Throw out pols for pension crisis failure

Throw out pols for pension crisis failure

Financing Illinois’ pension debt just cost taxpayers dearly. Taxpayers will have to pay 40 percent more in interest payments for the next 25 years on $1.3 billion in general obligation bonds.

Because the state has the lowest credit rating in the country rather than paying an interest rate of 4.05 percent like states with AAA rated credit, Illinois taxpayers will have to pay 5.65 percent for this new debt offering maturing in 2038. Why? Standard & Poor’s Rating Service blames the higher costs on the General Assembly’s inability to fix nearly $100 billion in unfunded public pension obligations.

The credit rating agency also indicated the state’s A-minus credit rating could fall to the BBB category if the state doesn’t deal with the scheduled partial expiration of the big income tax rate hikes on Jan. 1, 2015 as well as pension reform.

Until our elected state officials demonstrate otherwise, you can only draw one conclusion. Their re-election, funded by special interest groups (unions), is more important to them than honoring their oath of office to “faithfully discharge the duties of the office to the best of my ability.”

Causing taxpayers to pay 40 percent more in interest in Illinois than in other states for the next 25 years is a fiasco for taxpayers. Voters need to throw their elected officials out of office because they are not faithfully discharging the duty of the office they hold so irresponsibly.

Mike Tennis

Sleepy Hollow