Daniel Biss and Poverty Plus®
Here's the delightful and charming Daniel Biss, Democrat of Evanston, during today's committee meeting. I forgot to point the yellow arrow of identification at him; he's sitting on the far left, I think.
Anyway, Biss also voted for the amendment, creating a tax increase not only for the people he represents now, but also the people he hopes to represent in the future, as the future senator from the 9th District.
Someone from that vast tract needs to pin him down and ask him if about the cost of moving from Tiers I and II to his program, Poverty Plus, also known as a "cash balance" program. It's basically the same thing Republicans are describing when they try to privatize Social Security. It's the end of the pension system, and just like the end of the Social Security system, there are enormous mid-range costs involved, the costs of getting from here to there.
Biss wants to shift those costs to the local school districts. Is there nobody capable of getting him on film with questions related to this matter?
Anyway, here he is with his plan, Poverty Plus. In some quarters it's also called Serfdom in a Drum. I once heard it called The Two Nickel Shuffle. It's got a million names.
Popout
Biss is the future. He's going to become Senator Biss, and then he's going to run statewide. We all need to
Elaine Nekritz, Speaking For The Bill
This is fascinating.
First of all, as I've blogged before, I respect Elaine Nekritz--- she's one of the few people in the House to respond to my questions in a timely manner.
However, she's carrying Madigan's water here, and I think she has to answer for that. Watch this clip-- and by watch, I mean listen. She totally doesn't understand the coerced choice concept, and her deployment of platitudes rivals that of Arne Duncan.
I always get nervous when someone relies on platitudes. You know there's not a lot of critical thinking going
Madigan Vs. Morrison, In Committee
Here's another "video" clip from the House Committee on Pensions and Personnel. It's toward the end of the commentary. You'll hear Speaker Madigan give the strangest lecture about responsibility, which is ironically not followed by his resignation. But it gets good at 4:26, where Republican Tom Morrison nervously explains his "no" vote. Morrison has to vote no because the stupid cost-shifting provision would be a tax-hike on Palatine, like it would be everywhere else in the state.
I've met this representative, and he has my respect because he's a true believer in the things he says. And I mean that. This bill is not extreme enough for him-- he thinks legislators should all give up their pensions, as he has, even though as a young man with a family, he might want to plan for retirement some day. I believe this representative is an honest, died-in-the-wool evangelical, and he not only believes that Social Security