Dissembling
(Seven Simple Sentences)
Dissemble – verb
intransitive – to conceal one’s true feelings, beliefs or motives.
A recent electronic message from Representative
Michael Tryon displays the kind of half-truths and factual recklessness that
might even make the editorial staff of the Chicago Tribune blush. On the other hand these kinds of false
assertions have been so proselytized by opportunistic politicians and media,
even Carol Marin on WTTW keeps a straight face while Representative Nekritz serves
them up as reasons for HB 3411.
Here is part of Rep. Tryon’s plaintive email message.
“How Did
We Get Here?
The
pension liability is the single issue that places the most pressure on the
budget. Simply put, the pension payment takes up so much of the available funds
that there is not enough money left to pay for all the items in the rest of the
budget. For many years, legislators made only partial pension system payments
or skipped them altogether. During my eight years in the House I have never
voted for anything less than a full pension payment. However, those poor
decisions by the majority of lawmakers, combined with benefit perks that were
not actuarially calculated to ensure future sustainability, and increasing life
expectancies for pension recipients, has created a $97 billion pension
liability that grows by a staggering $17 million every day. The second
primary cause for the state’s financial problems relate to the shell games and
fund “sweeps,” where money earmarked for one program has been moved around and
used for other purposes. Over time, the result was expenditures that outpaced
available resources (in some years by billions of dollars), a growing backlog
of bills, and an accumulation of bonded debt.”
1. The
pension liability is the single issue that places the most pressure on the
budget. As with many of our legislators, the Representative likes to blend the real problem of the unfunded
liability (the money that was embezzled over the years from the pensions funds
and now owed to the pensions) with the state’s normal costs for pensions. In actuality, the amount to be paid to
pensioners this year in TRS is actually less than last year, but he won’t and
wouldn’t say that. It would hurt his
argument – and it’s the truth.
2. Simply
put, the pension payment takes up so much of the available funds that there is
not enough money left to pay for all the items in the rest of the budget. Once
again, Representative Tryon is performing the same kind of verbal legerdemain
that so many in Springfield have become so masterful at doing. It is true that the cost of the pension’s
unfunded liability (remember all that money they owe that they embezzled to
begin with?); but that is because the General Assembly has never had the fiscal
intelligence and political foresight to dispense with a completely misguided
re-payment schedule they themselves adopted in 1995 to back load their payments
so that they became fiscally hamstrung by 2013.
3. For
many years, legislators made only partial pension system payments or skipped
them altogether. The Representative is almost correct, but
“for many years” should actually read decades (maybe half a century?). Indeed, the state has been taken to court
regarding its refusal to pay, but alas, the courts have not been able to
agree that an Article assuring pension as contractual promises necessarily means a need to
pay. And, thusly, legislators like Representative
Tryon and others blithely went about the business of using the pension funds to
pay for everything else – all the other services they now tell everyone are
suffering because of pensions. Once
again, not really true. But really short-sighted.
4. During
my eight years in the House I have never voted for anything less than a full
pension payment. That’s nice to hear, but in actuality the
State of Illinois chooses to use the least accurate actuarial methodology in
determining the normal costs of pensions (not the unfunded debt), so the
payment is based on present not future extrapolations. They have a choice, but Representative Tryon
and the others in the General Assembly choose the least expensive and least accurate – always
have. Are you surprised?
5. However,
those poor decisions by the majority of lawmakers, combined with benefit perks
that were not actuarially calculated to ensure future sustainability, and
increasing life expectancies for pension recipients, has created a $97 billion
pension liability that grows by a staggering $17 million every day. This
is the emotional tsunami sentence that Governor Quinn likes to use as much as
possible. I am sure we’ll hear it many
times during the budget speech tomorrow.
In actuality, those “perks” like the COLA were part of a payment into
contributions by TRS members in the 90’s, and the need to cover such an
expenditure (according to Rep. Mike Fortner in an interview last year ) would
require only a 1% additional contribution.
The We Are One coalition has already offered 2%, but in this state of
hysteria and hyperbole to get it done quickly, Representative Tryon’s “the sky is falling” works so
much better. As for living too
long? We hear this argument from
Republicans on the federal level too. But
this makes up for the egregious theft of billions of dollars to begin with.
6. The
second primary cause for the state’s financial problems relate to the shell
games and fund “sweeps,” where money earmarked for one program has been moved
around and used for other purposes.
This is a classic piece of
passivity in writing, where the actual subject disappears, so the guilty party
can be veiled to assure the identification of another party (like public sector
workers) to make it right. What the
sentence is actually stating is that “We, the government (your duly elected
officials) not only stole the money from you for our own pet projects, but we
also diverted pension obligation bond money and any other funds we could to our
own uses. Like Thompson used to crow to the public citizens,
“we provided services without your having to pay anything more.” Do you like me now? Not really.
7. Over
time, the result was expenditures that outpaced available resources (in some
years by billions of dollars), a growing backlog of bills, and an accumulation
of bonded debt. Wow.
Talk about passivity. Quite
simply, this sentence states, “We took more money and bought more services
without adequate revenue. Because we
thought we could pilfer eternally from these pension funds we not only spent
extravagantly of their money, but we carried that fiscally capricious attitude over to other state programs,
service costs and original pension obligations.
That’s How
We Got Here!
Brilliant analysis. Reminds me of the movie Annie Hall. We hear the dialogue between Woody and Diane, but we read on the screen what they are really thinking.
ReplyDeletesomeone needs to apply the KISS Principle to this whole program, or suffer what the politicians can wiggle out of.
ReplyDeleteIf all is needed is a revised payment schedule then why does everyone get involved in laying blame, dissecting what they really mean etc., PUT OUT THE PROPER, SIMPLE MESSAGE, OR RISK GETTING STUCK WITH WHAT OTHERS DECIDE!
Thank you for your frank, to the point insight into the problem.
ReplyDeleteA teacher.