Only $1?? I am sure the costs of health care and lost time to the employers is much more than a measly dollar. How about charging the smokers on welfare if they smoke. They can afford cancer sticks by the carton every week then they can afford to pay their medical expenses! blood tests for smoking and drug tests should be mandetory as should being a legal citizen. If they keep pumping out babies and don't do anything to try to support themselves, how about making them sterile - limit how many kids they can have? How about background checks too?? Us taxpayers have to prove that we are legal citizens and for what - so the illegals can get free or nearly free housing, free medical and a debit card loaded with free money?? STOP MAKING IT SO EASY FOR THEM and so hard for the legitimate, hard-working citizens.

It's pathetic that we are stuck cleaning up after these lawmakers for their failure to run the government responsibly. You don't see a single one of them taking a pay cut, working longer hours to put food on the table. Stop taxing us and put the blame where it belongs...back in their pockets. Make them give up everything and see what it's like for an honest, hardworking person to survive!

Let's not forget that he wants to shift the pension burden to the local school districts. D127 just gave its already enormously highly paid supt a 65% raise over the next 5 years. She will be making almost $300,000. at the end of her current contract. And the burden for her 6 figure pension is going to be added to your property tax. Why is this story not being covered at all? And how in the name of God is anyone who oversees a couple of schools worth 300 grand a year of taxpayer money? So sickening.

Quinn must need more money to use for laundering into teacher's unions. After all, there is an election coming up.

pAT qUINN,
As mentioned in one of the ubove post. Why!!!!, Do the elected officials not once talk about reducing there perks, un-neccessary travel, and pay by about half. You have forgotten that you are there as a public servant. You should not be getting any kind of retirement package. The political agenda reguardless of party affiliation has denied there part in this whole fiasco. When I read and here of all the lack of oversight, ex. GSA, Now the comptroller of Dixon stealing 30M over 6 years, I say go see Rita if your looking for money thats not there. STAY THE HELL OUT OF OUR POCKETS, WE PAY YOU TO MUCH AS IT IS!!! IF YOU CAN NOT MAKE SURE THE MONEY WE PAY IS BEING USED APPROPREIATLY, THEN WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU DESERVE
MORE, PAT, PLEASE GET BACK TO EARTH SO WE MAY HAVE A MORE FORMITABLE
DISCUSSION YOU TRULLY SEEM TO BE OUT THERE AND OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY. THANKS, COUCH

I don't know if Coach is being sarcastic or serious.

Pat Quinn is an addict.
Notice his addictive behaviors. We need, we're trying, give us some time & we can cure it.
Quinn is an OPM (pronounced Opium) addict. That is OPM for he's addicted to Other People's Money!!

Coach has hit the nail on the head!

It's a sad state of affairs, that we have ALLOWED government to get so big, so bloated and overspend SO MUCH, that we are in jeopardy as a state of going bankrupt. For decades these CROOKS have taxed and spent, then taxed more and spent more. Never living within they're means!! Now they finally reached the breaking point and what does our most current Crook in Chief want to do....oh yeah, raise taxes and cut services!!! Seriously WTF?? Like others have said, not once do you hear them mention taking a pay or benefits cut, or heaven forbid cut some of these ricicoulous wastefull programs that we pay for.

I AGREE COACH, STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY POCKETS!!! YOU CREATED THIS PROBLEM WITHOUT ME, NOW FIX IT WITHOUT ME!!!!!!!!

You're all missing the point about Gov Quinn's shrewd plan to model Illinois after Michigan. Detroit is now a nature lovers paradise with routine sightings of black bear, and other wildlife roaming what used to be neighborhoods. Meanwhile their inner city problems are all but solved. There are no more inner cities!
That would sure cut down on the murder rate on the south side! (highest in the nation, isn't that something to be proud of)!

By systematically raising the tax on everything, (didn't most of you just file your state return) I mean for the 49% of you that actually pay taxes. But alas, most do drive the tollway, (tolls up %100), gas tax going great, sales tax highest in the country, just need to bump the tax on cigarettes, legalize pot,( but at a high tax rate) , reduce the legal age to 12 so consumption and tax revenue increase, then push for a higher tax on food, services, and maybe health care providers.

By ensuring Pat Quinn's success, we've taken those big first steps at making sure any hard working, tax paying citizens start looking for places to move. I hear Indiana and Wisconsin both are encouraging working folks and companies to move there. Of course then you've got to deal with the highway robber called Ipass, or just stop doing business in Illinois altogether.

Good Move Quinny, keep it up!

ITT Angry old white dudes try and troll us.

Yes, angry old white people. You forget how much of the tax dollars go to support your melanin-challenged butts. The public means (roads, bridges, snow removal, police/fire/ambulance protection, even the dudes who pick up the road-kill varmints on your street) serves you as well. And yet.....all you TeaBaggers go after with a VENGEANCE the teachers, the nurses, the paramedics, the sewer workers, the firemen, etc. Everyone you think has it easy at YOUR expense. Grow the hell up. Get a library card and do some REAL research. All state & county budgets are a matter of public record and some are even online and ......FREE to look at all you want. THEN after you have done an accounting analysis, tell me where the expenses are and WHO & WHAT are actually causing your taxes to rise. The money trail may JUST lead to the corporate schills and cronies who put your elected officials in office and wrote the legislation they passed in the house and senate to further their own selfish interest. Don't believe it?? Google: Andy Shaw's organization if you want to see the roots of public corruption in Illinois. Stop being lazy and trying to find SCAPEGOATS for your own personal miseries. Things are tough all over, so cry me a river you childish, adolescent WHINERS. You keep voting to put these @$$hats in office like Michael Madigan - so you get what you deserve when they sell you down the river.

Jack, You don't seem aware that all the municipal services you've outlined are paid by individual property taxes, not state income tax.
While the state does provide funding for state roads (not the tollway which was to be self sustaining) but actually now contributes to the states general fund.
For your edification, property taxes are based on assessed valuation, translation: the rich guy with the big house pays more:
Pays more for education, police protection, snow removal and road maintenance, etc. , than does the poor folk, and especially a tenant.
For rental property, the evil investor actually pays a higher rate because he is not entitled to the owner occupant deduction.
Now Jack, if in fact you rent, your landlord picks up your tab at the government tit.

As far as benefits: taking the common example of the fireman or policeman, who do perform a valuable service, don't get me wrong. They are well paid while working, you can argue about their wage scale, but... they are a unionized public employee.
They make a more than decent wage, is it therefore fair, that they do not have to contribute to their retirement?
If a person, any person, receives $80,000 per year in retirement, they would need about $5,000,000 in the bank to generate $80k
So we as a society are rewarding millionaire status to all these retirees, Not a bad reward for their service, you decided if its fair compensation.

And don't forget, Illinois teachers are paid directly from our property taxes too, and do not pay social security tax like the rest of us working folk, Again, I'm not arguing that teachers are unjustly or overly compensated.

Just like our elected party officials, They have there own private fully funded retirement system and have been exempted from having the annual contribution to the Social Security Administration.

How many evil rich folk who contribute their $15,000 a year to the SSA, think they'll be able to collect a dime when they retire?
And remember, we have paid in, but will most likely be barred from collecting our money back.
I guess that's just another gimme the evil rich guy has to cough up for the good of the masses!.
After the evil rich person has paid all their income taxes, SS, property tax, not to mention their mortgage, car payments, kids education, groceries, etc. if there's any left we can put it in our own retirement account. Thank God for the government, we can at least keep the years left over's, because we public workers don't have a guaranteed retirement coming from the government after our years of toil.
Here's to you comrade!

Sorry you were too stupid to negotiate awesome benefits in your career Carl. Have fun working till you're 80!

Jack sounds like the typical liberal, mouth moving with nothing to say except divisive references about race. By corporate shill I'm thinking he must be confused, as the teacher's union elected Madigan and Quinn, follow the money trail in case this is news to you.

Actually Mitt payed too much of his income on taxes, as his income was mostly based on investment income and 15% is way too much. You see, folks who make investments lose their money more times than not. So if you place an additional burden of tax on the risk, they take their money and go home. Then we get guys getting paid to move sand piles from one side of the road to the other, and Obama calls it stimulus.