Posted on 12/03/2013 3:51:53 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
The Illinois legislature on Tuesday ended a day of emotional debate and fierce back-room arm-twisting by passing a deal to shore up the state’s debt-engulfed pension system by trimming retiree benefits and increasing state contributions.
With the most-broken state employee pension system in the nation – some $100 billion in arrears – Illinois has been the focus of intense attention across the country as states and municipalities struggle to come to grips with their own public pension problems. The compromise reached in Illinois, a staunchly blue state with a strong labor movement that had successfully resisted previous efforts to trim pensions, could provide a template for agreements elsewhere.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I had a conversation with a teacher who crowed that her pension is “guaranteed under the Illinois Constitution.” I replied “So when the state has no more money why don’t you take your copy of the Illinois Constitution down to the bank and try to cash it.”
That shut her up.
I would add that in our life time time a major world power went out of business, that was the USSR. Not having rules didn’t stop it from happening.
We woke up one morning and poof, no more USSR.
“Not true, it is just that there are no rules for it............”
Yeah, when a given state runs out of money, no matter what the Constitution says (or fails to say), that state is bankrupt. We’ve already flirted with this situation here in California when a couple of years ago, the state held onto people’s state income tax refunds and issued warrants to some of their vendors.
This will happen again, not only here but in other deep blue states. Maybe when the vendor who supplies the toilet paper to the government refuses to send them any more on the pad, they will finally figure it out. Maybe Iowa will ship corn cobs as a cheap substitute.
Yes, I recall from the thread on the comic book dealer.
? Question ? Are you by chance the proud owner of the nice large NO TO CHINA sign in 60172?
I drive that road on occasion; it’s very nice.
They can't; they have to roll up their sleeves and make the hard choices. States can't print money.
No, that isn’t me. But I know where you are talking about.
On the one hand, a state can't file for bankruptcy.
On the other hand, a state doesn't need to file for bankruptcy, because it has sovereign immunity, and thus cannot be sued unless they choose to allow it.
As far as I know, it can just declare "Sorry, not going to pay our state bonds. Sucks to be you."
In the case of toilet paper shortages...you always have DIM campaign literature available.
“Illinois, a staunchly blue state”
WRONG
Look at any map of Illinois voters and you will see we are a RED state, but Chicago and Cook county cancel out the whole rest of the state. Well, and Springfield, which has about 200,000 Gub’mint workers (exaggeration).
Of course you are correct. It is even written in the Illinois Constitution, that benefits cannot be reduced or reconciled.
This will be overturned by a court here.
It is all posturing.
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