Politicians' pensions out of control

When will the people wake up? I hope I'm not going to be too old to participate in the revolution when it happens.

To think that the people sit there like lumps on a log while these slimy politicians serve as our employees and pass sweetheart laws that give them a pension of $197,000 annually. That's what George Ryan would have received for 30 years of service if he hadn't been caught.

His lawyers had tried to get "that portion of his pension for service spanning a couple decades that would have granted him a state pension check of roughly $5,700 a month or $68,400 annually."

Let me see if I have this right - two decades of "public" service equals $68,000 annual pension. Thirty years of "public" service equals a $197,000.00 annual pension. It's no wonder our state is in the hole financially.

I worked 35 years as a carpenter before retiring. I wanted to be a carpenter since I was about 12 years old. My pension isn't anywhere close to what Ryan would have received for just his two decades of "public" service.

I guess I chose the wrong profession. Instead of building homes, schools, stores and offices where people could live, learn and work, I should have gone into the public service sector where I could have given the people the shaft.

John G. Snowwhite III

Elgin