[OccupyCU] Billionaires Persuade Pension Reform Judges. What?

[David Johnson]

      New post on Fred Klonsky    

                    Todd Mertz. Billionaires Persuade Pension Reform Judges. What?
                  by Fred Klonsky  

            - Todd Mertz is a teacher and IEA political activist.

            Now this is the craziest thing I have heard.  In fact, I would have bet this wasn't even legal.

            Many teachers and public employees have been worried about their fate in the hands of the Illinois Supreme Court Justices because they believe Michael Madigan has several of the Supreme Court Justices in his back pocket.

            But the craziness gets crazier.

            We know that some of the nation's wealthiest people (i.e. Civic Committee members) have greatly influenced passage of SB1 (as well as actually written earlier pension bills).  This is no secret.

            But now that these illegal pension bills are in courts in IL and many other states, some billionaires, including the Koch Brothers, and large corporations such as Google, Exon Mobile, and Wal-Mart, will next week actually sponsor an all-expenses-paid conference on public pension reform for State Supreme Court Justices, who may be ruling on these laws in various states.  Check out the article.

            The three day, all-expenses paid trip is in Charleston, South Carolina.  The symposium is supposed to cover the differences between public and private sector pensions as well as detail unfunded liabilities.

            It is not known which judges, or how many judges, will be attending the lavish retreat.

            "Most of the judges' time at the conference will be listening to lectures and panel discussions led mainly by advocates of public pension reform."

            One of the sessions features a lecturer who wrote a piece titled, "How Public Workers' Pensions Are Too Rich For...America's Blood."

            Another session will include a lecture from a Minnesota law professor who believes contracts between public employees and states can be broken.

            The article talks about Illinois' resulting court cases from SB1 and that the Illinois ruling will have nation-wide implications.

            The article says, "Some worry what kind of influence a corporate-funded conference might have on judges..."

            I am one of them.

            You can be sure that the Justices will get the royal treatment.

            And there is a second conference to persuade Supreme Court Justices to rule in favor of pension reform scheduled in September in San Francisco.

            So now pension reform advocates have moved from lobbying legislators to lobbying judges.

            Don't you wonder if the Illinois State Supreme Court Justices will be wined and dined for three days by wealthy pension reform advocates?

            Is this legal?

            U.S. Public Schools:  The Last Untapped Multi-billion Dollar Market

            Rupert Murdoch, media proprietor and billionaire, recently described the education 'emerging market' by saying, "when it comes to K through 12 education, we see a $500 billion sector in the U.S. alone."

            According to an interview with Diane Ravitch, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, there are plans to completely privatize education within 20 years, and completely privatize many cities within 10 years.

            In this must-see interview called Public Schools For Sale?, Diane explains everything and everyone behind the attacks on teachers and public education, including pensions and job security.

            Diane Ravitch says,

            "Charter schools are not public schools.  They're corporations."

            "The charter schools are not outperforming the public schools."

            "I see billionaires picking on teachers.  I see billionaires who have never gone to public schools proclaiming how schools should be run and how teachers should teach."

            "I have kind of a visceral negative reaction to the idea that someone who is a billionaire doesn't want to see a public employee retire with a decent living pension that they've put into all their life."

            She discusses ALEC and the foundation of the privatization movement.  Very sobering.  It is a 26 minute interview that I believe anyone who cares about public education should watch.  Or here is a full transcript.

            Fair Tax:

            All hope for the Fair Tax (Constitutional Amendment 40) to be placed on the November ballot died Tuesday afternoon.  There were enough votes in the Senate, but not the House.  Here is an article.

            As a result, there could be more justification for the Illinois Supreme Court Justices to rule that the pension reform SB1 is necessary due to a "financial emergency."  Because without a fair, progressive income tax, the state will be deficient of critical revenue.

            Education, prison facilities, social services, and other state services are dependent on a restructured revenue system--something that our legislators have been apprehensive to accept for a long time.

            Illinois' lowest 20% earners pay 13.7% of their income in sales, property and income taxes while the top 1% pay only 5.3% of their income.

            Here is a 2 minute informational video that the IEA released about the importance of a progressive tax.

            Our next fight will be to stop our legislators from rolling back the state income tax from the current 5% to 3.75% as planned.  This would further reduce the state's much-needed revenue--for education, social services, and mandatory pension obligations, to name a few.

            IL Legislators:  "Illinois is broke.  Let's cut pensions, but build a $100 million library"

            They told us that they had no money to pay for our pensions.  They cut them by 30% to 50%, no doubt leaving some state retirees below the poverty line.

            But now they have money for a $100 million library.

            When will this corruption end?
           
     
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