Yes, Illinois needs pension reform
Editor’s note: Talk about a failure in the information war! Here is Bill Zettler’s article from ten years ago today — how few Illinois taxpayers understand the extent of legalized theft taking place at…
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Mr. Zettler – be careful
The title is the last line written on a weird, anonymous letter I received by mail today. It was sent to my business office from a PO box in Springfield. According to the letter…
Read MoreBill Zettler on WGN news discussing huge pension mistake
Bill Zettler, Director of Research for the Family Taxpayers Foundation was interviewed on WGN’s 9 o’clock news by anchor Lourdes Duarte. Duarte reported on a huge mistake in pension calculation for a former Quinn…
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Remembering Pat Quinn’s Apology Tour – “I’m Sorry, s-o-o-o- Sorry, that I was such a fool…”
Who can ever forget when, in May of 2004 Pat Quinn, then Lieutenant Governor, apologized to the Mormons for their mistreatment by Illinoisans in 1845. As Brenda Lee said “…please accept my apology”. Since…
Read MorePension math: why the Interest Rate assumption is soooooo important.
As the debate on phony pension reform continues unabated in Springfield pundits on all sides of the issue continue talk about the IR or Interest Rate. This can be very confusing if you do…
Read MoreAnarchy, Wolves and Resource Acquisition – Are We Next?
What Is Resource Acquisition? New Delhi, India – “Starving flood victims fought each other for scarcefood supplies Monday…” Associated Press, Aug 6, 2009 Five years ago Fortune magazine reported military planners warning of “the…
Read MoreTop 15 Superintendents Pensions for 2013.
Last week we published the Top 10 Superintendents salaries. To show how excessive salaries effect pension liabilities we are publishing the Top 15 pensions in TRS all of which are former superintendents except James…
Read MoreTop 10 School Superintendents Average $333,000 per year salary
When it comes to overpaid public employees it is difficult to argue that K-12 school superintendents aren’t at the top of the list. What exactly is it that supers do to justify $300,000 plus…
Read MoreSB1 Pension Reform bill – much ado about nothing.
SB1 Pension Reform bill – much ado about nothing. The good news: about 75% of state pensions will see COLA cuts adding up to $100 million. The bad news: that’s only about 1%…
Read MoreVastly overpaying public employees has a long tradition in Illinois.
Championnews has a long tradition of reporting on the high and outrageous salaries paid to current employees especially those in the K-12 Industrial Complex. But Family Taxpayers Foundation (FTF) has done research that shows…
Read MoreThere is one state employee in the state pension system for every 6 IL households.
The Family Taxpayers Foundation recently published a chart of the various numbers associated with the 5 state pension systems called “Illinois State Pension Systems Numbers Matrix” and it can be found at the link…
Read MoreZ Gram 07: Highlights of Barrington 220 Teachers Contract as of Dec 31, 2012 includes contractual $100+ hourly rates.
Contractual Fringe benefits: Sabbatical leave up to one full school year for such activities as study, travel, writing or other professional activities. This is after working all of 6 years without having any…
Read MoreIMRF – the stealth pension tax no one talks about.
The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund is the pension fund that provides pensions for virtually all city, township, non-certified school employees and county workers in IL outside of Cook County. With 394,000 members it has…
Read MoreResearch shows IL students test scores improve when teachers retire.
The National Bureau of Economic Research recently completed a study which showed that student test scores in math and reading improved after Illinois teachers were offered the ERI (Early Retirement Incentive) in the 1990’s….
Read MoreTrickle-down credit downgrades hit IL Universities.
Moody’s has downgraded the credit ratings of 9 IL universities. Friday’s downgrades affect the University of Illinois, Eastern Illinois University, Governors State University, Illinois State University, Northeastern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University and Western Illinois University….
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