4 ms·

Illinois is a case-study in the cancer that is party politicians, unfulfillable promises, and decades of iteration thereof.

yborg 8y ago
Illinois is a case study of the cancer that is Mike Madigan, the shadow governor of the state for more than 30 years. He is perhaps the last of the old-school Democratic machine bosses, although he would operate exactly the same way if he was a nominal Republican. Until the man dies, the state will continue to rot.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  the last of the old-school Democratic machine bosses If only. There's plenty of others in the background waiting for their chance.
lotsofpulp 8y ago
It’s a case study of what happens when most voters don’t pay attention to state and local politicians, allowing the politicians who scratch the unions’ backs to be elected and then they keep fudging the numbers since both the politicians and union members who benefit will be long gone when the problem comes around.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  Sort of. Not exactly. The voters do pay attention. The politicians scratch the union's back, and those voters are members of the unions.
  - lotsofpulp 8y ago
    There are far more non union voters than union voters so it’s only a matter of how many non union voters turn out. There’s absolutely no reason governments employees shouldn’t have been switched to 401k by now, other than only a few thousand voters show up to vote on millions of dollars of debt.
    - reaperducer 8y ago
      In theory, yes. There are a lot more registered non-union voters than there are registered union voters. But union voters have a far higher voting rate, and the u jobs work hard to ensure that remains the case.
      - lotsofpulp 8y ago
        Other than corruption, which I don't see any indication of, I don't see how the union workers "work hard" to make sure the non union voters have a lower voter turnout. It's simply the voter's lack of time, ability to absorb information about government finances, and most importantly, lack of willingness to engage in their civic duty that has led us to where we are. Even still, most people I talk to don't want to spend 15 minutes googling their local representatives.

yborg 8y ago

Illinois is a case study of the cancer that is Mike Madigan, the shadow governor of the state for more than 30 years. He is perhaps the last of the old-school Democratic machine bosses, although he would operate exactly the same way if he was a nominal Republican. Until the man dies, the state will continue to rot.

reaperducer 8y ago
the last of the old-school Democratic machine bosses If only. There's plenty of others in the background waiting for their chance.

lotsofpulp 8y ago

It’s a case study of what happens when most voters don’t pay attention to state and local politicians, allowing the politicians who scratch the unions’ backs to be elected and then they keep fudging the numbers since both the politicians and union members who benefit will be long gone when the problem comes around.

reaperducer 8y ago
Sort of. Not exactly. The voters do pay attention. The politicians scratch the union's back, and those voters are members of the unions.
- lotsofpulp 8y ago
  There are far more non union voters than union voters so it’s only a matter of how many non union voters turn out. There’s absolutely no reason governments employees shouldn’t have been switched to 401k by now, other than only a few thousand voters show up to vote on millions of dollars of debt.
  - reaperducer 8y ago
    In theory, yes. There are a lot more registered non-union voters than there are registered union voters. But union voters have a far higher voting rate, and the u jobs work hard to ensure that remains the case.
    - lotsofpulp 8y ago
      Other than corruption, which I don't see any indication of, I don't see how the union workers "work hard" to make sure the non union voters have a lower voter turnout. It's simply the voter's lack of time, ability to absorb information about government finances, and most importantly, lack of willingness to engage in their civic duty that has led us to where we are. Even still, most people I talk to don't want to spend 15 minutes googling their local representatives.