less than 1 percent of the total market. (Trib, 1-24-15))– How did other domestic automakers, including union plants, do? –Automakers on Tuesday set a new U.S. sales record for 2015 even as December sales fell short of expectations, and most forecasters said sales should rise to another record this year. For full year 2015, U.S. sales hit a record of 17.47 million vehicles, breaking the mark of 17.41 million vehicles in 2000, according to Autodata Corp. Low gasoline prices, easy credit and moderate economic growth boosted the industry. (Reuters, 1-5-16)– Making cars that people want to buy would seem to be a good idea for automakers. LP, do you have the skinny on the governor’s efforts to land a new manufacturer at Bloomington? Does he give them the ol’ “Illinois death spiral” sales pitch? I bet they swoon reaching for their checkbooks at that. Maybe Rauner should ask the United Auto Workers how to do it. They leveraged their new contract to get Ford to invest $1 billion and add hundreds of jobs at their Chicago area plants. So, who’s doing more for Illinois manufacturing at this time, Gov. Death Spiral or the UAW? - RNUG - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:48 am: A lot of the high dollar pensions, excluding some of the ones engineered by politicians for themselves, are former school administrators, judges, and, as noted above, assorted medical professionals. Depending on the system, you had to work a lot of years (some cases 45) and your final average compensation had to be about $120,000 to $133,000 in order to get a $100,000 pension day 1 of retirement. Yes, you can start out with a more modest pension and end at 6 figures due to the 3% AAI, but that doesn’t happen overnight; it takes many years. And $39K sounds about right over all when weighted; a couple of years ago the TRS average was a bit over $32K and should be about $34K now. - Beaner - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:48 am: Dear Johnny Pile, The number you mention is deceptively high. It includes Governor Edgar and Thompson and University Presidents. Many Teachers get much less and do not participate in Social Security. Of course in 2010 a lot of people who recently were retired or took early retirement or their plant was closed moved to a warmer State or a nearby State from wince they came. A lot of people had a life change in 2009. People work for CAT for 40 years and move back to Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan. But a lot of folks are moving below the Mason Dixie line because of the reduced risk of a fatal hip fracture from falling on ice. Who is moving in droves? Oh, it is disproportionately people over age 60…got it. The alcohol and Casino industries have been the biggest winner in the past thirty years of my observation. Too few people can read the State’s CAFR and even fewer have the discernment to perceive what is left unsaid between the lines of a promotional Bond advertisement. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:52 am: JohnnyPyle Driver– You are dead on correct. But for many it’s just so much fun to point only to the high pension earners and ignorantly extrapolate that to each and every one who collects a pension. After all, what fun would it be not to villainize those who gave their service? It’s as bizarre and saying that everyone who works in private industry earns Bill Gates, Warren Buffets——–even Bruce Rauner’s income! People would think you’ve lost it! But they freely use bizarre figures for public pensioners. Apparently because it’s so fun to be hateful, even in the face of ignorance. - old guy 2 - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:52 am: Looks like a press release from the Governor. Really an article written by Aaron M. Renn, a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute which is a sister organization of the Illinois Policy Institute which Rauner has helped fund. - @MisterJayEm - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:53 am: “The unions and public employees were the top beneficiaries of the Illinois train wreck.” Due, in part, to the vote of notorious political fixer Stuart Levine, Bruce Rauner’s private-equity business GTCR handled $50 million in Teachers Retirement System of Illinois pension investments. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140115/BLOGS02/140119874/rauner-still-needs-to-answer-questions-about-his-stuart-levine-ties I suspect that Mr. Rauner and his associates benefited from “the Illinois train wreck” quite a bit more than the average public employee. – MrJM - RNUG - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:54 am: As far as health care, that only goes to a smaller subset of retirees: SERS and SURS who worked a minimum of 20 years. The largest group, TRS, has to pay for their health insurance; they get a bit of a discount if they contributed to TRIPS while working. The majority don’t have free health insurance; in fact they also have to pay for basic Medicare because a lot never contributed to SS. - Johnny Pyle Driver - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:58 am: How does the weighting happen? Why does IPI harp on teacher pensions at higher than $70k yet the analysis I posted puts teacher pensions closer to $40k? - Chicago Cynic - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:00 am: Wow. A guy at the Manhattan Institute thinks Rauner is a genius and Madigan is Satan. Stop the presses. - Secret Square - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:08 am: “How does the weighting happen? Why does IPI harp on teacher pensions at higher than $70k yet the analysis I posted puts teacher pensions closer to $40k?” I presume that “weighting” means excluding or diminishing the effect of outliers so that the result is closer to the median — the figure that half the group is above and half is below — and therefore more representative of the majority of the group. The IPI figure is probably a raw arithmetic average that is, nevertheless, skewed by a relatively small number of six-figure pensions thrown into the mix with a large number of modest or small $20 and $30k pensions. - Beaner - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:09 am: Dear Johnny, The first victim in any war is the truth (Sun Wu). The Illinois Propaganda Institute is the kind of leadership organization employing figurers who will not be bothered by contradictory facts. It is a Coup. - Johnny Pyle Driver - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:11 am: IPI seems to get their larger number by looking at “new” retirees with 30+ years on the job. But i’m not sure how that differs from the “weighted” number given in the other analysis - Demoralized - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:14 am: The Governor has gone around talking to state employees, telling them he supports them. And then he goes about his business trying to do whatever he can to take away their pensions, lower their pay and make them pay through the nose for health insurance. That’s some way to “support” somebody don’t you think? - Demoralized - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:16 am: ==Not to mention health care benefits that far exceed what the private sector gets.== That’s just whining and that sort of whining is getting old. Why does everyone have to be the same? You don’t like your health insurance benefits? Get another job. Stop whining about what somebody else gets. I’m so sick and tired of this “yeah, but I don’t get this” argument. Who. Cares. That’s your problem. Stop whining and do something about it. The argument of “I don’t get this so you shouldn’t either” is absolutely pathetic and childish. Grow up. - Demoralized - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:18 am: ==when discussing the Mitsubishi plant== If you are trying to use the Mitsubishi plant as some pawn in this discussion then you are barking up the wrong tree. The Mitsubishi plant closing had everything to do with their lack of sales. That’s it. Find a new example. - justacitizen - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:27 am: 11,000 six-digit pensioners = about $1.6 billion yearly. 11,000 earning the average ($39) is about $400 million. Significant enough to point out these “outliers’ - walker - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:31 am: The scary thing is that Rauner referred to this opinion piece as the best description of his own perception of reality. I keep thinking he’s got to be smarter than that, but then my hopes get dashed. - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:45 am: The auto business is booming and there is an empty plant in Illinois there for the taking. Yet no one is. Why? Maybe Illinois should reform the way we attract and retain businesses, All businesses big and small. There are a huge contingent of ostriches in this state who just bury their head in the sand. - Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:50 am: Johnny, you are correct. IPI uses new retirees for TRS. The number you quote must include all the Systems. - Johnny Pyle Driver - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:57 am: I don’t understand the distinction being made though - how do “new retirees with 30+ years in the system” differ from the overall weighted number for teachers? - RNUG - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:01 pm: Newer retirees will have higher FACs, which with same number of years of service will result in higher pensions. - Earnest - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:02 pm: >The auto business is booming and there is an empty plant in Illinois there for the taking. Yet no one is. Why? I want good things from divided government and Governor Rauner, but I must acknowledge that my first thought, when he talked about not being able to recruit manufacturers to the state, was that it’s in his interests to have that plant stay vacant. Otherwise it undercuts his agenda. Then I read that I just wrote and think, is it this situation that’s insane, or is it starting to be me? - JackD - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:04 pm: It appears that the US Supreme Court is about to give the governor what he wants with respect to public employee unions (for now; private enterprise unions are likely to be next). It appears both sides can wait for the courts to bail them out. Budgets may be a curious anomaly of the past and of interest only to historians. - Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:30 pm: Pretty disgusting demonization of unions and public employees. No mention at all about how low state income taxes for the wealthy hurt the state, and how Rauner’s firm profited for years from public employee pensions and taxes. Rahm Emanuel may have many faults, but he worked with the union(s) for compromise at McCormick Place. Illinois has low state income taxes. Where again are all the people moving into the state to escape high income tax states? I heard this morning on the radio that Chicago snagged another corporate headquarters. Chicago keeps grabbing corporate business and is highly touted for business. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:47 pm: The people who can afford most(paying more won’t affect their lifestyles and habits) to pay taxes don’t and won’t. They protect their interests and deflect the problem of not enough revenue on whoever the unluckly group-du-jour is. Right now, that’s public employees and their pension systems. Oh, and unions of course. But raising taxes on low or lower income earners won’t help a whole lot. Their pot to tax isn’t so large that it’ll make a difference. There is a reason why that millionaire tax referendum passed in the last election. Apparently there are some sharp folks out there who understand this concept. But making it happen is a different story. - GOP Extremist - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:47 pm: The NYT article is by far the best factual analysis of the current impasse. Not surprised that a publication named the Investors Bussiness Daily would advote for weakening unions at all costs, including govern’n by coercion. They say they want to help the most vulnerable but only after they can use them as bargaining chips. The buget impasse is a crisis created by Rauner to push his ideological vision. - RNUG - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 1:24 pm: Although I didn’t see many signs of it during the campaign, I’m beginning to think Rauner has a Messiah complex and truly believes he is the only savior for the State. If you view it from that angle, then he has the conviction of religious fevor and will never compromise. - Allexa - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 1:25 pm: Yes, the worker is at fault because the boss is an idiot. Not much new here. We heard this argument so many times. Every time we hear it it sounds stupider and stupider. Is our collective IQ really that low? Now I feel really discouraged… - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 1:25 pm: I disagree on the Messiah Complex thing, but this is spot on… ===he has the conviction of religious fevor and will never compromise. === Not on everything, but definitely on some things. - CapnCrunch - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 1:26 pm: “Only 11000 over 100000? That does not seem like a lot considering how many are covered…….” As of April 2014 there were over 11,000 SURS retirees from UIUC receiving a pension exceeding $100,000. [Taxpayers Education Foundation] - Beaner - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 1:29 pm: The graying of America. Our population is growing older. The beginning of the WWII baby boom is reaching retirement age. Folks born in 1946 are now pushing 70. Yeah, more folks who are collectin Social Security are moving to an Assisted Living Center in South Florida with Shuffle Board. Why folks born in 1946 would be what, 65 in 2010. No wonder folks are moving South. My father retired one December, buried mother in February and established residence in Florida in May. Lets take some of the facts, that more folks are moving out of one of two Super Manufacturing Centers on the Continent and make it all about that collective bargainin’ and paying injured folks for their lost limbs and pay are TOTALLY responsible. Numbers do not lie, but liar figure. Not a lot of Budgeting getting done, but a whole lot of figuring. Must be good money in figuring. - Chicago 20 - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 2:17 pm: The Manhattan Institute is a member of the State Policy Network, as is the Illinois Policy Institute and ALEC. Rauner has financially supported this organization which publishes biased vile propaganda for the benefit of the Koch brothers. None of it is credible and none of it should be printed or quoted by any reputable media. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Policy_Network - D.P.Gumby - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 2:58 pm: When was the first time Brucie ran for governor? You would think that his lap-dog author could at least get that fact correct. - Chicago 20 - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 3:35 pm: Perceptions versus reality - “It’s a testament to how much power unions have in Illinois that it was considered a great victory for reform when exhibitors at McCormick Place no longer had to pay a union electrician to plug in their printers.” An urban legend now revived with a slight twist, now it is a printer that had to be plugged in. This time someone paid an electrician to only plug in a printer in at McCormick Place. Maybe, one day someone will demand proof before they print another version of this urban myth. - “Rahm Emanuel may have many faults, but he worked with the union(s) for compromise at McCormick Place.” The compromise was pay cuts, revised work rules and reduced crew sizes for McCormick Place workers while exhibitors could now do their own work. What a success! Until you research the facts. Thomas Neuhengen and his attorney had a problem with the reduced crew sizes, a received $15.3 million in damages for his injuries at McCormick Place while doing his own work. Since the McCormick Place labor compromise, labor costs decreased, yet posted exhibitor labor rates increased, effective exhibitor labor rates increased. The net result is McCormick Place has now lost 10 trade shows since these “reforms” were enacted. Last year, Microsoft Ignite became the 9th tradeshow to leave McCormick Place after the reforms that promised to lower exhibitor costs but in reality, did not. Exhibitors at 2015 Microsoft Ignite didn’t see lower costs that the legislated reforms promised. Instead exhibitors saw their rates substantially increase at Microsoft Ignite. This tradeshow left Chicago after the City and State gave Microsoft, one of the world’s richest corporations, over $18 million of our tax dollars in incentives and freebies for them to hold their conference at McCormick Place for $1 of rent. Exhibitors were charged 29% - 52% more for electrical services, 118% - 367% more for equipment rentals, and 24% - 75% more for electrical labor than what exhibitors were charged at ASCO 2011 when Focus One/ETS, the in-house MPEA owned provider was the ASCO 2011 electrical contractor. 265,000 annual Chicago business visitors lost. $1,038,836,224 lost annual economic impact. $35,200,000 tax payer funded annual Choose Chicago budget is spent in secrecy, with absolutely no accountability or oversight. As of November 2015, hotels in Chicago had their YTD occupancy rate increased a paltry 0.66% when compared to 2014. Nationally the average increase was 1.8%, or 1.14% more than Chicago’s occupancy increase. Chicago’s occupancy rates have been consistently behind the national averages despite Choose Chicago’s $35.2 million annual budget, which is led by Bruce Rauner’s handpicked CEO Don Welsh who makes over $500,000 a year to get Chicago below average results. But the difference to the general public is the media isn’t reporting on the McCormick Place current $30 hot dogs or the McCormick Place $8.65 Pepsi’s or the staggering MPEA operating deficit of $1.4 billion and debt of over $11 billion. We can be assured that no one from SPN, Manhattan Institute or the Illinois Policy Institute will be writing any articles on this fiasco until they can pin the blame on a public official and not on corporate greed. - RNUG - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 3:35 pm: Rich, you’ve obviously had more opportunity to observe him up close, so I’ll defer to your judgement on that part of it. - BR - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 4:23 pm: I think it is hilarious that this “hit piece” mention the NYT article as a “hit piece”. Also, I love the way these jokers never mention that the main beneficiaries of the “Illinois train wreck” were the rich and their pork projects they propped up through huge donations to political hacks. Hypocrites!! Instead, they lay it all at the feet of public employees and unions! Ridiculous!! After they destroy public service and unions I wonder who they’ll go after next (old people, orphans, handicapped folks, etc., any one who is weak and not influential?) when they continue to run the State further into the ground or find out that the State still has big money problems after wiping out public servants and unions. They want the good old days of the feudal system back!! They’ve been missing those good days for 800 years or so, poor things! - CapnCrunch - Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 7:55 pm: “As of April 2014 there were over 11,000 SURS retirees from UIUC receiving a pension exceeding $100,000.” That number is absurd. I didn’t read it after posting, it should say 683 SURS…can’t read and type simultaneously. Sorry Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.