Here's Why the Pension is F@#%ed Up
- Monday's humiliating accusation that state officials intentionally misled investors about a ruinous pension debacle easily justified the Tribune's front-page headline: "Illinois is guilty of fraud, SEC says." But that narrow accusation by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission underplays the far more damning tale that unfolds on page after page of the agency's cease-and-desist order.
The order documents how Illinois politicians systematically have cheated public workers who trust in their pension system, investors buying bonds under false pretenses — and taxpayers left holding the bag for untold billions of dollars in unfunded pension obligations.
The SEC order details how, beginning 19 years ago, Illinois pols laid the foundation for today's pension mess — evidently so they could keep spending what should have been pension fund contributions on other things. But the agency doesn't have jurisdiction over most of that chicanery; as an agency official put it, "The SEC is not involved with whether the state is doing a good job or bad job in terms of managing its pensions."
We wish it did. Instead, the feds essentially are limited to describing securities fraud that suffused the information given, or intentionally not given, to potential buyers of Illinois bonds from 2005-09. It's as if a generation of Illinois pols have been caught committing armed robbery ... by a meter maid who can only ticket them for overparking.
Under any normal rules, Blago would have plenty of roommates in prison right about now, starting with Edgar and running through the majority of the State legislature.
Again, it's not that long of an article and an easy read. Print it out and carry it around. The litany of broken promises and outright criminal acts should cost all these thieves their jobs.
Again, it's not that long of an article and an easy read. Print it out and carry it around. The litany of broken promises and outright criminal acts should cost all these thieves their jobs.
Labels: pension
posted by SCC at 12:02 AM
59 Comments:
sic Semper Tyrannis
We need to scream this everywhere. These elected officials need to uphold there obligations to hard working state and municipal workers.
I hate politicians...
Incredible. Will we ever throw the bums out.? No sadly.
Ok, let's go back 19yrs and make the politicians active then plead their case for not being hanged.
This article reads nearly word for word what happened with city of Chicago muni employee pensions.
Particularly that of Policemen...
Wherever Madigan's name appears, just substitute Daley...
Rahm is here to finish Shortshank's destruction of muni employee pensions.
"You greedy Cops and your cush pensions and early retirements!"
When the write-up on City Hall's thievery, ( @ $70 Million to Davis-Vanecko Realty, @ $20 Million payment forgiveness by FOP and Shortshanks stealing an estimated $12 to $15 Billion of taxpayer treasure during his term in office) we hope all you joyful haters and shit-talkers are paying attention...
Heh... The Great Chicago Civil War against The Police and all their concerns continues unabated.
Viva... Viva Hate...
The Policeman didn't break it.
It's way beyond The Policeman to fix...
Heh... No wonder these cowards in the State House and City Hall want to snatch guns from what's left of the people who worked, played their part and played by the rules...
"You middle class people might get funny ideas like fighting back when we make our move to strip you of every penny while keeping money in the pockets of the catered to constituents so they don't "get mad" and light shit on fire like what happened in 1968...
"You middle class people are too decent and honorable to get mad like that... You're so badly outnumbered by the catered to constituency that we, the political and media apparatus of Chicago and Illinois, have no need to give a fuck about you and your petty concerns... Now pay some taxes, fees and fines already and shut up."
How about the sun-times article about Beavers using campaign donations to double his pension.
Stop the GOLD BRAID fraud. It's nothing more than political patronage and CLOUT.
Democrats have power to corrupt absolutely. They absolutely have corrupted the State of Illinois, joined by a few Republicans.
We need to develop and nurture a deep, unforgiving hatred for these cocksuckers.
Hate.
And Rhams hands are clean of any of the scandal.
Lets see if the next U.S. attorney will make a name for himself and lock up. City hall/county/state elected criminals who get fat on us and other taxpayers! Probably won't happen! Did you also see article where Ricky Munoz Bz g banger aldergoof you know the same one whose father is in jail for producing fake drivers licenses and other items, now Munoz brother is getting a $156,000 yearly pension and got another Cps job making $156,000, nice $312,000 a year.
On a other note if you live on the west end of 008 on 812 beat, mike madigan and cohorts have talked Bedford park into annexing out a piece of land south of 65th street for a other new uno school! Lets give freeloaders more of our tax money! Today I am at retirement seminar moving to Tennessee in a year. Cannot come fast enough! Last one left please flush the toilet thank you!
Now who can honestly blame the citizens if they stormed the state capital and held these criminals, whom the government won't charge, and demanded a change and accountability?
The criminals have hijacked the government and are continuing to screw us. When will the people finally have enough?
Our Founding Fathers started a revolution for MUCH less than this. Criminals are stealing and writing laws to cover themselves. When will the change come?
We swore to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and DOMESTIC. These are domestic enemies of the Constitution.
And not a fucking thing will be done about it.
"The litany of broken promises and outright criminal acts should cost all these thieves their jobs."
It should cost them their FREEDOM for a few dozen years and revoke their law license (license to steal).
How about that Carlos Munoz
fella written about in yesterday's Sun-Times for
leaving an administrative job at one Chicago school, going to another Chicago school and doing the same job and is now collecting
$ 321,000.00 a year from the
"we ain't got no money"
Chicago Board of Education.
You are right-on SCC. I read the article when it published Monday and as you stated, it started when Jim
Edgar was governor and he's now denying responsibility.
Like you said, him, Cullerton, Madigan, and all the rest should be right there with Blago sitting at that steel table playing cards and yearning for their freedom and loved ones.
The relatives of the Daley/Madigan Crime Families and their Union Buddies always come out ahead in Illinois, while Labor takes the fall.
When you get down to the basics the politicians made this mess. Now they refuse to fix it because it may very well cost them their jobs if they take back from the under class or if they over tax the working class. So the solution is to just break the promise given to all of the workers who kept their end of the contract. And if the law prevents this from happening just change the law.
Read todays editorial in the Sun-Times. The editorial board seems to think that this is extremely fair. It is the greedy cops again screwing everything up for the rest of society. If the cops demand exactly what they are entitled to and have earned they are greedy.
If you forget your promises and refuse to uphold your end of the contract you can not expect to have any trust or respect from the people that you just cheated.
I think I read he " LOST " $477, 000.00 dollars in like 3 years. 2006-2009. WOW
And the funny thing is, all their pension reform talk... Madigan and his boys never once mention cutting their pensions or cost of living increases....they keep everything and getting richer and the working man gets screwed....and yet we keep re-electing the same assholes....
our state reps and leaders can really FUCK up a wet dream!!! FUCKEN RAT BASTARDS
Miriam Santos said this in April 1997 you see what she got. Wasnt Quinn LT Gov. he still should be charged.
This is one of the reasons Illinois doesn't want people to have guns. Because they may be able to use their clout to avoid well deserved prosecutions, but hard to avoid a riled villagers with tar feathers and bullets. Prosecute them ALL. Put'em in Tams.
No matter what rank or unit, sex, race, time on the job, this will effect you. We all should be united on this cause! Keep the heat on these corrupt public officials who are pointing at us as the problem, and telling us we have to suffer the consequences of their failures!
Democrats have power to corrupt absolutely. They absolutely have corrupted the State of Illinois, joined by a few Republicans.
3/20/2013 05:10:00 AM
far more than a few.
No Gold Braid , no pension at captain rank which is an appointed position , pension paid at rank that you were promoted to after passing a competive exam .
sgt . lt. promoted by Merit receive pension of a patrolman.
Merit detective receives pension of a patrolman . Raise mandatory age to 65 , raise free medical to age 58 , this will keep officers on the job and save the pension .
Many exempts would receive patrolman pensions , not commanders , fair is fair , you would get what you actually deserve.
The attorney general should be going after this, but they won't because Lisa will not prosecute her own father or any of his cronies. They need an outside agency to come in and clean house here in Illinois. People have been saying for years how this city and state have continually misappropriated funds especially where the pension was concerned. You don't have to look far to see that all our tax dollars do not go pay for even the most basic things they were designed for in the first place; roads, bridges, sewer/water systems- all are in deplorable condition and way overdue for updating and repairs. This city already looks like a third world dumping ground. Blocks of empty vacant lots, abandoned buildings, roaming homeless mentally deranged and criminally insane everywhere - even in the nicer districts. You cannot travel 1 mile in this town without seeing a bum sleeping on a park bench, under a viaduct, in a doorway, etc. These so-called representatives are pure thieves, and the tax paying citizens of this state should be outraged.
Jim Edgar is laughing on the way to the bank. Huge pension. Plus a 200k part time to teach at the Uof I in Champaign
Cost them their jobs? Send these people to prison for their thievery and deception? No, it wont happen and you know it wont. People like Madigan have gotton rich using their political office.
another problem small yes, but a problem nonetheless is that they are still renting office space rather than owning property like the Credit Union and the FOP
The bankers have the politicians corrupted and the clan together will do everything that they can to protect their own wealth and status.
We see it in Cyprus with the governments out right theft of savings account balances
We must keep the bondholders that TOOK THE RISK whole at the expense of the people that took NO RISK. That's f**ked up my friends.
We see it in the Euro zone. We've seen it and are continuing to see it in the USA with the ongoing housing crisis.
The GM bailout, the United Airlines bailout, Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae, AIG, Citicorp, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, all bailed out.
Oh but they paid the money all back. HA. How did they do that? Because they were so smart at running a business. So productive.
NO, the US Government and the Fed. Reserve loaned them money at less than 1% interest to pay back the bail money with.
Manipulating the interest rates like that to keep these corporations afloat devastated ever single retiree on fixed income because it forced the returns on their savings down to the lower interest rates.
Those bailouts are not all that different than what the EU is trying to do with Cyprus.
The bailouts here are obfuscated going though Washington using the deficit spending program as a middle man. Indirectly over time we will steal your with. American people have a short memory and if they don't see the bill from the banking bailouts right away they won't connect the dots!
Don't you see the similar M/O with the public pensions?
Sure, borrow from the pensions. Fabricate some fictitious, fraudulent numbers to say everything is going to be okay and a few years down the road when the scam all falls apart that's when you go for the kill and ask the pensioners to pay more to rebuild what was stolen.
They have the balls to call this outright theft "PENSION REFORM"?!
I have ZERO confidence in the system anymore. It's all corruption, half truths and outright lies.
What are the actuaries telling us that the return on pension investment will be today at this point in time? Six, seven, eight percent rate of return when a ten year treasury is only offering less than two percent? THEY ARE STILL PLAYING THE SAME GAME. WHAT'S CHANGED? Six percent is not realistic rate of return today. However by inflating that number we can skip even more payments into the pension plans. After all look how well the scam is working for so many years.
Ten more years down the road get ready for the next "we are here to save you because this is all unsustainable" reform speech.
Pay no attention to that tho. The 50 corporate puppets and exulted king are voting on what to do with the Wrigley Field scoreboard. ARE YOU EFf-ing KIDDING ME!
Criminals, just all fucking criminals. That's all you can say about IL. politicians.
tick tock tick tock....
Oh not to worry. At least you have your homes, right?
Heh, "eminent domain" people, look it up if you don't know what it is.
When you cannot go any further with tax increases and have no other way to pay the debts it will be time to seize assets. Sell assets to anyone with money to purchase them.
Like the Skyway assets that have been sold. Like the parking meters that have been sold. Like Midway airport sale to raise the "much needed" assets to keep the bankers whole.
Why should it stop there?
Under eminent domain if some outfit from China or Abu Dhabi wants there money back from the Chicago bond they purchased and the city doesn't have the money and so they demand assets, property such as land instead and your home happens to be a place they want to put up a factory or electronic billboard on...well then so be it. Confiscating your property then becomes something for the common good of the city and they will confiscate it and turn it over it's that simple.
Welcome to Illinois!
Way back in the 1980's was when I first heard that Dawn Clark NETSCH was appropriating money from the state pension finds to pay
state bills.
If anyone else had done that in either pubic or private sectors, that person would've been prosecuted.
But, because it was the Comptroller or Treasurer, the downright THEFT of pension money was tacitly approved.
This does not excuse EDGAR or any other governor. But from what I recall, it was going on a long time before EDGAR became governor.
Retired Ol' Sixgun Sarge
Sorry this is so long, but I don't think people can access this article from 3/13 unless they subscribe to the Trib.
I was beyond livid when I read this and I'm not even eligible for a pension. Someone should be going to jail (beyond Blago).
Part I
Monday's humiliating accusation that state officials intentionally misled investors about a ruinous pension debacle easily justified the Tribune's front-page headline: "Illinois is guilty of fraud, SEC says." But that narrow accusation by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission underplays the far more damning tale that unfolds on page after page of the agency's cease-and-desist order.
The order documents how Illinois politicians systematically have cheated public workers who trust in their pension system, investors buying bonds under false pretenses — and taxpayers left holding the bag for untold billions of dollars in unfunded pension obligations.
The SEC order details how, beginning 19 years ago, Illinois pols laid the foundation for today's pension mess — evidently so they could keep spending what should have been pension fund contributions on other things. But the agency doesn't have jurisdiction over most of that chicanery; as an agency official put it, "The SEC is not involved with whether the state is doing a good job or bad job in terms of managing its pensions."
We wish it did. Instead, the feds essentially are limited to describing securities fraud that suffused the information given, or intentionally not given, to potential buyers of Illinois bonds from 2005-09. It's as if a generation of Illinois pols have been caught committing armed robbery ... by a meter maid who can only ticket them for overparking.
The SEC's probe focused on misconduct that preceded the governorship of Pat Quinn. His administration has instituted new safeguards — and has consented to the SEC's order without admitting or denying the findings.
Given the SEC's ample evidence, Illinois didn't have to admit anything. And denial would have been preposterous.
Illinois' artful bungling traces to a notorious 1994 episode: Then-Gov. Jim Edgar signed into law a pension funding plan, supported by Statehouse Democrats and Republicans, that was all but doomed to fail: It gave lawmakers a lavish 50 years, rather than the customary 30, to backfill their underfunded system. It asked them only to achieve 90 percent of full funding, not the necessary 100 percent. And lest the plan cramp lawmakers' yearning to spend state money on more popular pursuits, it began with a 15-year "ramp" of inadequate contributions.
The law Edgar signed also enshrined some slippery actuarial practices that no well-run government would perpetrate. Example: Future annual contributions should have been pegged to honest actuarial math — not to whatever a bunch of pols would decide they could spare each year to meet this basic cost of doing business. That foolishness persists to this day.
The results were as foreseeable as they've proven to be: "Rather than controlling the state's growing pension burden," the SEC writes, "(the plan) increased the unfunded liability, underfunded the state's pension obligations and deferred pension funding."
Springfield's abdication of duty didn't just shift huge pension costs to today's taxpayers and those for decades. Combined with "pension holidays" when lawmakers didn't fully fund even their own wimpy ramp payments, political collusion to spend money on anything but shoring up the pension system created today's crisis: Pension costs consume so much of the state general funds budget — 21.5 percent next year — that other needs go unmet. The SEC doesn't mention that Illinois' then-governor, Rod Blagojevich, cut damaging pension "holiday" deals with House Speaker Michael Madigan and then-Senate President Emil Jones, co-chairs of Blagojevich's 2006 re-election campaign.
Part II
All of this irresponsible lawmaking was bad enough; hiding the implications from potential bond buyers led to the fraud charge. The SEC says Illinois didn't admit in its official statements that the state wasn't contributing enough to its pension funds — and camouflaged the serious risks to Illinois' total financial picture:
"The state failed to disclose the effects of its unfunded pension systems on the state's ability to manage other obligations. ... Although the state understood that the (50-year plan) could risk the eventual exhaustion of the pension system's funds ... it did not disclose that the state's inability to make its contributions increased the investment risk to bondholders." Another state secret: Even if lawmakers had stuck to their plan, its payment schedule "failed to control the growth of the unfunded liability until the latter years of the plan."
How could officials under Blagojevich, and the politically connected financial and law firms that feed on state government, fail to disclose such dangers to potential investors? Here's an astonishing finding by the SEC: "Within the Governor's Office of Management and Budget, the team responsible for managing the disclosure process purported to rely on its consultants, underwriters, underwriters' counsel, and bond counsel to identify and evaluate the need for additional disclosures. Those parties, however, relied on the state to do the same. The result was a process in which no one person fully accepted responsibility for identifying and analyzing potential pension disclosures." (Emphasis ours.)
The SEC says Quinn's administration has markedly improved the fraudulent disclosure process it inherited.
But 19 years after lawmakers passed their slipshod pension funding scheme, Illinois has the nation's worst-funded state pension system (about 40 percent, barely half the national average). That pension-cost pressure is a big reason why Illinois has billions in unpaid bills and the worst credit rating of any state.
What can Illinois do now? Three things:
•At a minimum, we hope Quinn's office will declare that no financial or law firm complicit in Illinois' pension debacle — no matter how "experienced" at handling Illinois securities — will get one more dime of state business. Those financial professionals and lawyers failed workers, investors and taxpayers. Not one dime.
•We hope voters — especially union members whose pensions are at grave risk because of these bad acts — will stop re-electing the politicians who have cheated them for 19 years. More on that later.
•Many of those politicians, having sabotaged state government and its pension system, still hold office. In the best of worlds, those who voted for the pension plan Edgar signed, or for subsequent pension holidays, would resign.
That may be a far-fetched hope. Not one of the pols who helped devastate Illinois' finances is named in the SEC's order, available at chicagotribune.com/sec. As a group, they've never been quick to accept consequences for the damages they cause.
But it's not as if ex-lawmakers would be penniless. Most of them would be at the trough to draw generous state pensions — unless, that is, their pension fund soon goes insolvent.
OT. Karen Rowan, another one receiving a bloated exempt pension, sighted at Tribune Tower. Hmmm? Talking to someone about?
No Gold Braid, no pension at Captain rank, which is an appointed position, pension paid at rank that you were promoted to after passing a competive exam.
Sgt. Lt. promoted by Merit, receive pension of a Patrolman.
Merit detective receives pension of a Patrolman.
Raise mandatory age to 65, raise free medical to age 58, this will keep officers on the job and save the pension.
Many exempts would receive Patrolman pensions, not Commanders, fair is fair, you would get what you actually deserve.
3/20/2013 10:48:00 AM
Excellent solution!
This nonsense started under Gov. Jim Edgar. He was a puppet for Cellini and Mike Madigan! He fooled everyone into thinking he was Mr. Clean Jeans. Hot shot prosecutors from the Feds never looked at him. Shame on them. And finally. How come the famous Pat Fitzgerald could not put two and two together to get Sandi and JJJr?
ot.
Regina Banahan-Evans, a former Country Club Hills police chief who is also a retired Chicago Police Lieutenant, has been arrested on witness tampering charges. She is being held in the Sangamon County Jail.
This woman just cannot stop digging the hole wider and deeper.
We need a copy of the filing...FOP?
Anonymous said... You are right-on SCC. I read the article when it published Monday and as you stated, it started when Jim Edgar was governor and he's now denying responsibility. Like you said, him, Cullerton, Madigan, and all the rest should be right there with Blago sitting at that steel table playing cards and yearning for their freedom and loved ones.
Id prefer six feet underground
Mr. P.O.T.U.S., "STOP", don't give that 500 million dollars to them Egyptians.
Divert it to your "homeboys"
here in Springfield to shore-up the woefully underfunded pensions.
But knowing them they would only p*ss that money away too and not be able to account for where it went.
With all the FBI public corruption squads based out of the Chicago office and all those US Attorneys looking to make a career case, any bets on any of them having the guts and brains to actually chase down the elected thieves? You know those half ass chicken thieves who cooked all the gravy pensions for themselves, planted their friends and family across the board and then snuck out their own gravy retirements???
Hello Richie, Michael, Emil, Todd, John, Dick, Jim, and a cast of dozens of dishonorable elected morons who conspired to cheat their obligations to the public.
Many of them are still gaming us in their private sector corporate consulting and speaking engagements.
Perhaps revoking their pensions would be the first step for pension reform???????
I Jane said it before and I'll say it again...
Ticket the politicians and cost th time and money.
We all know where they live and park their rides.
Treat them like they treat us.
Two more years of working this job. One foot out the door. I pity the cops who don't have plan B.
OT. Karen Rowan, another one receiving a bloated exempt pension, sighted at Tribune Tower. Hmmm? Talking to someone about?
3/20/2013 05:36:00 PM
God help us.
Politicians and business big money people seem to be exempt from prison.
The mortgage fiscal that ruined our economy, I read that a firm has to pay millions, but who goes to jail?
The S and L failure billions lost, oh well. Who went to jail?
The pension rip off, who's going to jail?.
Better put up that Chicago Casino to help the pensions, or someone might be going to jail. Fix the problem and the heat usually goes away.
Here's an idea 99,999 the most you can benifit from any pension per year. Hmmm dont think many gold stars with dreams of summer homes in warmer places would agree.... Can i get ya's or na's think most y
Can i get ya's or na's think most y
3/21/2013 04:10:00 AM
A big SHOUT of YA!
Interesting Observation:
So...
The fibune has basically outed the m/fers who are responsible for crashing state and muni employee pensions on the rocks...
The scum-times runs an editiorial still singing the now tired and discredited Flaming Tutu whore-song of punishing the people who played by the rules (especially Chicago Policemen) while studiously avoiding calling out Daley Inc., The Illinois Political-Criminal Combine, Rahm & Co., and the Criminal-Political & Media Cabal of Chicago.
Not a single one of these bastards has any fear of reprisal by the hands of outraged men or punishment as dictated by the law.
Oh wait... They DO fear reprisal because they're ALL IN for gun snatching from the outnumbered and captive citizen-taxpayers and ignoring not just the 2nd Amendment, but giving short shrift to the Bill of rights as a whole.
They'll get back to us when they find the politcal back bone to attack the armed wing of the Catered to Constituency with the same vigor they attack the outnumbered and captive citizen-taxpayers.
Honest... They will.
Heh... Elected scoundrels, media scoundrels and kick-back money-game playing corporate scoundrels who gamed every safeguard, fail-safe, check and balance while committing all manner of subterfuge to destroy the ability of the outnumbered captive citizen-taxpayers to effect some change and relief via the ballot box?
(Chicago Style Liberal Trotskyite Political & Media Fuckery now fully entrenched, riotous, unchecked and nation-wide. GOD save us all.)
The same scoundrels seem to have great fear of that common sense change coming at the hands of the outnumbered captive citizen-taxpayers via the cartridge box...
And all that implies...
Free Men tend to think funny thoughts we reckon...
Hmmmm?
Mere musings of a "big, dumb, brutal, racist, insensitive, high school drop-out, bitterly clinging, angry that the calender hasn't paused on 1960, out-moded and obsolete Chicago Cop.
Dear "Retired from 012"
Read Rule #1 in the right hand column - it's pretty straightforward and has been sitting there for a couple of years now. Maybe since you're retired, your vision isn't what it used to be. We'll reprint it here for your convenience:
RULE #1: ALL CAPS GETS YOU DELETED
So take your Daley/Madigan slurs and stick them where the sun don't shine asshat.
Fix the pension , raise minimum retirement age to 58 , free health at 60 , raise contributions to 11 % and maximum age to 67 .
Pension problem solved , now go tell your mama .
I said it before and I'll say it again , that scumbag Daley left the city in worse shape than the Great Chicago Fire. I hope him and his whole rotten clan burn in hell!
Fix the pension , raise minimum retirement age to 58 , free health at 60 , raise contributions to 11 % and maximum age to 67 .
Pension problem solved , now go tell your mama
Better idea. Have the politicians put the money in they were supposed to be funding the pension with for the last 30 years plus interest Pension problem solved
Anonymous said...
Fix the pension , raise minimum retirement age to 58 , free health at 60 , raise contributions to 11 % and maximum age to 67 .
Pension problem solved , now go tell your mama .
3/21/2013 04:42:00 PM
I hope you're not a copper.
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