Members of the Republican money machine that powered presidential elections from their time as “Rangers” for George W. Bush are betting almost entirely on Mitt Romney, but a large majority has so far sat out of the 2012 race altogether. Read more
Letters to Barack: Mario Mendoza
November 29, 2011 By
Dear Barack, As a baseball fan, you must remember the “Mendoza Line” – the .200 batting average that separated the viable hitters from the hacks. Well, it seems that Congress has broken that line long ago. An approval rating of 20% is “but a dream” for them and they have recently broken another line for [...]
Illinois lobbyist’s family received legislative scholarships
November 28, 2011 By
From stltoday.com: CHICAGO • A lobbyist who was able to count one day of substitute teaching toward a state teacher pension also received tuition waivers for two of his children and a nephew through a controversial legislative scholarship program, according to a published report Sunday. The Chicago Tribune reported Sunday that two children and a [...]
2011 State Pensions: 5,467 Over $100,000 Up 30% From 2010: Top 100 Average $227,000 – Ninety-nine Are Educators
November 28, 2011 By
11 Amazing Facts About Illinois State Pensions: 1. Based upon current rules more than 25,000 public employees will have $100K plus pensions by 2020. 2. Every one of these public “Servants” is a taxpayer funded multi-millionaire. A $100,000 pension at age 55 will pay out $4.7 million in cash over the normal life expectancy of [...]
Top 100 Illinois State Pensions as of November 2011
November 28, 2011 By
Last Name Annual Pension Pension Paid Out to Date Das Gupta 414,471 2,790,107 SURS Abraham 402,630 1,773,973 SURS Barmada 386,334 4,430,947 SURS Mafee 359,360 1,766,637 SURS Abcarian 328,865 929,095 SURS Albrecht 327,623 1,395,697 SURS Ausman 300,868 1,079,431 SURS Wilensky 280,450 1,830,477 SURS Forman 273,389 2,270,657 SURS Sugar 266,113 1,791,113 SURS Bangser, Henry S 261,681 1,233,651 [...]
Politicians (GARS) Top 25 Pensions as of Nov 2011
November 28, 2011 By
Retiree Name Annual Pension Total Pension Paid out to date Total Contributions BERMAN, ARTHUR 203,428 1,751,569 109,293 PETKA, EDWARD 161,280 291,434 171,449 ERWIN, JUDITH 141,476 171,140 238,038 FRIEDLAND, JOHN 140,649 1,993,957 66,716 EDGAR, JAMES 134,853 1,229,827 164,657 THOMPSON, JAMES 131,031 2,001,519 84,996 PHILIP, JAMES 130,414 936,318 330,125 BURRIS, ROLAND 129,162 1,721,424 134,680 JONES JR, EMIL [...]
Top 25 State Employee (SERS) Pensions as of Nov. 2011
November 28, 2011 By
Name Annual Pension Pensions Paid Out To Date PARWATIKAR, SADASHIV 179,097 1,388,820 MODIR, KAMAL 161,876 1,912,765 VALLABHANENI, NAGESWARARAO 138,087 1,467,557 BAIG, MIRZA 135,465 1,026,589 KADKHODAIAN, HOOSHMAND 132,406 1,335,441 HARTMAN, EDITH 131,897 1,187,422 LOFTON, JOHN 130,122 1,021,855 HODGE, CAROLYN 126,268 31,567 MARLIN, GENE 125,503 1,348,929 DARLINGTON, LARRY 125,226 983,400 KARNETT, LARRY 122,315 601,867 WELBORN, GEORGE 121,230 [...]
Judges Retirement System (JRS) Top 25 Pensions 2011
November 28, 2011 By
Retiree Name Annual Pension Total Pension Paid out to date Total Contributions BARRY, TOBIAS 181,325 1,672,488 171,583 HARRISON II, MOSES 176,707 1,432,635 179,423 FITZGERALD, THOMAS 176,006 178,845 188,617 RARICK III, PHILIP 175,850 1,109,449 179,998 HEIPLE, JAMES 174,836 1,646,873 185,143 MILLER, BENJAMIN 174,836 1,626,939 172,652 MCMORROW, MARY 174,823 871,097 175,901 SCOTT, RICHARD 173,255 1,118,024 187,747 LUCAS, [...]
Scientists Behaving Badly: More nails for the coffin of man-made global warming
November 28, 2011 By
From National Review: Global-warming skeptics spend much of their time knocking down the fatuous warmist claim that the science is settled. According to the warmists, this singular piece of settled science is attested to by hundreds or thousands of highly credentialed scientists. In truth, virtually the entire warmist edifice is built around a small, tightly [...]
Occupying the Capitol
From the office of state Sen. Kyle McCarter: The Legislature is due back at the Capitol for a one-day session on Tuesday of this week but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s at least one additional day. A number of big issues such as tax breaks for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Sears, and [...]