Fred,
The ironic part is that Schakowsky has NOT tolerated the same logic for cutting Social Security benefits by Republicans in DC that Springfield Democrats like Biss are employing in their attempts to gut Illinois pensions.Attacks from Republicans such Social Security adding to the deficit have been transformed by “progressive” Democratic like Biss into claiming pension benefits add to the state budget deficit. Sorry, it’s just not true for Social Security or pension benefits. Using the pension fund as a credit card and not refinancing the skyward pointing pension “ramp” or replacing our outdated regressive flat tax that creates a structural budget deficit is the real problem.I wonder what Congresswoman Schakowsky would think of Senator Biss not proposing or sponsoring legislation to enact a graduated income tax in Illinois.
Claiming people live significantly longer is another Republican statistical manipulation used to attack Social Security. We’ve heard that one from Democrats in Springfield regarding pensions as well. As a mathematician, Senator Biss has to know such claims are statistically misleading, especially for women and minorities who happen to be the majority of those in the classroom. But we’ve seen him sensationalize statistics before:
“In Illinois, five state pensions are in the red by a staggering $97 billion – or more than $20,000 for every household in the state.” - Daniel Biss
If you take this $20,000 number that Springfield politicians like Biss created, amortize it over the 30+ years in which people can actually collect their earned benefits you get a “staggering” number that is equal to approximately $7 per month per household in new revenue even without accounting
