Mitt Rauner(oops, Bruce), trying to talk to real people(yep, another version of deer in headlights)

As many of you may have figured out, I am a union activist, otherwise known as a union thug...or whatever the media likes to call me and, because of that I also have "union thug" friends, even some "union bosses" friends. One of those union boss friends that I'd like to introduce is my President, Larry Brown.

Larry worked at the max prison in the southern part of the state to earn his retirement benefits and he takes his benefits seriously. He also takes seriously how Mr. Rauner has been demeaning us in the press and receiving little to no push back. Don't worry, Larry can push back. Hard. With those silly little things called facts.

So...Mitt, er, Bruce Rauner decided to go to southwestern Illinois to speak to state employees and retirees about how he wants to "help" them. Larry was present at the meeting.

Mr. Rauner came out with a prepared statement, he was trying to garner some grassroots troops. The question and answer session lasted about 90 minutes and to his credit, did try to answer questions from the audience. He did say that he thought that SB 1(the pension theft bill) was "unconstitutional"; that doesn't mean he wouldn't support cutting our benefits, he actually thought it didn't go far enough, considering some of his comments in the media and his calls to Republican leaders in the General Assembly to vote against the bill, partially because he wants larger cuts and partially just as a black eye to the Dems.
Larry asked about SB1313, which AFSCME is also litigating and was signed into law in 2012. For those of you who don't know or remember, this is the bill that attacked retirees' health care. Now, I don't expect everyone to know this, but...if you're running for governor....Mr. Rauner had that deer in headlights look and told Larry(after Larry explained the law to him), "You gotta be kidding me, I'll have to check it out." Maybe we all need to start carrying fact sheets with us, eh? Help out Mr. Rauner's knowledge base?
So, more about pensions. Mr. Rauner stated he wanted a "Two-Tier" pension...Larry, again, informed him that Illinois has a two tier pension, since January of 2011. Mr. Rauner, "We do?" Yes, we do. So, we now know that what Mitt's talking about is a Three tier system; his idea is that those that are retired, their defined benefit pensions aren't changed. If you're still working, the defined benefit stops the day he takes office--for all, whether you are coordinated with Social Security or not. And from that day forward? Employees will be expected to figure out the stock market and use a (private) financial planner to get a 401K. You know the type, the hedge fund managers charge their fees and make $$$$ while the small investor watches his/her ability to retire get smaller and smaller because of "market forces". The other part of this silly idea that Mr. Rauner didn't address is if we have no funding from our working brothers and sisters(State and University employees pay up to 14% of their salary into the pension fund), if they are now playing on the market, how do you keep the pension fund solvent for the older retirees?
Mr. Rauner also wanted to assure the retirees and employees he was speaking to that he didn't have any problem with them, it was those corrupt "union bosses". So, Larry asks him, "Why are you mad at me?" Mr. Rauner stated he wasn't, he was against the bosses. They make the decision to fund corrupt politicians with your union dues. Larry informed him that he was a union boss, he was democratically elected and represents over 27,000 retirees in the state of Illinois and that the dues, by law, cannot be used as political contributions. Larry went on to tell Mr. Rauner that AFSCME does have a voluntary deduction for our Political Action Committee, called PEOPLE, but we also vote democratically, both the active and retired employees, on who we will or will not support. Larry asked Mr. Rauner if his company gave political contributions. Mr. Rauner answered yes. Larry asked him if those contributions were voted on by all of the workers in a democratic fashion. We all know the answer to that question, don't we?
So, it seems that Mr. Rauner has very little knowledge of what is law, what is being litigated in the state of Illinois, and very little knowledge on how unions function. And he's being touted as the front runner? He can't even figure out his own taxes(he took 3 property tax exemptions instead of just one), doesn't know that "union bosses" are democratically elected, doesn't know about litigation that will affect his governance, if elected, doesn't know that there are laws that make it illegal for his idea of "union bosses" handing money to politicians.
Can we really want someone who is so stupid about how the government is run...to run our government?????
I do understand, Quinn ain't the public's savior, but he's not trying to sell off Illinois. No one spends as much money as Mr. Rauner has on his campaign and expects nothing from it.

Governor Quinn is being a mouse turd

Yeah, I get it, the state is in financial ruin(if we made the 2/3 corp.that pay no income tax pay like citizens have to, it wouldn't be).
Yeah, I get it, we have a pension(Although I don't get the meme of how much we make, since over 60% make under $25K and no social security).
NO I DON'T GET WHY WE'RE THE PROBLEM!!!!
Governor Quinn decided he's gonna take his ball and go home....just like the mouse turds that use to do that in neighborhood ball---name your sport, football, basketball, baseball---you know the kid. He wasn't able to bully the other kids into what he wanted so his panties got in a bunch and he owned the ball.
REALLY????
Gov. Quinn Cancelled our contract and lied about the reasons why: he said AFSCME wanted too much money, we wouldn't even think about playing ball(not when "playing ball" meant a 20% pay cut). He whined that we were just too mean....
Again, REALLY???
Let's look at what has been happening for the last....oh...30 years...
First, for the employees: Employees have paid into the pension every paycheck their fair share, somewhere between 4 - 9% of their paycheck, every paycheck, towards their pension.
Second, AFSCME has negotiated, for at least the past 30 years to protect pensions--we've gone without raises/benefits/language to keep the pension for our members. Why? Because we thought it was important for our members to be safe during retirement.
Third, the state's reaction to pensions? For the past 30 years, they've acted like a drunken sailor when it came to pension payments. Not only have they not paid their part for at least 26 of the past 30 years, but they took my money out to spend on other things such as projects the governors wanted to do(remember Illinois First? That was done with public employees pension funds) or to pay other funds. And now? Oh, its too much of a bother to pay what they owe...I feel the same way about my mortgage, but I still must pay it - if I want to keep my house. The same for the state of Illinois--if they want to keep their employees, they must pay what is due.
And then, there are the lies that Quinn has told. The first one? Before the election, he spoke about how much retirees made when they retired. He said that if an employee in 1992 was making $65K, that retiree now would have doubled what he was receiving due to the overgenerous COLA...sure. What Quinn didn't relay is that in 1992, the average pension was about $11,000 a year, no where close to $65K(that was the pols and governor appointees) so, even if he is right about the pension doubling in 20 years, that doubling would only amount to $22K for most long term retirees!
And some more lies: Quinn whines he's cancelling the contract because AFSCME is being mean...you know how bullies are, they either intimidate you or snitch that you're being mean...BUT the facts are far from what he's whining about.
AFSCME negotiated a contract, but came back to the table to defer raises and find money savings in health insurance 2 years ago. AFSCME also requested meeting about negotiating changes in retirement earned benefits with only one caveat--that these changes would only effect future retirees, not present ones. The union was rebuffed by the Governor. AFSCME has always tried to work with the state during times of duress, but that doesn't mean we are going to roll over and play dead. Now some facts:

• Quinn is arguing that AFSCME is making excessive demands in negotiations. The truth? AFSCME has been at the bargaining table for almost a year now working in good faith to try to reach a contract settlement. Contrary to the governor’s claims, the Union’s economic proposals have been very moderate in recognition of the state’s dire fiscal condition.
• Quinn tries to give the impression that the Union has been dragging its feet in negotiations. In fact, progress in negotiations has been moving at a snail's pace for only one reason -- the Quinn Administration for more than 10 months was demanding that every employee’s pay had to be cut by 10%. And Administration is the one that cancelled meetings, not AFSCME.
•  Even now the Administration continues to demand that employees’ wages be reduced by demanding a three-year wage/step freeze and massive health care cost increases.  
• Quinn is basing his efforts to drive down employee wages on the lie that Illinois state employee salaries are the highest in the country. NOT TRUE. Although Illinois ranks 7th in the nation for wages, Illinois public employees rank only 9th, compared to other states.  

And, yes, I know, AFSCME endorsed Quinn during the last Governor's election. But I don't think we really had much of a choice, considering Brady(R) veers on teabagger and made his money the old fashioned way---he married into it and Whitney(G) had no game---no ground game, no finance game, no election game. Yes, Mr. Whitney had good ideas, but no one knows who he is, which means, no name recognition for the voters.
So, what happens now? We live in a state that seems determined to bankrupt seniors so 2/3 of Illinois based corporations pay nothing in income taxes. We seem to think its just fine if these seniors lose their homes, their savings, their future, their dignity, but can't change our laws so that the state receives all of the 6.5% of retail tax, instead of retailers keeping about 1.5%(which gives Wallmart an extra $9 million in profits just cuz they don't have to pay the tax to the state).
But, then, there we are--I think the administration of this state would like to pay us the way Wallmart pays their employees...little to nothing and the employees qualify for food stamps and Medicaid...so, then the state budget crisis would just go from so-called pension problem to the Medicaid and food stamp program...but at least the employees of those agencies know what they need to qualify for those benefits. Just very sad and shameful.

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.

Introduction of a Union Thug

Hello, my name is Kim and I'm a union thug...or so it seems. In fact, I'm one of those sleezy union thugs that not only had the audacity to find a union job, but a cushy gomminent union job! The best of the best, Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois. We had the largest cockroaches I ever saw and when the cafeteria had "lunch meat" we'd count the ground hogs, trying to alleviate our fears of what type of meat we were being served. We fought hard and long for the benefits we had gave up raises, but no one speaks about that...doesn't fit in with right wing lies.
So, a little more about me. I've been politically active since about age 14, worked my first presidential campaign in 1971(for the 72 election). Even tho I was only able to walk the neighborhoods, handing out literature, manning the phones and answering questions about the candidates, I impressed many of the older volunteers because I knew some of the issues and where the candidates stood on issues. Before I could vote, I was an informed voter. I tip my hat to my father for teaching me that, but I think he and I had much more in common than the rest of my family.
I began working at Stateville in 1980 and became involved with AFSCME, our union within the first year of hire. I held offices, assisted with the newsletter(and that was before desktop publishing), went to lobby days and helped on political campaigns. I am now the president of my local subchapter of retirees and still fighting the good fight...or at least trying to ensure that my members who only receive a pension(no social security) are protected, along with us that have coordinated benefits.
I have 2 children and 4 grandchildren. Why can't we skip the "child" part and go straight to the "grandchild" part, they listen so much more to me than the first 2! But I guess they are the payment for having to put up with their parents...and it is fun when my children complain about their children....I just laugh and laugh...
I also have 3 German Wirehaired Pointers and a husband and we drive each other crazy in a loving way. 
We live in "yuppieville", DuPage County in Illinois. Besides trying to get my blog read, I have a degree in MIS and a certificate in Graphic Design, which I try to use this to make a bit of money...
I describe myself as a bleeding heart liberal feminist---that shoots straight(had to for my job); yes liberals do own firearms, we just believe in some basic safety facts.
So, will I have a liberal bias? OF COURSE! I am a working person, I am of the 99% I want the little people have as much of a voice, if not more, than the 1%, the banksters and the corporations. And, if you make less than $500K, you really need to decide how you can vote republican and vote against your best interests.
Hope you enjoy this little idea of mine! Thanks for reading.