Next Sunday’s Political Shootout will feature Becky Carroll, spokeswoman for the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and State Rep. Bob Biggins, the Republican who has been the House minority’s point-man on the budget. Should be good listening.
The Republican was unprepared and only would discuss one topic - Pensions.
ReplyDeleteBecky Carrol cleaned his clock but she brought up facts easily refutable.
Becky said pensions received more annual funds under Blago than Ryan and Edgar. Well, stocks were performing at record highs during the 1990s. You fund pensions based on what the net present value of the funds and liability. Stock market performance (increases in assets) (50% increase) meant a lower pension fund contribution under those years until Ryan's final (disgraceful) years in office.
Of course the unfunded liability under Blago went from 41% to 60% (though not based on his funding of the pensions). The stock market has increased nearly 50% from Oct 2002 to today accounting for the decreased present net liabilities of the pension fund.
Blago is a disgrace because he wants to expand state government without funding those expansions and increasing fees and taxes and lying about doing so. Yet he is far less pathetic than the criminal George Ryan whose grand theft (in the tunes of billions for Illinois Worst given to campaign donors and the larceny he engaged in on a personal level which lead to the deaths of those children) should land him in jail for the rest of his life (and eliminate his pension). Even more disgraceful are his "witnesses" who state he should not be convicted because he let murderers who raped women and children and cut unborn babies out of their mother's stomach off of death row. What a sick, disgusting display going on in that courtroom.
I hope we can find better guests and candidates who fight against government expansion and for the people of Illinois.