Any Assault on Public Employees’ Rights and Benefits Is an Attack on the Entire Middle Class
How should we think about the legislative folly of the past several months? When we realize competent and ethical leadership does not exist in the Illinois General Assembly; that the majority of Illinois legislators pass bills they do not read because “doing something” is all that really needs to be done regardless of the disastrous consequences, then our belief in a representative democracy and justice becomes infected by cynicism and anger.
Past state governments created the severe unfunded liability for the five public employees’ retirement systems in Illinois, and the legitimacy of the Illinois General Assembly is doubtful. The current state government is attempting to isolate and offer up one group of people for hardship and, for many of these