The Illinois Lottery kinda sorta doesn't have your winnings but is totally good for it, man

Dude, An underfunded pension problem literally begins the day you make a pension promise and don't fund it. It "began" with dollar one of unfunded liability. Is that your big point? Because nobody ever said otherwise.

You aren't responding to the posts either of us has ACTUALLY made when you say that over and over again. You are arguing with yourself.

Illinois' pension liabilities were not a crisis "decades ago." Decades ago they were a comparatively small percentage of Illinois' general revenue fund. Those liabilities have reached crisis proportions, and become a huge percentage of that general revenue fund in the wake of the financial crisis. ... and it is ABSOLUTELY related (directly related) to Illinois' economy being in the shitter.

Those decades you are so focused on? Illinois could live a fantasy as long as its economy could keep it on a treadmill in which liabilities weren't totally overwhelming its ability to produce revenue (which comes from economic activity). When economic activity dies, you have a revenue problem, but you still have your liabilities.

I have tried to be patient with you. But you started off by responding to a post I didn't make--you seemed to misunderstand my post to say that Illinois' unfunded pensions caused the economic misery. I never said that. Then, you doubled down on this mantra that the current crisis has nothing to do with Illinois' economy. That is wrong, no matter how many times you repeat it and ignore what I actually said (whether you choose to read and respond on point or not).

 

You are not addressing anything anyone posted. Christ. Your "if you read. ... and still think" is some kind of Kafkaesque strawman. Nobody said they "think" the dumb thing you keep repeating. You aren't addressing what anyone ACTUALLY said.

Here is reality: Illinois' yearly pension costs consume 25 percent of the state's general fund budget. Yes, that is a RECENT escalation of the problem to crisis levels. It directly relates to the stagnant economy, and how hard Illinois has been particularly hit, over the last decade. As recently as 10 years ago, those pension costs were only 6 or 7 percent of the general fund budget. If Illinois' economy had grown only slightly more over the last 10 years, those costs are not overwhelming the state the way they now are -- because the growing economy translates to greater revenue for the state, which means that they stay on their treadmill longer.

S&P and Moody's both downgraded Illinois debt to near junk (lowest ever for a U.S. state) a few weeks ago. They cited Illinois' pension, along with its backlog of bills, which combined are equivalent to about 40 percent of its operating budget. Illinois has been deteriorating for quite a while, but that unprecedented downgrade didn't come decades ago. It came now -- for a reason.