Cowardly incumbents set to shift pensions

Be ready for one of the biggest heists in state history. Illinois citizens and businesses have been paying taxes to fund the pensions for our teachers. Lawmakers used nice words like “sweep,” “transfer,” “borrow,” or have simply chosen to not fund the promises they’ve made to the tune of $85 billion.

Instead, they spent the money elsewhere knowing that support from teachers unions is unwavering.

This is irresponsible at best, but is more accurately called theft where I come from. Too cowardly to again raise taxes to replace this money, their solution to the problem that they’ve created is to transfer the burden of paying for teacher pensions to the local school districts.

With this comes a change in the law that protects taxpayers from the nasty school boards raising your taxes too much, so that local school boards are forced to fill the hole, and be perceived as the bad guys.

Lawmakers will predictably claim to “lead the state through a tough economic time” while not raising your taxes.

Do we at least get to keep the $85 million IOU if just to look at and laugh?

Will our state taxes be lowered, as they should be, if the state will no longer have this liability?

The saddest part is that Illinoisans will again likely elect 95 percent of the incumbents.

If you get a chance to talk to people running for the statehouse this summer in the multitude of parades and events they use to campaign in, ask them one question:

If elected, will you vote to keep Mike Madigan (who has undisputed control of Illinois government) as speaker of the House?

A “yes” or a dodge will tell you all you need to know about that candidate.

Keith Gray

Mettawa, IL.