McHenry County: Do county board members qualify for IMFR?

 

A dish best served cold

Friday, Mar 18, 2016

* First, read this background…

The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund is questioning whether McHenry County Board members are working enough hours to justify pensions after they leave office, the Northwest Herald has learned.

And a state representative known for tussling with the County Board over various issues in recent years plans to ask that a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate.

Under state law, McHenry County government employees must work at least 1,000 hours a year – or about 20 hours a week for 50 weeks – to qualify for IMRF benefits. The County Board in 1997 set a higher standard for its employees – the law otherwise sets a 600-hour annual minimum.

But an audit conducted last year by IMRF cast doubt on whether most board members are meeting the threshold, IMRF Director Louis Kosiba said.

Kosiba, who along with state Rep. Jack Franks asked to meet with the newspaper’s editors, pointed to a line from the IMRF’s own manual to back his assertion. Barring “highly unusual circumstances,” officials elected to county, village, township or municipal boards will not qualify for IMRF under the 1,000-hour threshold.

A special prosecutor? Wow. But, hey, did they do enough work to qualify for pensions? If not… could be big trouble.

* Now, read this comprehensive account of the latest board meeting. But take special note of this…

Board Chairman Joe Gottemoller treated Kosiba as if he were a witness in a trial.

He got a reply that no issue was raised until Local 150 and Jack Franks separately brought the question to the attention of IMRF. […]

“The information comes from a union [Local 150 of the Operating Engineers] that is suing us because we supported Governor Rauner’s [Turnaround Agenda],” Gottemoller interjected.

* More background, this time from last year…

A labor union claims the McHenry County Board violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act when at least eight of its members gathered at a private discussion with Gov. Bruce Rauner at the Woodstock Opera House April 8.

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 filed a lawsuit against the County Board April 17, accusing board members of failing to comply with a state law that requires the public be allowed to attend government meetings. […]

According to the lawsuit, Chairman Joseph Gottemoller, Yvonne Barnes, Jim Heisler, Nick Provenzano, Chuck Wheeler, Tina Hill, Michele Aavang and Larry Smith were on hand to listen to a talk from Rauner, who was in Woodstock to tout his Illinois Turnaround agenda, a set of plans supporters say will improve the state’s economy but which opponents have labeled as an attack on unions and the middle class. […]

The next day, the County Board voted 16-5 in favor of a non-binding resolution supporting Rauner’s plan, which calls for localized right-to-work zones, the repeal of prevailing wage laws, the elimination of unfunded mandates and more.

Ouch.

- Posted by Rich Miller

America's explosion of income inequality, in one amazing animated chart

 

 

 

America's explosion of income inequality, in one amazing animated chart

sanders

(Rick Loomis/Los Angeles Times)

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has made the problems of the working class a centerpiece of his campaign pitch. But so has Donald Trump.

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has made the problems of the working class a centerpiece of his campaign pitch. But so has Donald Trump. ((Rick Loomis/Los Angeles Times))

By Michael Hiltzik

Defenders of the economic status quo in America continue to assert that economic inequality (1) doesn't exist, (2) isn't as bad as you think, or (3) is actually good for everybody.

That's despite empirical evidence that the gap between the rich and the middle class is wide and growing and that the trend is hollowing out the middle class, as well as sociological findings of its corrosive effect on society and politics. Among the "grave moral consequences of widening inequality in an environment of modest growth" identified by political economist Benjamin M. Friedman in 2009, for instance, are "racial and religious discrimination, antipathy toward immigrants, [and] lack of generosity toward the poor"--all features of our current campaign landscape.

The distribution of adults by income is thinning in the middle and bulking up at the edges.

Pew Research Center

The best graphical illustration of the economic trend we've seen is the animation below, showing the shift in "middle income" households from 1971 to 2015. It was created by the data team at the Financial Times, based on statistics from a December 2015 report by the Pew Research Center on America's middle class. (The chart recently picked up a silver at the Malofiej awards of the Society for News Design's European district.)

Income inequality, animated (Alan Smith/FT.com)

The chart shows the peak representing the income blocks with the largest percentages of households moving from the "middle income" category toward the lower income range, while the largest single block, households with annual earnings of $200,000 or more, moving from a small share of the total to the largest single share, easily outstripping all other income segments. Each bar in the graphic represents the percentage of adults by $5,000 increment of income except the last one on the far right, which covers all income in excess of $200,000. All figures are in 2014 dollars.

Pew divided U.S. households into five segments: two low-income groups with income of up to $41,868 in 2014 dollars, two upper-income groups with income over $126,608, and everyone else between those two marks.

Pew places the middle range of US household income at $41,869-$125,608. Its size in population is shrinking relative to the two lower and two upper income ranges. (Pew Center)The percentage of Americans living in middle income households is shrinking compared to those in low- and upper-income households. (Pew Center)

"The distribution of adults by income is thinning in the middle and bulking up at the edges," Pew reported. The percentage of adults in the highest-income segments grew from 14% in 1971 to 21% in 2015, while those in the lowest two income categories grew from 25% to 29%. Middle income households as a percentage shrank from 61% to 50% in that time. No wonder that those considering themselves middle-income feel as if they're a diminishing breed.

The Financial Times further noted that Pew found a demographic divergence, too: "Older Americans were the biggest gainers by far in terms of their progression up the income tiers during the current century, and also when compared with the start of the 1970s....The group aged 18-29 has seen the biggest slide."

Some of the debate over income and wealth inequality in America rests on the definition of just what "middle class" means. As we pointed out last year, "middle class" as a demographic definition has been declining in terms of income; those who fit the demographic definition of middle class have been feeling a increasing and genuine economic pinch over the years.

The sociopolitical implications of this trend are frightening, especially to those whose income places them above it. That explains much of the desperation of efforts, mostly by conservatives, to explain it away, often by asserting that Americans are much richer than they think and will enjoy a more comfortable retirement than they're led to expect, or dismissing concern about economic inequality as "one of the myths propagated by the left." The argument often is based on the notion that doomsayers fail to take into account pension and Social Security income, but the truth is that pension income tends to accumulate at the high end of the income scale, and Social Security benefits are modest. 

These graphics tell a more direct story. Inequality in income and wealth is a troubling headwind for the American economy, it's getting worse, and it's a real danger looming in our political future.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Above is from:  http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-ft-graphic-20160320-snap-htmlstory.html

Marlen Garcia: Rauner name is a millstone for some candidates

 

 

Marlen Garcia 03/17/2016, 03:15pm

Marlen Garcia: Rauner name is a millstone for some candidates

Jac Charlier, Illinois House 15th District Democratic primary candidate, had to fight rumors he was secretly tied to Gov. Bruce Rauner. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Gov. Bruce Rauner and his conservative friends threw millions into the primary election without getting the outcomes they wanted. That won’t stop them from doing it again.

 

But Rauner could help his cause if he learned how to govern and eased up on his heavy-handed demands related to his turnaround agenda.

Independent-minded Chicago Democrats in Tuesday’s lower profile primaries paid dearly for made-up associations to him, leveled by opposition.

Collateral damage could be found in multiple Democratic races, such as the 15th District of the House, which covers the Far Northwest Side and parts of the near northwest suburbs.

From the outset, Jac Charlier, best known for leading a coalition against O’Hare jet noise, had an uphill climb against incumbent Rep. John D’Amico, whose family reign (it includes the Laurinos) goes back 52 years.

But Charlier had to tamp down rumors that the Rauner crowd backed him and allegations that he was secretly allied with the unpopular governor.

D’Amico supporters “created an entire fiction of positions,” Charlier’s campaign manager, Vasyl Markus, said.

D’Amico won with 60 percent of the vote.

Another Northwest Side race for House, the 40th District, pitted progressive Democrat Harish I. Patel against incumbent Rep. Jaime Andrade, who came up through the 33rd Ward Democratic organization under former Ald. Dick Mell.

As the political blog Capitol Fax pointed out last month, Patel was besieged by mailers accusing him of receiving “assistance from a secretive group that received $9 million from only six multi-millionaires and was created to help support Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s reckless agenda that is hurting the elderly, disabled children, and middle-class families.”

Patel insisted they were lies. Andrade won 59 percent of the vote.

“The Rauner name is so tarnished in Chicago that the House Democrats are even using it against an ultra-liberal candidate,” the blogger, Rich Miller, wrote.

Another young newcomer to politics, Angelica Alfaro, had backing from charter school supporters in her bid to fill the seat of retiring Sen. William Delgado in the 2nd District on the Northwest Side. She is a staff member for the highly regarded Noble Network of Charter Schools. So, yes, Alfaro and the governor both back charters. It’s a cause near and dear to Rauner’s heart; a Noble charter campus is named for him. But Alfaro did not at all strike me as someone who would break from Democrats on core party issues. Nevertheless, the indirect tie to Rauner hurt her. She lost to Omar Aquino, backed by the Chicago Teachers Union.

“We were going against a Rauner Democrat, and people knew that,” Aquino told me late Tuesday night.

Forest Park Commissioner Chris Harris, who challenged Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside in the 7th District and lost, had to disavow advertising purchased on his behalf by conservative radio host Dan Proft through Proft’s PAC. Harris called it wrong-headed for the governor’s people to insert themselves in a Democratic primary.

Rauner has been declared a big loser in the primary because of losses dealt to candidates backed heavily by him or his millionaire friends: Democrats Ken Dunkin and Jason Gonzales lost by wide margins in Chicago; downstate Republican Bryce Benton couldn’t knock out incumbent Sam McCann despite campaigning with Rauner.

The governor needs to realize that in Chicago his negative impact went much deeper.

Email: MarlenGarcia777@yahoo.com
Follow Marlen Garcia on Twitter: Follow @MarlenGarcia777

Above is from:  http://chicago.suntimes.com/opinion/marlen-garcia-rauner-name-a-millstone-for-some-candidates/

Fred—the other KochBrother

Emily Smith

 

Koch brother finds friendship in socialite Margo Langenberg

By Emily Smith

Modal Trigger

Margo Langenberg and Fredrick R. Koch Photo: WireImage

 

Fredrick R. Koch, the billionaire Koch brother you don’t hear about, has been stepping out with wealthy socialite Margo Langenberg.

They were spotted at the School of American Ballet Winter Ball on Monday, chaired by his sister-in-law, Julia Koch, in the Lincoln Center theater named after his brother David H. Koch.

Fred attended Harvard and Yale and, unlike his more famous younger brothers David and Charles, is more interested in the arts than politics.

Worth an estimated $2 billion, he’s on the boards of the Metropolitan Opera and the Film Society of Lincoln Center and is one of the world’s most important collectors of rare books.

Koch and Langenberg’s friendship has blossomed over the last six years, and she has visited him at his grand homes around the world that include a Tudor mansion in Butler, Pa., his villa Torre Clementina in France, and his Schloss Bluhnbach near Salzburg, Austria.

Fred, 82, has never been married, previously denied he was gay, and remains on international eligible-bachelor lists. A source added, “They are very good friends.”

Above is from:  http://pagesix.com/2016/03/19/koch-brother-finds-friendship-in-socialite-margo-langenberg/

Letter: Koch brothers forcing agenda on S.D.

 

Letter: Koch brothers forcing agenda on S.D.

Chris Svarstad, Yankton 12:59 p.m. CDT March 19, 2016

Charles Koch, chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, Inc., the second-largest private company in America. He and his brother, David Koch, are well-known contributors to conservative and libertarian political causes. (Photo: Robert Deutsch / USA TODAY)

33 CONNECTTWEETLINKEDIN 5 COMMENTEMAILMORE

South Dakotans have always been fiercely independent, but the out-of-state oil and tar sand billionaires, Charles and David Koch, are trying to buy South Dakota’s future.

The Koch brothers have promised to spend $900 million to influence the 2016 election cycle and support Republican candidates who have sold out their political souls to advance the Koch brothers’ radical agenda. But the Koch brothers aren’t satisfied with simply buying government officials. They now want to dictate S.D.’s energy policy.

The Koch brothers’ decision to spend their vast fortune and force their extreme agenda into local issues should concern every South Dakotan. The Mount Rushmore State should control its own future. The Koch brothers and their devoted Republican followers are only interested in policies that make the middle class poorer, damage the environment and shut down investments in clean, renewable energy — and help them make more money with their chemical, tar sand, oil and coal businesses.

This isn’t the first time the Koch brothers have tried to buy S.D. They’ve used their deep pockets and shadowy organizations to try to upend the state’s open primary process. They’ve tried to dissuade young South Dakotans with bribes to stay out of the state’s health exchanges. They’ve fought attempts to expand Medicaid and used their Republican slaves in the Legislature to undermine labor unions.

The Koch brothers are committed to turning the Mount Rushmore State into a safe haven for their own corporate interests at the expense of all South Dakotans.

And, S.D. isn’t the only state being targeted. The Koch brothers have dumped filthy oil and tar sand money into local issues throughout the country. In Colorado Springs, Colo., they attacked a Republican mayor for trying to raise the sales tax to fix potholes and improve roads. In Nashville, Tenn., they battled to stop a mass-transit plan. In Ohio, they fought the Columbus Zoo to save one of their nearby plants from paying its fair share of taxes. And that’s not mentioning the list of states where Koch-backed groups have aggressively fought local incentives for renewable energy that compete with the Kochs’ fossil fuel empire.

The good people of S.D. and people throughout the country must see through this shameful attempt to subvert our democratic process. It’s time we let these two power-hungry billionaires know that S.D., the White House, the country and the future of our environment are not for sale.

Above is from:  http://www.argusleader.com/story/opinion/readers/2016/03/19/letter-koch-brothers-forcing-agenda-sd/82014476/

Big money still flows into campaign coffers

 

 

Big money still flows into campaign coffers

• Dan Petrella Times Bureau
• 9 hrs ago

SPRINGFIELD — There's a lot of uncertainty in Illinois politics these days, but one thing seems guaranteed: The flow of millions of dollars into key legislative races isn't going to be cut off anytime soon.

Before the current election cycle, the most that had ever been invested in a primary for a seat in the General Assembly was the $1.2 million spent in a 2014 Democratic contest between Rep. Christian Mitchell and Jay Travis in Chicago's 26th House District, said Kent Redfield, an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Illinois Springfield and a campaign finance expert.

But this time around, two key races in last week's primaries — both widely viewed as proxy battles between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan — blew that total out of the water. A combined $10 million was spent on the races, each of which pitted a lawmaker who had bucked his party's leadership against a well-financed challenger.

In the Democratic primary between Rep. Ken Dunkin and Juliana Stratton in Chicago's 5th House District, the two sides combined to spend more than $6 million, with the bulk of that coming in the form of "independent expenditures" by super political action committees, groups that aren't supposed to coordinate with candidates. Rauner and his allies supported Dunkin after he broke ranks Democrats on important votes.

Downstate, nearly $4 million was spent on the Republican primary between Sen. Sam McCann of Plainview and state trooper Bryce Benton in the 50th Senate District, which stretches from Springfield south and west to the Mississippi River.

The Rauner camp bankrolled the effort in support of Benton after McCann, whose district includes many state employees, sided with Democrats on a labor-backed bill to send stalled union contract talks to arbitration.

Despite all that money, primary night didn't end well for the governor and his allies.

Stratton and McCann — whose supporters, including labor unions, were vastly outspent — won by wide margins, and Madigan fended off his own primary challenger, Jason Gonzales. Gonzales, a political newcomer, was the beneficiary of more than $800,000 in independent expenditures from a group called Illinois United for Change, a super PAC founded in January that has ties to Rauner allies and donors.

However, the primary results don't mean Rauner and those who support his agenda will change their strategy, Redfield said.

"Is it possible the governor can look at this and say, 'There's a limit to what I can do with my money, and I need to recalibrate'?" Redfield said. "I don't think that's the lesson he's going to draw from this."

 

Rauner, a multimillionaire venture capitalist, and allies like Ken Griffin, CEO of investment firm Citadel and Illinois' richest resident, have built up a war chest of more than $26 million between the governor's campaign fund and the Turnaround Illinois super PAC. That means the big spending will likely continue heading into November's general election.

Edwin Bender, executive director of the Montana-based National Institute on Money in State Politics, said the amount of money now being spent on certain Illinois legislative races is rare anywhere in the country.

The $6 million in the Dunkin-Stratton contest is more than most governors raise to win elections and more than many members of Congress raise, Bender said.

"That's where the independent money is going to be taking us," he said.

Illinois is in a unique position given who its governor and his allies are, Bender added.

"This isn't about elections; this is about winning a policy war, a political war," he said. "When you have the concentration of money and power in the hands of so few people, that's a very frightening prospect for the future of policymaking in Illinois."

Sarah Brune is executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, which advocates for campaign finances reforms such as a law approved last year requiring independent expenditures of more than $1,000 to be disclosed within five days.

Brune said she's hopeful that results like last week's primaries and the struggles of well-funded candidates like former GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush will make politicians and donors take stock of the diminishing returns on their campaign investments.

"This is a watershed moment, not only at the state level," she said.

Above is from:  http://qctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois/big-money-still-flows-into-campaign-coffers/article_1bca71e5-919a-555a-9c1b-dbebe9a3678a.html