Illinois Politics
 

Try this again in the correct place....

It seems Illinois voters are quite satisfied being at the top of nearly every list of the worst places to work and live.

Democrats score big wins in Illinois

Only in Illinois do you reward those who managed your state into bankruptcy with the freedom to do anything they please.

Indicted, expelled Illinois state representative re-elected

So is he the next Nelson Mandela, the next MLK, or the next Jesus?

And sorry, but he is no trailblazer. This trail was blazed long ago.

My favorite quote:

*facedesk*

He must not be aware that in many gerrymandered districts in this country, the Democratic and Republican parties could put Satan himself (you know, with a picture and everything) on the ballot and he would win handily.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. likely to resign from Congress, looking at jail time in plea deal

He won ~ 63% of the vote in his district as well. :doh:

It would be nice to think that had this been released a week ago, that would have changed. But we know that it wouldn't.

Any idea if the two districts overlap?

Yank that pension.

ahh Illinois politics. its no wonder why we are often a national joke when it comes to politics.

but at times it is entertaining to watch. I remember once Gov Blago said the IL legislature was like watching a three ring circus, to which Madigan replied if the governor wanted to see a circus he should look in a mirror.

IL politics are disgusting. Yes the Dems control everything and run the state from Chicago instead of Springfield and have run the state into the ground. Actually 6 feet under.
IL laws are driving business out of the state. The work comp laws are the worst in the nation. That alone not only forces existing business to leave it keeps new ones from starting up here or coming in. Taxes are terrible. Business fail or can not expand if they have contracts with the state as they do not get paid in any ind of a timely manner.

But the Reps are just as bad. The people they run for state office are in many occasions reprehensible.

After Tuesdays results I decided anyone with any kind of common sense knows better than to run for office in IL. A great many of them have probably packed their bags and moved on.

Work Comp in IL is not administered by the State or NCCI. It's run by the construction unions and plaintiff lawyers in Chicago and the world famous judicial hellholes in Madison and St Clair counties.

who writes the laws that the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission administers? The State of Illinois General Assembly ie: The Illinois Democrat Party who are paid off in part by the construction unions and plaintiff lawyers.

who do you think appoints the commissioners? Either the Governor or the Senate. The gov then appoints the Chair.

So in a manner of speaking the State does indeed administer Work Comp which is what I was trying to point out without getting technical.

I will give you credit for knowing the NCCI. I am impressed.

I wasn't trying to disagree with you WPR. I'been irritated for yrs at the way WC is run here in IL. Being a resident of Madision County I have a front row seat to the manipulation of the whole process. You are certainly correct about the structure of the committee and who appoints. I was just chiming in with my cynical view of the whole train wreck.:)

:doh: scusi
so how do you know about the NCCI? I would guess 80% or more of the general population doesn't.

Insurance and Financial Services Business.

Interesting how Quinn seems to go after the public sector unions (after he ripped Walker for doing the same in WI) but I suspect it's more of a good cop, bad cop scenario. Madigan and Cullerton will never go along, and Quinn gets to look like he tried to fix the problem. The unions are never going to switch parties anyway, so everybody wins. Except the taxpayers of Illinois. Am I getting a little cynical? :suspicious:

No

At $67,836, legislators in Illinois among best-paid in U.S.

Well, finally something where we don't rank at the bottom!

And they don't really have to scrape by on just $67k. They also get "overtime" pay of about 8k and many of them also get another 10k for committees they serve on.

I'm sure they deserve every penny. Look at the great job they have done serving the people of Illinois.

Clearly they are dedicated public 'servants'.

The political way here in Springfield is to have 20 people in the division with 3 who do anything. Another thing is to fire five people saving the state more than a quarter million dollars and giving all the work to one of those 3 people who takes on those tasks in a more successful way than the five people. Instead of hiring one person to help that person they hire four people creating new titles in other sections who will most likely waste the states money without giving that person saving this state money a marginal raise.

I have a friend who works for the house. He lets me know about the things these guys do on State property during session. He also let me know they don't have to abide by labor laws they put into effect. It's crazy.

State Sen. Trotter charged with trying to bring weapon on a plane

:doh:

Not all that surprising that this might happen. There is only so much money to go around.

"Illinois Pensions Beyond Repair?"

http://blogs.the-american-interest.c...beyond-repair/

From the article:

Sorry to all the people who worked their whole lives but we can give you what you're owed becuase you have to pay for countless others laziness or huge salaries within govt. Im not sayIng some people really can't provide for themselves but there is a reason we have a huge problem with immigration because there are jobs in the US.

Didn't read the article and jumped to conclusions. I'm all about taking care of the young, old, and disabled but all these souls who are fine physically is another issue. There is to much fraud going on in these programs and it's not fair people working 40-60 hour weeks have it harder than people defrauding these programs.

I'll say this about the health care I've received the last two years that has cost me a few thousands dollars and more from my insurance company. I talked to one doctor a total of 15 minutes in 7 visits and he explained absolutely nothing to me. It's all about volume of patients meaning more money for some of these doctors and not providing the information and proper care you need. It's not my fault some think their time is worth thousands of dollars an hour to mistreat, and under educate your patients. If I wanted to be a doctor and figure out things with my own work I'd of went to medical school. I didn't but these doctors who are treating me need to realize that it's not my fault they accrued a hundred thousand dollars of student loans than want to live in quater million dollar houses and drive at least 5 series BMW's right after getting out of school. Do what you pledged to do and help people get better.

Defined Benefit pension plans are Stone Age relics. Defined Contribution plans should have been implemented throughout IL govt 20+ yrs ago.

This is what you get when the people writing the checks aren't the ones actually paying the bill.

The IL pension system is $85-215 billion underfunded depending on who you believe. A mind boggling number at even the low end.

Illinois ban on concealed carry was ruled unconstitutional and they have one month to pass a conceal carry bill. It's about damn time!

True and untrue. They ruled the law unconstitutional, but stayed the ruling for 180 days.

I think this is the end of the ban on concealed carry in Illinois. sure the state can, and probably will appeal it to SCOTUS. but with the way SCOTUS ruled on the handgun ban in D.C. and Chicago, I think they would uphold this ruling.