http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judg ... t-40734520

Well, the courts just keep blocking any type of reform. They wouldn't let through any pension fixes previously. They mandated spending without a state budget, and thus gave the pols leeway not to pass a budget fix. Oh we'll just sink further into the abyss of financial mismanagement and poor governance. I honestly don't care anymore because clearly the courts and politicians don't. When it's gets bad enough I'll just move away.

Judge Blocks Illinois Redistricting Plan From Ballot

By sophia tareen, associated press

CHICAGO — Jul 20, 2016, 11:47 AM ET

A voter referendum aimed at changing the way Illinois draws its political boundaries is unconstitutional for the November ballot, a judge determined Wednesday.

The ruling by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane Larsen marked the second time that an attempt to change how Illinois redistricts has been blocked in the courts. An attorney who has represented the state's Democrats, including House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, filed a lawsuit claiming it wasn't constitutional.

The plan by a group called the Independent Map Amendment proposed an 11-member commission to take over how legislative boundaries are drawn in the state, instead of leaving it to party leaders. Commission members would be chosen through a complex process involving the state's auditor general and potentially members of the Illinois Supreme Court. Backers of the measure, who collected nearly 560,000 signatures across the state, said they learned from a failed 2014 effort to overhaul redistricting.

The group vowed to file an expedited appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.

"A great deal of care went into crafting an amendment that follows constitutional guidelines while also creating a system that is independent, fair, transparent, and protects the ability of minority communities to elect candidates of their choosing," Independent Maps chairman Dennis FitzSimons said in a statement.

"Redistricting reform was specifically addressed by the framers of our constitution as a 'critical' area for citizen petition initiatives. We believe that the Illinois Supreme Court will side with Illinois voters and not deny citizens the opportunity to vote on this amendment."

The lawsuit claimed that the measure didn't meet the narrow scope that changes to the state Legislature be both "structural and procedural." He filed the lawsuit on behalf of minority business and community groups who call themselves the People's Map and say the current mapping process protects minority representation. Those arguments were never mentioned in court. A People's Map spokesman didn't immediately have comment on Wednesday.

In court, Independent Maps' lawyers countered by saying since legislative districts are the "building blocks of the General Assembly," redistricting is by its nature structural and procedural.

The Illinois State Board of Elections had already determined that the group had enough valid signatures for the ballot.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

If I could move, I'd do it. This state is screwed. Gutless, special interest politicians have saddled us with a debt that is no one is going to be able to pay.

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I feel like Madigan is hoping to eventually be able to declare bankruptcy to fix the pension problem. That or he figures he will be out of office or dead by the time it all collapses under its own weight.

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Keep in mind, States cannot file bankruptcy just like what happened with Puerto Rico. I can't figure Madigan's end game. The courts blocked the pension fixes. Small fixes now like changing the inflation adjustment would make a big difference in the long run.

Eventually the State is going to run out of cash and won't be able to pay for anything.


Ultimately, I think Chicago will need to file bankruptcy and get a fix like Detroit. That may provide a blueprint for the State, which would probably require an Act Of Congress.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

The small changes with an eye to the future seem to be located directly in the blind spot of Illinois pols. I don't get it; even I can understand the math.

I think they're afraid of alienating those who vote for them. I have an aunt who has been collecting a CPS pension for 31 years. She retired at 55. I know not every retiree is like her, but there sure are a glut of youthful retirees. Try to take those benefits away, those people will go nuts. I'm totally pro-worker, but this system is gonna ruin it for everyone.

The lack of foresight kills me.

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The lack of foresight started decades ago.

Those who live in the city have no one to blame here. Voting in the same idiots term after term is why the city is in the pickle it's in today. It didn't take a degree in calculus to figure out the pension system was never going to work.

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Statewide elections might be different (I'm not sure), but I think we know why we have been voting in the same people in Chicago....

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If Trump does't become President, maybe we can make him Governor, so he could burn this whole thing to the ground.

Trump does have bankruptcy experience so he could help in that regard.

Pensions like that were genius back in the first Daley terms. Political gold. Not sure how anyone could have expected a pol to be able to take them away.

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Elections have consequences.

Like I said earlier, it was genius to those who believe in the Wizard of Oz.

You can't take them away, the old man is dead, the son finished off what he started and now many retirees will end up with a fraction or nothing at all.

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I wouldn't be surprised if he floated the idea of default. After all, does anyone seriously believe there is any chance in hell the United States pays back the $18 trillion it owes? That's about $60k for every man, woman, and child in the US. That will NEVER be paid back.

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I used to think that we'd end up with some sort of Federal solution to the pension "crisis"/issues/shortfalls. Figured with many states in the same boat as Illinois, they'd log-roll up an Act of Congress federalizing all those state pension promises and paying them back out at some discount.

But either the other states have mostly gotten their houses in order or they were never in as bad of shape as Illinois, which as percentage of GDP has the worst pension liability in the nation. The only other states in Illinois' dire pension shortfall situation are Connecticut and....Alaska? Seems like Alaska, with its limited population, could prolly fix their issues once oil rebounds in price a bit.

that leaves the Land of Lincoln and the Constitution State as the only states, besides not-quite-a-state Puerto Rico, in need of serious help with pension liabilities.

Hard to see that happening, after PR's failure. Doubt Congress even passes a law allowing Illinois to shrug off their pension debts in BR. City of Chicago enter bankruptcy? Maybe. That's pretty much the Detroit case. But the State of Illinois is likely fuxored.