Be sure to read the short article ("Appointee gets $40K boost") on Page 3A of this morning's Northwest Herald. Then grab the barf bag or run for the toilet.
Who's the new director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources? Kurt Granberg. Who's Kurt Granberg? He was an Illinois State Representative for 22 years, during which he accumulated enough "points" to be eligible for a $73,000 annual pension. And he is just 55 years old.
Let's say he lives for 30 years. How much will he suck out of the Illinois treasury at that paltry rate? $2,190,000! And that's without the 3% annual increase after he hits 60.
What's the rub here?
Blago appointed him to chief of the IDNR and raised his pay. According to the paper, that sweet little gift "likely will boost his eventual retirement pension by $40,000 a year." What???
What gimmickry exists in actuarial calculations in Springfield that could possibly boost annual retirement pay by $40,000/year for a man who might work only a very short time in his new position? His new payrate is $133,273/year, and pension rules allow him to base retirement pay on that, not on the "measly" $73,000/year he had previously earned for so many years.
Who makes the rules in Illinois? Why, Illinois legislators, of course! Nice, huge pay-off for a guy who resigned from the State legislature before it voted to impeach Blago!
Look, we can either sit here and carp about the injustices in State government or we can all start running for office of State Representative or Senator. And then we can either change the rules or we can just sit back, pull the handle on the State slot machine one more time, and watch those silver dollars roll out into our own pockets!
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2 comments:
"Look, we can either sit here and carp about the injustices in State government or we can all start running for office of State Representative or Senator."
You first.
I knew a great old guy (hey, wait; I'm older now than he was then) in Kansas City in 1987 who had the goods on a number of Kansas State officials and legislators. He ran full-page newspaper ads about the waste. He had one official on tape when that official said that he didn't give a hoot (that wasn't the word he used) about the taxpayers; he was going to do what he wanted!
And then he ran for office and got elected! I hope the crookedness didn't kill him.
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