Political/Government Corruption

Gold-plated Retirement Benefits Should Be Paid for by Beneficiaries Not Taxpayers. Governor Quinn recently suggested defusing the unfunded state employee retirement debt time bomb by raising the employee’s contribution by 2%. That’s like trying…

Editor’s note: Bill Zettler wrote the following in late 2005, and his work was picked up by both the Heartland Institute and the National Center for Policy Analysis. Four and a half years later the…

Quinn: Pension Reform Will Save $400 Million in 2011. Zettler: Pension Deficit Will Increase More than $50 Billion by 2014. Governor Pat Quinn signed the pension reform bill and immediately claimed the new law…

By Bill Zettler Just another Public “Servant” Sacrificing Himself for the Common Good. Jim Edgar took time yesterday to step down from on high as “Distinguished Fellow” at U of I long enough to…

By Bill Zettler $35 Million Pension on the Horizon. Today we have seen the breathless self congratulatory reporting of so-called “pension reform” in Springfield. Unfortunately for the Illinois taxpayer not much has been accomplished….

Prepared by Bill Zettler     Bill Zettler is a free-lance writer and consultant specializing in public sector compensation. He can be contacted at this email address. Click here to read more by Mr. Zettler.  

By Bill Zettler RE: Retirement Benefits for State Employees vs. Non-state Employees. NOTE: 320,000 of Illinois 6.5 million workers (5%) are eligible for state pension and retiree health care. Why can 5% of Illinois…

To: Illinois Governor Candidates From: Bill Zettler Pension gimmicks: just because it is legal does not mean it’s not corrupt. On Tuesday Feb. 23, 2010 Illinois Auditor General William Holland released the much anticipated…

In recent months there has finally been a lot of coverage of the sorry state of Illinois’ government employee “pension” funds. The newspapers and private watchdog organizations have done a good job outlining the problem. For decades, under both political parties, there has been chronic over-promising and underfunding of the systems.

Tea parties are turning into “Pension Parties.” Evidence continues to pile up that out-of-control Illinois public pensions are on the minds of voters in Illinois. Tuesday’s primary added to that evidence via a pension…

By Bill Zettler Music Teacher Pulls Down $189,434. Number of $100,000 School Salaries Up 10% To 12,438 In 2009. As Illinois citizens struggle with the severe economic downturn plaguing the state, Illinois public school…

Prepared By Bill Zettler Bill Zettler is a free-lance writer and consultant specializing in public sector compensation. He can be contacted at this email address. Click here to read more by Mr. Zettler.  

Economic reality will sooner or later be forced upon Illinois state pensioners. I’ve been reading articles about the public employee pension crisis for well over a decade, and now that the rest of the economy has tanked, the issue is finally getting serious attention.

  How to Save $5 billion in 2011 in Pension and Health Care Costs. Ninety-five percent of Illinois workers are not eligible for the gold-plated state pensions and health care benefits available to K-12…