AFSCME, collective bargaining, Quinn and the fine line

By Paul Kersey

12/18/2012

It is a basic axiom of government collective bargaining: If you have to bargain with a union about anything, you are liable to have to bargain with them about everything, and that includes things that you aren’t supposed to bargain about at all. This why collective bargaining with government employees is such a problem: Even...

Obama’s likely to continue focusing on big government solutions for education

11/08/2012

Unlike four years ago, a vote for the re-election of President Barack Obama was not about change. It was about maintaining the status quo. This is no truer than in the issue of education, where Obama will continue to use the federal government’s purse strings to incentivize states to pursue his top-down agenda. The two...

Cook County asks voters if it’s OK to abridge First Amendment rights

By Chris Andriesen

11/02/2012

Diane Cohen General Counsel, Liberty Justice Center Cook County’s Nov. 6 ballot contains a series of advisory questions to voters, the results of which are nonbinding but often used to test – if not justify – future legislative initiatives. Placed on the ballot by vote of the Chicago City Council resolution, some of these questions...

Progressive income tax: Money grab disguised as tax reform

By Lawrence McQuillan

10/10/2012

The problem In an interview with Huffington Post, Gov. Pat Quinn said that Illinois needs a progressive income tax.1 “That’s one of my goals before I stop breathing and I sure hope we can get that done in Illinois. Sooner rather than later,” he told the interviewer. The same forces that helped Quinn land the...

Institute in Pensions and Investments: Republicans build up, then fight, issue of bailouts for pension funds

10/01/2012

Concern over underfunding of both public and corporate pension plans has Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, his party and other conservatives making a pre-emptive strike against the idea of federal government bailouts.

Institute on FoxNews.com: DeMint joins national effort to keep feds from bailing out state pensions

09/30/2012

Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn is getting hit with a nationwide backlash over his suggestion that the federal government bail out the state employees

New JEC report shows why spendthrift states need structural reform, not a bailout

09/26/2012

A new report by the Joint Economic Committee, or JEC, provides even more evidence that the federal government should never bail out state pension debt. Here are just a few of their findings.

The blame game: Illinois’ unemployment rate jumps to 9.1 percent

09/24/2012

For the third straight month, Illinois' unemployment rate climbed. More than 9.1 percent of Illinoisans are now unemployed, a full percentage point higher than the national average of 8.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Sen. Jim DeMint: Don’t bail out state pensions

09/20/2012

Bailout of state pensions would force taxpayers in prudent states to pay for fiscal irresponsibility of Illinois, California

Institute on RedState: Don’t Bail Out Public Pensions!

09/20/2012

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), the Senate

United States Congress

AFSCME, collective bargaining, Quinn and the fine line

Obama’s likely to continue focusing on big government solutions for education

Cook County asks voters if it’s OK to abridge First Amendment rights

Progressive income tax: Money grab disguised as tax reform

Institute in Pensions and Investments: Republicans build up, then fight, issue of bailouts for pension funds

Institute on FoxNews.com: DeMint joins national effort to keep feds from bailing out state pensions

New JEC report shows why spendthrift states need structural reform, not a bailout

The blame game: Illinois’ unemployment rate jumps to 9.1 percent

Sen. Jim DeMint: Don’t bail out state pensions

Institute on RedState: Don’t Bail Out Public Pensions!

Illinois Forward 2027: How to fix Illinois’ state finances

Report Archive

Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students