"Reboot Illinois" or, better name: Rubout Illinois

Reboot Illinois is, allegedly, a "non-partisan" journalistic website/entity that just cares about the financial abuse of our state. It has no agenda, except "reform" and of course, shows "both sides" of an argument, debate or issue...sure. Just ask them.
ReBoot Illinois began within the last couple of years and began by attacking pensions. Yes, I know we have an unfunded pension liability, but we also, as a state, promised state workers that if they took LESS money during their employment, they'd enjoy a secure retirement. The outrageous pensions are those of politicians and appointees, not the average worker.
But I digress...stepping on correct soapbox...

Reboot Illinois is the baby of Anne Griffin. So who is she? She is the wife of Kenneth Griffin and the founder of Aragon Global Management LLC(Hedge fund/vulture capitalist).
She was a major contributor to Emanuel's mayoral campaign to the tune of about $100,000(who favors privatized schools rather than public, as Ms. Griffin does), and a contributor($30,000) to a shadow right wing PAC(Paul Ryan's PAC), Campaign for Primary Accountability. Another $1 Million went to the Romney campaign, Restore our Future. So, she's going to have a so-called "non-partisan" "journalistic" website? Sure...and pigs fly.

But it gets even better...or worse.
Some of the other PACs($467,100 between 2010 and 2012) she has contributed to:

Prosperity Action, of which 100% of contributions went to Republicons
Republican National Committee
National Republican Senatorial and Congressional Committee
Batshit crazy Aaron Schock "Victory Committee"
Every Republican is Craven...oops Crucial(Eric Cantor's PAC)
American Crossroads($250,000)
John McCain 2008
Republican Party of KY(when Paul was running)

So, I'm sorry if I'm not buying the "non-partisan" crap, but really? Millions of $$$ for the right(and many times for the bat shit crazy right), nothing for progressive candidates, but her so called reform site is non-partisan. Ok, so how about a look at the issues on the website and where this "reform" stands on these journalistic adventures.

First and foremost: Overblown Pensions....those evil bloodsucking teachers and state employees who made billions of dollars during their lifespan...ooops, wait a minute, that's Ms. Griffin and her peers...ummm...pensions are badbadbadbad. They are the reason that education has gone down in Illinois, this is the reason that Illinois has such high taxes!!! Its the reason that businesses are leaving Illinois and everybody absofreakinlutely hatehatehates pensions and the loathsome sloths who receive them!

Umm, time to breathe. First the reason education has gone down is because, truthfully, the state has not been funding education as it should, but that has nothing to do with pensions. Education funding is low because Illinois hasn't been paying their bill for that either! But, really, to use the tired argument that we can pay for this or that, but not both is disingenuous and just stupid. The flip of that coin is that Reboot Illinois is the drunken cheerleader for corporate schools...you know, charters? The ones that they can pay the teachers little to nothing, no benefits, work long hours and make money for the corporation that owns them? The ones that haven't shown they are any better than most public, neighborhood schools except they get to pick and choose their students. That means that the kid with a learning or physical disability? Might not make the cut and screw any kid with emotional issues...don't even darken their corporate door! Oh, the beatitudes that are fostered upon charter schools from this website and their co-conspirators would have you believing if your child goes to their "choice" schools, s/he will begin to fart gold.

And, lets not forget the 67% tax lie. See, a couple of years ago, Illinois general assembly voted to raise our measly ass flatulent tax from 3% to 5 for individuals and 5% to 7 for corporations...now, to anyone that can actually do math, that means you are paying 2 cents on the dollar more...if you have no deductions. WHAT!? There are DEDUCTIONS  on our flat tax???? OH YES...whole helluva lot for the corporate whores out there, among other ways to screw the state, but I've written about that in the past. So...how do you come up with a 67% tax increase? By dividing what you paid before by what you pay now. This way, you get everyone thinking that your taxes are like 2/3 of you income, rather than your taxes are $.05(or .07) on the dollar...LESS THAN ALL BUT ONE STATE IN THIS AREA(except, of course, Indiana...but who wants to live in Indiana? They have higher property taxes, higher sales tax, less education programs...ok, sorry this should be another rant...er...post).

Oh, and while the darling of the right wing gets adoration(Scott Walker), the right wing has failed, as has Rubout Illinois(I like this name better) that Scott Walker has caused Wisconsin to become one of the worst states for job creation. In the mean time, while Scottie boy has lost about 10,000 jobs, Illinois has gained over 30,000 jobs. Huh? We gained? Wouldn't be able to tell that from Rubout IL, now could you?

So, why am I so aggravated about this type of site? Because too many of my fellow state retirees fall for their lies. Now, I understand that these same retirees are prolly duped by Faux News also, but how is it that retirees, knowing that their security depends on their pension, can fall for this? Why won't they actually research where this crap comes from? 
Could it be cuz they're still drinking the Ronnie kool-aid? If you tell a lie over and over, sooner or later the naive and the unknowledgeable will believe. Just sad. Now all of you who are retirees, TIME TO RESEARCH, TO INVESTIGATE, TO EDUCATE! Don't let them cut you with your own knife. Please.

My letter to the editors--now, if it gets posted....

I sent this letter to different newspapers: The Sun-Times, the Trib(HAH!), Daily Herald, Springfield and my little DG paper. Let's see who posts it!

I am a state retiree, one of the "regulars", whose pension averages around $25,000 a year. I'm somewhat luckier than over 75% of my fellow retirees because I can collect Social Security, yes, that's right. Over 75% of state retirees do NOT collect Social Security--all they have is their pension.
I worked for the Department of Corrections for about 30 years, over 2/3 of that time at Stateville, not what I would consider a "cushy" job. But we, that worked there, felt that we made a difference, we were to be firm, fair and consistent with inmates, we dealt with their families and with the public. I had worked my way from the young woman who had a low paying clerical job, to a correctional officer and then counselor. I could take care of my family and I paid taxes. I never made 6 figures at the job...not even close, but I knew I would be secure in my retirement because we had a contract, we had a pension and I kept my part of the deal and I paid my 8 - 9% of my pension cost every paycheck...but the state(and the people of Illinois) don't care and don't want to live up to their side of the deal. It's not that Illinois is spend drunk. In fact, we're 47th in revenue spending and 50th in state employee per citizen capita in the United States. What we are, is tax-phobic.
Not that the state doesn't make deals--over 2/3 of the state based corporations in Illinois pay NO state income tax and/or sales tax! We allow corporations to take many of the same deductions  that the Federal tax system uses, but on our flat income tax, those deductions are destructive to our financial situation and a majority of states have dropped these deductions.
Ways to raise revenue? First, we need to get rid of the Single Sales Factor--this alone costs us about $600 Million just from Caterpillar annually!  Drop the federal accelerated depreciation and go back to normal depreciation rates(would bring in about $300M annually), a deduction that allows no tax on dividends paid by foreign corporations to US parent corporations in Illinois(gain $400M annually). Getting rid of the Retailer's Discount on Sales Tax, at least for large retailers--Walmart keeps about $9 million annually of what we Illinois citizens think we're paying in sales tax! Like the Waltons need that money more than our citizens. That would bring in another couple hundred million annually.
And before all of the "OH NO, The nice corporations would LEAVE if we make them pay their FAIR SHARE!!!!" If Illinois tax structure was the same as Iowa's, we'd raise $6 billion more in revenue every year...Wisconsin's?  We'd raise about $9 billion more. Illinois taxes are not overtly high, that's just the sound byte.
I'm tired of seeing how my finances could be ruined over time while CME, Sears, Motorolla, United, Boeing, Caterpillar pay less in taxes than the average Illinois citizen. Its time to see the real problem, and its with the ones that control what's seen on TV and what stories get printed in the paper, not the 70 year old teacher living on your street--she deserves her pension, she worked for it, as we all have. And we demand to be respected. We're not demanding 6 or 7 figure pensions as some of our pols get. We want what we negotiated--a livable pension, nothing more and certainly nothing less.

Quinn's so called budget...or how to make retirees homeless!

I just can't figure out why politicians keep attacking seniors...first its the tea party and republicans trying to  privatize(read banksters steal the $3.2 Trillion in trust fund) Social Security, then Paul Ryan and his carnival shell game of "vouchers", and now Governor Quinn(who's supposed to be a DEM), wants to cut senior programs and attacking state retirees pensions and health care. I know, I know, all of you have been told how good we have it and we're breaking the state...and the public believes the lie. SB1313 tore apart the security of health care for seniors, now the general assembly and the so-called "liberal" governor want to cut cost of living increases. I don't know about the rest of the world, but in the last 4 years that I've been retired, gas has gotten ridiculous, which has affected what I spend for gas, what I spend for food, you know, those luxuries of living....
Now, this is because of the rich wanting to be richer and have many of their bills subsidized by what's left of the middle class/working poor. As I've stated in past posts, Illinois is not broke, but the tax system is--we need to get rid of the retailer's discount on sales tax(for large retailers) and single sales factor, again for large corporations(mom and pop operations are exempt from this handout). But, no...the state of Illinois lawmakers are quivering and licking the feet of the Chamber of Commerce(read...stick it to the little guy) and the Chicago Commercial Club, both of which that have board members who receive 7-8 figure golden parachutes. These Monopoly men don't want any tax reform, that would mean they would have to pay their fair share, nope, let's take it out on the 80 year old secretary who's making under $25000 a year after working for 30+ years!
A couple of weeks ago, Senate Bill 1313 passed both the houses with bi-partisan votes...nice to see our so-called representatives working together to screw us! And quickly! It took all of 2 weeks to pass 1313(ok, the number is ironic...but maybe it shoulda been SB 666), no hearings, no committees, no public comments. Just screw the senior citizen. What this does is change the way retiree insurance is handled and could end up costing retirees whole bunches of money..now, the lie that's told to all is that retirees got "free" insurance...hmm....I have out of pocket expenses that total about $500-600 a month(that includes premiums I pay for my family) and I actually thought I knew the meaning of "free"...obviously, the Chamber, Commercial Club and legislature own a different dictionary than I do.
So now the latest and greatest way to screw employees is either eliminate the cost of living raise, or to cut it to less than 1.5% or to give retirees a so called choice--we can either choose between having some type of health insurance or a cost of living increase...isn't that FUCKING NICE...why do I feel that I'm Oliver saying to Sikes, "please sir, could I have a bit more gruel?" Only problem is no one is going to come and proclaim me an heir! And how does the corporate media report on this? The far right leaning Chicago Tribune had an article about how the general assembly members and governors...have made out like wall street bandits while the average state worker's pension is less than $25,000...and many get only that-no Social Security. But the Trib has been trumpeting "many" trumped up pension scandals...there was the one on 2 men that upped their pension by working for one day at a school, then the ex-representative who doubled his pension by working for Alderman Burke for a month, but not one article on the 27,000 retirees who would be severely effected by cuts to their only form of retirement income.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure that if we(union) were able to actually bargain, we could come up with some solutions-we have in the past, but that's not gonna happen. We are an easy target so why would our corporate legislatures allow a few facts about our pensions get in the way????  Yes, these changes would effect the general assembly members who vote on them, but not to the degree that it will state retirees...I mean, I only had one job--in a prison--for 30 years, unlike many of our part time politicians who collect $67,000 a year in salary...and another $69K(representatives) or $80K+(senators) for office "allowances", not to mention mileage and per diem...now, as I said, I worked for the Department of Corrections. I began as clerical, then went to officer and retired as a correctional counselor--I made, after 28 years about $65,000 for a full time job! They start out as $67,000 the first year for their part time job. I did not receive mileage to go to and from work and was expected to take a state vehicle if I had to travel to Springfield...so, again, why is the general assembly working to screw us out of our pensions??????
All I have to say is remember, WE VOTE and we will not be afraid to vote you out of office.

The state of the State of Illinois-it ain't broken

The Chamber of Commerce and the Chicago Civic Federation have been jumping up and down about how Illinois is broke and its all "my" fault, being a retired state employee who receives a pension that I put up to 9% of my salary into....naw, I don't have an issue with their lies....but anyways.....
First, nothing to do with finances directly, but Illinois received a "C" in public integrity, placing 10th in the nation...yep, there are 40 states that are worse than Illinois and that includes all the ones that surround us, imagine that. Yes, we've had our share of corrupt politicians, but ours actually end up in prison or at least indicted and out of public office.
So, back to the financial state of Illinois. I do agree that our tax system is broken, but not because its too much...its broken because its a "flat tax"--everyone alleges to be taxed at the same rate...not really. We have an antiquated tax system--flat tax, no taxes on service(unlike the surrounding states). We have not actually changed the tax structure since the 70's, partially because to change the flat tax, we need an amendment to our constitution, but we do need to do something.
So, how broke is Illinois? Not very. Illinois has the 5th largest economy in the United States...and has been for over a decade! Obviously, some people are doing all right in the Land of Lincoln. Much of this is in northern Illinois--Cook, Will and DuPage counties. So why do we have such a problem with paying our bills? Greed?
I do believe that part of the problem is greed, considering the disproportionate income/wealth inequality that has developed in this country in general, but in Illinois we also have a very unfair tax system, the one that so many right wing folks dream of--the flat tax. The idea is that everybody pays the same, and that's more fair than a progressive income tax.
So, why is a flat tax unfair? It seems to be fair, a guy making $10K pays the same as a guy making $10M, right? Wrong...
The less income you have, the more you pay in taxes, when all taxes are considered. The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability is a bi-partisan non-profit think tank that promotes fair, efficient and progressive tax, spending and economic policies--the definition on their website. This group has been instrumental in research on different ways to end the funding problems in Illinois and make it a better system for all Illinoisans, not just the top percentage.
In February of this year, the CBTA issued a report on why Illinois needs an overhaul of the tax system and why the flat tax is one of the most recessive ways of taxing. The first graph in this report shows the different taxes we all pay, Sales/excise, property and income. People making $18K or under spend 13.7% of their income on taxes...people making $500K and over? Only 5.3%! Now, if you're sitting there with the idea that, "well those poor folks should try harder...they're the burden"...if you make under $50K, you're still paying about 12% of your income on taxes. So how fair is it that we (middle class) should pay more than the wealthiest? I'm not talking about a percentage point or so, its almost 7% difference! This report also points out that the bottom 60%(making up to $58K annually) of working people in Illinois bring home less than they did in 1979! And our taxes really haven't changed much since the 70's.
Part of the reason that Income tax is such a big issue is that its the only one that can be controlled by our present situation. For example, I'm very lucky and I'm making $100K...all of a sudden, the company I'm working for closes up and all I can find is a job as a barista making $20K...with a progressive income tax(and to a point, the regressive income tax), the tax automatically adjusts. That doesn't happen with other types of taxes...I can't go to the gas station and tell them, "I can't pay that much right now cuz I lost my job"...best they may do is say, "Fill out an application, we're hiring", that is if they don't laugh me out of the door....
So, you're still cynical...."What about cutting spending? We all know that the government spends too much!" that might work somewhere else, but Illinois is 47th in the country when it comes to spending and we are 50th when it comes to state employment rolls(not the lowest in number, but as a ratio of state employees per capita). If we go along with some of the budget cuts that are running around, we are not only putting more people on unemployment, we are putting the clients in danger. Illinois does not act like a drunken sailor on Friday night, more like a spinster librarian on Sunday morning!
"What about all of those businesses that would move?" Hasn't happened yet. Remember when WI and IN scab governors put out ads and billboards about the great business climate in their states? In the last year, Illinois has gained 30K jobs, while both IN and WI have lost thousands of jobs....hmmm....but, then again, our tax structure does some other interesting perks than others for business, such as a retailers discount on sales taxes. Huh? This began years ago when it was difficult for retailers to figure out the exact amount to send to the state...we have computers now...I think we can stop this practice. I'll have more tomorrow-this has gotten reallllll long and I'm hoping you haven't fallen asleep.