Meet the Illinois government employee $100,000 Club. It’s comprised of 132,188 public employees and retirees who earned a new ‘minimum wage’ of $100,000 or more.
Laughing all the way to the bank 
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Wild!
That is roughly 200 $100k pensions for just one fire dept.
The article goes on to state that over 600 retired police and fire receive a pension of $200k or more! That is really ridiculous.
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That is more common than you seem to know.
CT the prison guards work 85 hours per week for the last three years of their career and retire at age 45 with a very large pension.
That was tier one. That tier no longer is in the labor pool. The other tiers are a pay for your pension and 401k. Then just a 401k. I have not really detailed that.
Not sure reading the article that it is the city. I think it may be the state laws. Things are going to change but the ILL state constitution may need to change first.
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Ok I just want to understand this. It is ok to pay people’s college loans off but it isn’t ok to honor people’s pensions that they put their whole life into? I get it, more to the rich, less to the poor. Makes sense in a moronic capitalist way.
Andy
The pensions will be honored.
There is a need for a tier two for future recruits.
The pension laws were set over 60 years ago. Some of the laws allow for far too big a payout. The workers are not working 85 hours per week in CT for their careers only for three years at the end to boost their payout. That was wrong to leave in place.
The upside I see to getting rid of state employee pensions is doing it for everyone. After all the private pensions are almost all gone. Most people work a lifetime and can not retire.
That is unfair. The average guy is paying for someone else’s retirement not his own. We should all have elder care.
Is it unfair or did you all just change the rules? You want the average guy to pay for someone else’s college education but you want to take from the working class because they received something you didn’t get. Pensions used to be the norm. Envy is one of the mortal sins.
Andy
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I want all our kids to have a free education either college, two-year school, or trade.
That would also include a free education for you if you want to go back to school.
I do not know what sort of cut-offs I would have for how much debt should be picked up. I am not for picking up all of it. I am for changing the calculus so young earners can afford housing, cars, food, etc…and while saving money. Leaving them stymied is not helping our economy.
Andy, we have 10s of thousands of men and women in uniform guarding oil pipelines around the world. They are heavily armed at a great cost.
Until we get many more factories up and running in the US we can not afford the things that are fully necessary for the US economy. That is why in all things relative you did not go to a university.
I get you will object and say you have six years. But you were earlier saying it was too expensive to go to college. i have no idea what you did. It is not the point.
The point is the US economy. Not dumb opinions but actual things that work to optimize the US economy. Being cheap has never worked.
Oil is being cheap. Look at the hellish costs of it.
No you want us to pay for existing loans Leap. Not just free education going forward. Now you want to take pensions from people that negotiated them.
The upside I see to getting rid of state employee pensions is doing it for everyone.
That is the problem. You would rather strip from the middle or lower class, and give to the upper class instead of strengthening pensions for everyone. If we look at inflation and what it has done from the 1960’s everyone should be getting the same pensions as people in the public employee field. But instead of fighting that you all want to weaken all pension programs, create a two tier pension, and say that is fair. If you really wanted to make this all fair everyone would have a pension, everyone would have free schooling, and this would be a much fairer society. But do not tell me to pay for past injustices when you are projecting future injustices on the working class.
Andy
I never said it was to expensive to go to college. You hear what you want to hear. What I said is that anyone going to college should pay their own way.
Andy
Honoring promises is good. The other half is not making promises you can’t keep.
DB2
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ah then I have news for you. You owe whatever state school you went to a lot of money.
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I went to a Catholic school and my parents paid for it while paying taxes for your education. So it looks like you owe me some money, 
Andy
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Exactly Bob, honor your promises but some people think other people should honor their promises.
Andy
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You did indeed pay too high a price.
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I keep telling you Leap, an education is priceless but you just can’t seem to grasp that concept.
Andy
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So I am not sure you are educated.
I am I went to UCONN.
And it shows.
Andy
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I won’t be praying for you Andy.
As Maud used to say, “god will get you for that”.
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I see a number of Illinois state employees with annual pay around $250K. Many of them do useful work, like judges and very senior members of the state police.
What about the Illinois football coach, who pulls in $6M/year?
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