Budget + Tax

Gov. Quinn should never seek a federal bailout of Illinois’ pension debt

Gov. Quinn should never seek a federal bailout of Illinois’ pension debt

All across the country, states are grappling with pension funds that are massively underfunded. Under new accounting rules, Illinois’ unfunded pension debt stands at a whopping $209 billion. And that’s not counting the debt for retiree health insurance, pension bonds or all local retirement debt. Recent calculations have put the total level of states’ unfunded pension...

By Jonathan Ingram

Chicago Teachers Union demands huge raise on top of million-dollar pensions

Chicago Teachers Union demands huge raise on top of million-dollar pensions

Chicago teachers are striking. You may recall that they were demanding a 30 percent raise earlier this year, which would have spiked the average teacher’s salary to nearly six figures. But nobody seems to be talking about what this will do to a pension system already in trouble. Chicago teachers’ pension fund is woefully underfunded. According to new...

By Jonathan Ingram

Union demands ignore extent of Chicago’s pension crisis

Union demands ignore extent of Chicago’s pension crisis

So, the Chicago Teachers Union is on strike. You may remember that they were demanding a 30 percent raise earlier this year and that they rejected a package that included a 16 percent raise. The union’s demands would spike the average teacher’s salary to nearly six-figures, and that’s before you tally up the generous benefits they get on...

By Jonathan Ingram

Facts are stubborn things

Facts are stubborn things

During Gov. Quinn’s DNC address, he invoked John Adams’ famous line, “facts are stubborn things.” Quinn presented his facts about President Obama’s track record. Quinn presented his facts about Governor Romney’s track record. And Quinn presented his facts about Congressman Ryan’s track record. There was one track record that Quinn failed to mention. His own....

By Benjamin VanMetre

$16,000,000,000,000

$16,000,000,000,000

The U.S. Treasury Department released a statement on Tuesday, confirming that the federal government has topped $16,000,000,000,000 in debt. (That’s $16 trillion, if you lost count of all the zeros). When combined with state level debt ($4.19 trillion), the number tops $20 trillion in total public debt. At the end of 2008, just before President Obama officially...

By Chris Andriesen

Hosed at the pump: Illinois gas taxes

Hosed at the pump: Illinois gas taxes

As Illinois motorists hit the road for Labor Day weekend, they’ll shell out an average of $4.14 for a gallon of gas. In Chicago, motorists are paying $4.31 a gallon, according to the AAA. That’s a whopping 48 cents more than the national average at $3.83 a gallon. At these prices, motorists in Chicago are paying...

By Lawrence McQuillan

S&P downgrades Illinois’ credit rating

S&P downgrades Illinois’ credit rating

S&P’s latest downgrade should come as no surprise. It’s just another mark of shame for a leaderless state spiraling out of control. The downgrade was a reaction to the state’s August 17th failure to reform its pension problems. In that meeting, the only bill on the table reduced Illinois’ total pension debt by less than...

By Ted Dabrowski

Illinois pension funds need 19 percent annual investment returns to make ends meet

Illinois pension funds need 19 percent annual investment returns to make ends meet

Illinois reports that it owes $83 billion to its five public pension funds. Worse yet, under new reporting requirements by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and Moody’s Investment Services, the state’s pension debt will more than double. There are a lot of numbers being thrown around in the fight over pension reform. But these are the...

By Jonathan Ingram

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