Fred Klonsky's Daily posts
The Pew Charitable Trust and Enron’s “smartest guy in the room” team up to create a phony pension crisis.
. In an article for Salon, David Sirota exposes how a former Enron executive and an allegedly non-partisan research foundation have teamed up to create a phony nation-wide pension crisis. Why? To loot retiree’s money, of course. But as outrageous as the blame-the-pensioners mythology from Detroit is, it is the same misleading mythology that is now driving public policy in states across America. I
To meet CMS demands, make sure you know what IRS button to push. And a few words from Jack Tucker.
H/T Gerry Berkowitz, S.O.R.E. IEA Retired: Great job being in their face at CMS. I actually applied for my IRS Return Transcript on October 1st just to see if how long it takes to get. There are two options to choose from and if you choose the wrong one you will not get a Return Transcript. The 1st option is an Account Transcript and the 2nd option is the Return Transcript. See enclosed s
Saturday coffee.
Keeping retirement weird. It has been six months since the doctor suggested that my diet and exercise regimen might mean I don’t need to take Lipitor anymore. Or the medication I was taking for borderline diabetes. My weight had dropped significantly. And Mike Okoye, my twice-a-week trainer has been kicking my butt. Wednesday I had my blood tested and my cholesterol count came back at 116. Coinci
Diane Ravitch posts my review of her book, Reign of Error on her blog today. It is followed by a comment by noted educator Ira Shor. Shor is perhaps best known for his collaboration with Paulo Friere on the book, A Pedagogy for Liberation. Fred Klonsky came to hear me lecture at Elmhurst College, near Chicago, and writes about how my last book helped him argue against some of the harmful policie
Responding to protests, CMS/HMS push back cleansing deadline to December 6th.
As a result of protest from across the state, including to and from this blog, the Illinois Central Management System – which manages the Teachers Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP) – has pushed back the deadline for submitting dependent eligibility information. This is a partial but significant win. Under the original rules, TRIP members claiming dependent coverage were being asked to submit a b
Are they a think-tank or a dunk-tank. Illinois Policy Institute considers failure a success when it comes to pension cleansing.
From WICS Channel 20: Director of Health Policy at the Illinois Policy Institute, Naomi Lopez-Bauman, said the audit is a reasonable way to ensure taxpayer money isn’t being misspent. As to the problems of getting ahold of tax return transcripts, she said she looked on the I.R.S. website “and it turns out that even though there is a government shutdown, they’re still able to order transcripts, and
The in box. They are looking for a pro-teacher candidate in the Illinois 37th House district.
Pension bomber Renee Kosel is quitting the Illinois House. From IEA Region 28. Rep. Renee Kosel has decided to retire and is not running for re-election in the 37th District. The district includes all or parts of Frankfort, Homer Glen, Homer Township, Joliet, Mokena, New Lenox, Orland Park and Tinley Park. This is good news for IEA members. She voted in favor of SB1 and has consistently voted
Illinois’ retirees have to look out for each other.
In trying to unravel the situation with Central Management Services and HMS, the company they hired to cleanse the TRIP rolls of alleged dead beats, I have come to believe this: We have to look out for each other. I have talked to many attorneys about legal options. They have varied opinions. That’s why I love lawyers. Neither the lawyers no I believe that deadbeats ought to be allowed to claim de
CMS is paying nearly $700,000 for HMS to “cleanse the state’s insurance rolls.”
While I have a FOIA request to get hold of the contracts between Central Management Services and HMS, The Pentagraph is reporting that CMS is paying nearly $700,000 for cleansing the insurance roles. HMS promises clients that they can reduce those on their roles by four to eight percent. In an attempt to cleanse the state’s insurance roles, the Illinois Department of Central Management Services si
Guzzardi leads in the race against incumbent Democratic Machine pension-bomber.
It is early and the candidates haven’t even officially filed yet. But when the daughter of Machine Boss and Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios voted with Speaker Mike Madigan for the public employee pension-busting Senate Bill 1 it angered many public employees who live in the House district on Chicago’s northside. The Ward Room: The 2012 race for Illinois 39th District was one of the tightest con
OCT 03
The in box. Information on CMS dependent verification and Medicare Advantage program.
Information about CMS/HMS dependent verification and the new Medicare Advantage options are slowly coming out. The following went out to members of the SUAA from Linda L. Brookhart, Executive Director, State Universities Annuitants Association, 217 East Monroe Street, Springfield, Illinois 62701, 217.523.4040 Office, 217.523.4044 Fax, 217.553.1091 Cell linda@suaa.org Mini Briefing October 3,
Live from the Heartland on October 26th.
On Live from the Heartland with Mike James and Katy Hogan. This is a save-the-date notice. On October 26th my pals Katy Hogan and Mike James have asked me to return to the stage of the Heartland Cafe for their Saturday morning show, LIve from the Heartland. Show up at 9AM and order breakfast. I love their corn bread with my eggs. I was on the show back in December. Mike and Katy had invited me
The in box. Bev Johns on the CMS demands for verification. “Almost every person that received the letter must request an extension from HMS in writing.”
My friend Bev Johns writes me that from the emails she is receiving from retirees around Illinois, it is not clear that a simple copy of your IRS statement will not satisfy the audit by HMS. You can NOT send a copy of the Federal tax return you submitted to IRS. You MUST request a transcript of your 2012 return from the IRS, but all IRS offices are closed and the 800 numbers do not work. CMS advi
What is the purpose of the state auditing every Illinois retired teacher on TRIP?
FOIA I filed for all CMS and HMS contracts. What is the purpose of the data dredging audit that Central Management Services (CMS) has hired HMS to do? I posted about this yesterday. My post came after the letter HMS sent to every Illinois retired teacher enrolled in the Teacher Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP) demanding proof of dependent eligibility. The self-audit demands that retirees sub
The inbox. IRTA’s Gary Elmen says, “A promise made by an elected body is a promise that must be kept.”
Illinois Retired Teachers Association President Gary Elmen. Chicago Tribune: Tribune reporters Bob Secter and Rick Pearson nailed it with their examination of the constitutional convention delegates’ intent to safeguard public worker pensions (“Pension crisis rooted in 1970 debate; Guarantee made decades ago stymies legislators’ efforts to break deadlock,” Page 1, Sept. 23). As someone who ha
OCT 02
Arnie’s rant. Truth, thy name is blogger.
The other day I was trying to get some information about the Illinois Teacher Retirement System from a TRS employee who clearly didn’t want to talk to me. “I know who you are,” he said. “You’re a blogger!” Whoa. Is that my identity now? Thirty years of teaching, activism, union work, art work, ukelele playing. Most importantly ukelele playing. And it all comes down to being a blogger. If you’ve b
CMS, HMS and self-audits.
I posted yesterday about the letter that was sent to Illinois retirees regarding Teachers Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP) eligibility. Central Management Services (CMS) has contracted with a national firm, HMS, that specializes in cost control through audits of members’ claims of dependents. Former TRS Executive Director Jon Bauman calls CMS, “Can’t Manage S***.” Just to be clear of the obvio
OCT 01
The in box. “The state’s objective, according to CMS, is to save on insurance costs and satisfy an agreement reached by Governor Pat Quinn with the employees’ union, AFSCME Council 31.”
The Illinois Observer: (Chicago) – Extra: UnitedHealthcare has won a $3.6 billion contract to provide health care insurance benefits for retired Illinois state employees. As the Affordable Care Act went live today, the Illinois Department of Central Management Services todayissued a notice that it will award contracts to UnitedHealthcare and two other companies to provide Medicare supplemental co
Life in Rahm’s Chicago. Toilet paper for the schools
36th Ward Alderman Nick Sposato, member of the Chicago City Council’s Progressive Caucus. He had to ask the community for toilet paper because the Mayor spent the money on a new stadium for De Paul University. Photo: Alderman Bob Fioretti.
Archer Daniels Midland. The very picture of capitalism at work.
. The veto session of the Illinois General Assembly takes place in about three weeks. Will there be a pension bill? Will they vote to give millions in tax breaks to Archer Daniels Midland. ADM is shuttering their Decatur offices. Decatur has among the highest unemployment rates in Illinois, which has among the highest unemployment rates in the U.S. ADM is a mega-agribusiness. The very picture of
Illinois is broke? Cut teacher pensions and give millions to Archer Daniels Midland.
Remember the phony front group that Civic Committee president Ty Fahner set up called Illinois is Broke? He wanted you to think the state was broke because of huge pensions to teachers, firemen and cops. Y’know. That $43,000 a year average teacher pension is a real budget buster. Meanwhile Archer Daniels Midland, the giant food processing corporation is leaving job-starved Decatur, Illinois. But
Fear, loathing and audits for Illinois retired teachers.
In the legislature they are debating whether to cut our meager 3% cost of living adjustment on our average $43,000 a year pension – a pension that you never failed to contribute your 9.4% a paycheck to, but into which the state regularly failed to pay their share. To make matters more threatening and confusing, we have heard that the supplemental insurance, the part we pay for to go along with yo
SEP 30
A federal government shut-down means nothing to the jerks who run the Illinois teacher retirement health insurance program.
Bev Johns sent me this remarkable letter from CMS, the management firm that runs the Teacher Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP). Letter, 4 pages printed on both sides of two legal size pieces of paper, is from CMS and HMS Employer Solutions in Jeffersonville, Indiana. “FAILURE TO RESPOND TO THIS VERIFICATION LETTER WILL RESULT IN THE REMOVAL OF YOUR DEPENDENT(S) FROM THE TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT INSU
There is nothing shared about this sacrifice.
We are coming down to another time of crunch when it comes to Illinois pensions. There are likely to possibilities. SB2404 is deader than Walter White in the final episode of Breaking Bad. The Gang of Ten will reach some agreement and if it, as Representative Elaine Nekritz suggests, it calls for reducing cost of living increases to retired state workers, then the unions will go to court proving
Illinois retiree health insurance. One day and counting.
On October 1, Medicare eligible teacher retirees are supposed to know what their options are for purchasing supplemental health insurance. Oh. You thought retired teachers in Illinois didn’t pay for supplemental health insurance. You were told it was free. Wrong. Central Management Services (CMS) has promised to release the options available to retirees tomorrow. What we choose will become effect
Nekrtiz says Gang is “close” to a plan to violate the constitution’s pension protection clause, cutting nothing from the billion dollar unfunded pension liability.
Illinois House-Speaker-in-Waiting, Elaine Nekritz says the Gang of Ten pension committee is thisclose to coming up with a plan to cut cost of living adjustments to public employee retirees. “We’re close enough where I think that there’s a definite possibility we could take action in veto session,” Nekritz said of the scheduled Oct. 22 return of the General Assembly. “We have a few, what I would ca
The NY Times wants to refight the Sixties?
You’ve heard the old joke. If you say you remember the Sixties, you weren’t there. Funny. But not true. I was there. And I remember it. At sixty-five I sometimes forget where I put the keys. Or where I left Ulysses. But the Sixties? I remember it vividly. Bill Keller, columnist and former editor of the New York Times, writes that the Tea Party crazies are the SDS of the Republican Party. What’s
SEP 29
Sunday reads.
Nine things you should never say to a teacher. North Carolina teachers are going to walk out over pay freezes. Seymour Hersh says U.S. investigative journalism is pathetic. Never more true than in Chicago. U.K. teachers and postal workers will strike this week. Principal Marian Strok said she took one look at her school’s enrollment numbers and erupted. Chicago uses TIF money to give a neighborho
SEP 28
Will there be two anti-public employee pension Democrats running against each other in the general election?
In the Democratic primary, Pat Squeezy Quinn appears to be the last one standing. LIsa Madigan quit. Bill Daley quit. And Kwame Raoul decided to wait for another day. The only primary race for Illinois Governor will be on the Republican side. Many pundits (and you know how smart they are) are giving Chicago (or Wilmette) millionaire Bruce Rauner the edge. If Rauner should pull out a win in the Re
Saturday coffee.
With my new hearing aids. My t-shirt reads Keep Retirement Weird. It’s a play off of the Keep Austin Weird and Keep Portland Weird t-shirts that have become popular. Retirement is weird. Not in a bad way. It just keeps presenting surprises. A few years before I retired I found my hearing was getting bad. In the art room I had to walk right up to my students if I wanted to know what they were a