Since 2011 no one has been a greater resource than Glen Brown for providing legal, statistical and philosophical argument in defense of Illinois public employee pensions against one assault after another.
Glen Brown’s blog has been required reading.
This is a a catalog of his pension posts going back five years:
2011 (9 articles):
Wisconsin Might Be an Omen for the Public Employees of Illinois (March 2011)
An Appeal to Reason: Who’s to Blame (for Today’s Budget Deficits across the Nation) (March 2011)
Should We Blame the Teachers’ and Other Public Employees’ Pensions for the State’s Budget Disaster? (April 2011)
Sustainability of the Teachers’ Pension (June 2011)
What We Believe We Know about the SUSTAINABILITY of the TRS PENSION (June 2011)
What Will Be Illinois’ Next Move Regarding Its Public Pensions’ Liabilities? (July 2011)
Pension Hybrid Plans, Constitutional Challenges, and the Ethical Path to Take (November 2011)
Biopsy of a Free-Lance Writer’s Attack on Teachers (December 2011)
2012 (22 articles):
Illinois “Pension Reform” Mania (January 2012)
“Something Wicked This Way Comes” or “What, Me Worry” about What Ingram Said? (January 2012)
Illinois or Shall We Call It Plutocraticstan? (January 2012)
Why Any Illinois “Pension Reform” Is a Devious Ruse (February 2012)
A View of the Illinois Public Pension Dilemma, Pt. I (April 2012)
A View of the Illinois Public Pension Dilemma, Pt. II (April 2012)
A Foreshadowing of Illinois Pension Reform: An Analysis (April 2012)
The Old Reality versus the New Illinois Pension Reality (April 2012)
Funding the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System: Should We Separate Our Moral Responsibility from Our Legal Obligation? (May 2012)
Illinois Pension Reform (May 2012)
Our Constitutional Rights (My Last Discussion with Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune) (May 2012)
Illinois Pension Reform Is Without Legal and Moral Justification (May 2012)
A Discussion We Do Not Want to Have (July 2012)
Dear Diane Ravitch: Teachers need your help to fight another injustice (October 2012)
The theft of the public employees’ pensions (November 2012)
2013 (19 articles):
A Trifecta of Political Opportunists (Eric M. Madiar) (February 2013)
Constitutional Issues Concerning Senate Bill 1, Pt. B (February 2013)
“The Illinois Constitution [should] impede pension reform” (May 2013)
Constitutional Issues Concerning Senate Bill 2404 (May 2013)
12 pragmatic and legal reasons to reject Illinois pension reform (May 2013)
Illinois Pension Reform: 12 Commentaries and Analyses (with one exception) (July 2013)
Today Is Constitution Day and Illinois Pension Reform is Unconstitutional (September 2013)
Illinois Pension Reform Is Without Legal and Moral Justification (Excerpts) (December 2013)
2014 (9 articles):
Pension Analyses and Commentaries Most Viewed in 2013 (January 2014)
The Concept of “Consideration” in Illinois Senate Bill 1 (January 2014)
Illinois Senate Bill 1: An Interview with Daniel Biss/ with Commentary (January 2014)
The Arizona Ruling and the Attempt to Break a Constitutional Contract in Illinois (February 2014)
The Pension Protection Clause and the State of Illinois’ “Reserved Sovereign Powers” (June 2014)
2015 (15 articles):
Opening Argument against State’s Sovereign Powers (February 2015)
What the drafters of the Pension Protection Clause intended (March 2015)
“Long Line of Legal Precedent Defeats Any Defense of the Act” (March 2015)
“The Pension Protection Clause Does Not Compromise the State’s Sovereignty” (March 2015)
ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST LEGISLATIVE THEFT! (May 2015)
2016 (4 articles):
That Disputed Concept Called “Consideration” in Illinois Public Pensions (May 2016)
“The Pension Clause withdraws from the General Assembly the legal power to pass any statute authorizing municipal bankruptcy as a means to unilaterally discharge public pension obligations” —Eric M. Madiar (July 2016)
Amending Article XIII, Section 5 (The Pension Protection Clause) of the Illinois Constitution (July 2016)
2017 (4 articles):
Cullerton’s, Rauner’s, and Emanuel’s Upcoming Attempt at Pension Theft (January 2017)
Lawyer and Lobbyist Eric M. Madiar Believes Cullerton’s Senate Bill 17 Is Permissible/ Lawyers Gino L. DiVito and John M. Fitzgerald Disagree (January 2017)
“Once an individual begins work and becomes a member of the public retirement system, any subsequent changes to the Pension Code that would diminish the benefits conferred by membership in the retirement system cannot be applied to that individual” (January 2017)
To the Sponsors of House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 18 (March 2017)