Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Ties That Bind

And if anyone had any doubt that George Ryan was anything but a small part of the Illinois criminal Combine that runs Illinois, this should dispel all doubts:
  • The Illinois Supreme Court today ruled that imprisoned ex-Gov. George Ryan should not get get any of his state pension because of his federal conviction on political corruption charges.

    The 6-1 decision means Ryan, who turns 76 next week, won't be able to start collecting about $5,900 a month, or around $71,000 a year.

    [...] Justice Anne Burke, wife of Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, was the lone dissenting justice who favored Ryan getting some of his pension back. She wrote that the court majority ignored precedent and "incorrectly construes the forfeiture provision" in state pension law.
The Machine has gone through many permutations over the years since Anton Cermak first founded it as a way to break the Irish stranglehold over Chicago politics. Under Shortshanks, it managed its greatest victory by removing republicans as a serious threat statewide (Daley the elder had managed to keep them out of the city and county only.)

But every-so-often, you see these obvious signs of attempting to take care of the cogs and wheels that kept the Machine chugging along for so many decades. This time it couldn't come through, a decent people everywhere should smile and help push for more such victories.

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34 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

speaking of ties that bind, Good ole Tracy Ladner has put it out there that the dept is taking applications for commander from qualified Captains and Lieutenants. It says you can submit an new one or your old one can stand. So basically if you didnt get any calls then you better resubmit because your original one is in the garbage.
Soon enough the real clout on this job will be captains, people will start turning down commander for the capt spot. The capt makes more, works a lot less, and can have their health insurance paid at 55, a little benefit that wasnt offered to the exempts.
Until now only Ed O'donnel has done this, but I am sure it is something that will continue. He is in a good position because he is 55, some of these younger commanders arent close enough to 55 so they have to stick it out.

2/20/2010 12:26:00 AM  
Anonymous full blooded irish said...

Sorry SCC to disagree (a little) with you this time. Machine politics are definitely the root of chicago's evils, but machine politics do not favor the irish. if they did, i would be a chief or something! there are plenty of irish on this job with no juice and no prime gigs. i've even heard bosses spew their hatred for the irish by denying irish officers beat cars simply because they wanted to screw someone irish. i hate daley, but not for being irish, but for his criminal b.s.

carrothers wasn't irish. sorich wasn't irish. that guy behind the hired truck scandal wasn't irish. so don't blame the irish. some of shortshanks's pals have irish names, but are in no way irish.

justice burke is an embarassment to the irish too for sticking up for that POS former governor, may he rot in jail.

i just watched "braveheart." daley is like the king of england in his dealings. burke is like the scottish noble fighting for scraps from the king's table.

2/20/2010 12:58:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wonder if either of the Burkes will side with ME when its time for ME to collect MY pension....

2/20/2010 01:27:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

He shouldn't worry about money. Doesn't he have a room full of cash filled shoe boxes from his secretary of state days ???

2/20/2010 03:25:00 AM  
Blogger SCC said...

Sorry SCC to disagree (a little) with you this time.

You're welcome to disagree, but you're arguing a point we never made. Go back and read it again.

2/20/2010 04:36:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wish people would actually READ what SCC wrote before they put their two cents in....

2/20/2010 06:11:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anne just wants to look consistent in case she ever has to rule on Eddie keeping his pension.

2/20/2010 07:01:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

just saw a 1956 movie ALL THE KINGS MEN sure reminded me of illinois politics. willie starks for mayor

2/20/2010 07:09:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How about Dan Rot-In-Hell Rostenkowski, who fucked us out of 60% of our Social Security benefits. He collects his

Congressional pension, and collected it even while he was in the federal pen.

Jimmy Carter Pardoned him, can we get the Messiah Obama to Pardon Bill Cozzi.

2/20/2010 08:59:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's so telling that Judge (Crook) Burke sided w/Ryan. Crooks stick together, and the Queen of Crooks, married to the King of Crooks, Ed Burke, certainly feels that crooks are entitled to all their perks even if a little criminal conviction somehow occurs despite their multiple "fixes" of our corrupt and inept legal system.

Disgruntled voter

2/20/2010 09:10:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gee, this city and state are so interesting, in over 30 yrs of being employed on the city payroll, it is still amusing how these shithead politicians think that the public is stupid, Ann Burke, Alderman Burkes wife who is part of the machine, voted in favor of Ryan keeping his pension, as a convicted felon, because he wasn't always a crook, well if you as a cop do something wrong after 25 yrs on the job, get a felony conviction because of something you did wrong in your 24th year, would they give you a pension based on your 23 good years, I think not, Jim Thompson is a political hack and they are all the same, My days of voting for this city or state are over, I know that when you don't vote you lose, but I will take my chances.

2/20/2010 09:19:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am no fan of George Ryan, but has he not suffered enough? Will we not be satisfied until he is living On Lower Wacker Drive and begging for money? Even Mr. & Mrs. Willis have forgiven him. Let it go. Let him have his partial pension.

The opinion, written by Justice Bob "Football" Thomas of the Illinois Supreme Court, is filled with hate that Thomas did not even bother to disguise. "Ryan gets nothing" is one sentence in the opinion, instead of "Former Governor George Ryan, having been convicted of multiple felonies, is denied blah blah blah".

Ultimately, it is of no matter. The Supreme Court of the Land will reverse them, because they, the Illinois Supreme Court in a 6-1 ruling, blatantly disregarded their own precedent in Taddeo v. Board of Trustees of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, (IMRF).

2/20/2010 09:43:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

2/20/2010 12:58:00 AM

The guy behind the hired truck scandal was "IRISH" name of daley! Not the hdo stooge that was frontman!

2/20/2010 09:58:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
speaking of ties that bind, Good ole Tracy Ladner has put it out there that the dept is taking applications for commander from qualified Captains and Lieutenants.




What about all the PO's and Sgts that made the leap to commander?? They are good enough now??

2/20/2010 10:25:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Give George Ryan's pension to the family of the six children burned to death.

2/20/2010 10:27:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Justice Burke is just worried that when Eddie goes to the can in a few years, he will also lose his pension.

2/20/2010 11:13:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What really great is they are only taking away around $70,000 he still going to receive around $120,000 in pension. Then Thompson said they have to depend on their friends like they are in the poor house. Gee alot of people I'm sure would like to have $120.000 for their retirement a month.

2/20/2010 11:30:00 AM  
Anonymous full blooded said...

SCC, you are right. i misread it.

2/20/2010 11:45:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

SHE VOTED FOR THE PENSION BECAUSE SHE KNOWS HER HUBBY IS GOIN DOWN EVENTUALLY!!

2/20/2010 12:18:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

too many people depend on the democrats to do the '' deep thinking'' and make all the decisions in their lives. the drones are starting to wake up..and change is coming!

2/20/2010 01:07:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Of course Annie Burke sided with Ryan, she was first appointed to a judicial post by Big Jim Thompson. What big Jim says, Annie does

2/20/2010 02:50:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

erv and ed burke put her there i hope the feds look into this

2/20/2010 03:55:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i just watched "braveheart." daley is like the king of england in his dealings. burke is like the scottish noble fighting for scraps from the king's table.

2/20/2010 12:58:00 AM


There's something I never thought I'd see, the words "Burke" and "noble" in the same sentence. "Burke" and "oily" yes, "noble", no.

Guys like Burke and Daley know down deep in their hearts that everyone, and I mean everyone, hates them. They are power hungry megalomaniacs with no desire for friends, companionship or their families.

They are content to spend their days with sycophants getting high on their drug of choice: POWER. It's pathetic and I am amazed the public hasn't caught on.

2/20/2010 04:04:00 PM  
Anonymous The Box Chevy Phantom said...

2/20/2010 04:04:00 PM...

"...and I am amazed the public hasn't caught on."

AMEN!

What the public HAS caught on to is the constant drum beat of anti public servant & anti labor union member propaganda concocted by shortshanks inc. as a smoke screen for their 20+ years of theft from and fiscal mismanagement of tax-payer treasury.

Remember when times were good and everybody was pointing and laughing at coppers, fire/paramedics, bus drivers and so on? All these people with fat 401K's high five & low six figure salaries, nice cars and cool new condos?

"Who in their right mind wants to be a cop/fireman/bus driver etc for the little money you guys make?" We listened to that funny talk for years.

Now that the economy is in the shitter and companies are shedding jobs by the tens of thousands, every swinging dick all of a sudden figures somehow that municipal employees are at fault for their having to eat 401K's and sell those cars and walk backwards on their condo or go into foreclosure.

"WAHHHH... Everybody else is taking pay cuts and greedy coppers have the nerve to want raises on top of (hah!) fat pensions and early retirements? Fire 'em all and hire people at half the pay!"

It's a shame the public doesn't want to see the hidden hands behind all of this.

We've given up on trying to constructively engage and enlighten. If a citizen brings it up we flat out refuse to discuss it and change the topic. It isn't like there is a dearth of evidence regarding shorty's shenanigans either. The average citizen does not want to know or really doesn't care that this current municipal budget mess is not at all the fault of the workers. We're just convenient scapegoats.

Those of us who have been around for a while know this foolishness is cyclical but we have never seen it so insidiously & cynically orchestrated or take on such a vicious & hateful tone and 42 extra short is playing this funky music for all he can to dirty up our contract arbitration with his constant crying of "no money."

For you citizens out there, for the hopefully last time, stop believing shorty's lies!

The public sure as hell hasn't caught on. If they have, elected municipal officials would would hide out for fear of being chased down, flayed alive and dangled from lamp posts by irate citizen/tax payers for breach of fiscal duty in failing to safeguard and grow the citizens hard earned treasury.

2/20/2010 07:57:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Alderman's Burke's constituents should be aware of what a crook he is!
VOTE HIM OUT
NO INCUMBANTS IN NEXT ELECTION@!!!

2/20/2010 08:35:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ed O'Donnell is stepping "down" as a commander to a mere Captain so he can get city paid retiree health care benefits.

I guess 2 pensions based on 75% of two $150K/yr is not enough. He drops down to captain, gets the HC-benny and after a period of time (say....a month) pulls the pin.

It is amazing how the city keeps on giving to the special people.

2/20/2010 10:58:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Verified its true the vice or asset forfeiture (whatever you call that fkin unit) cmdr is married to a burke.

2/20/2010 11:08:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
I am no fan of George Ryan, but has he not suffered enough? Will we not be satisfied until he is living On Lower Wacker Drive and begging for money? Even Mr. & Mrs. Willis have forgiven him. Let it go. Let him have his partial pension.

The opinion, written by Justice Bob "Football" Thomas of the Illinois Supreme Court, is filled with hate that Thomas did not even bother to disguise. "Ryan gets nothing" is one sentence in the opinion, instead of "Former Governor George Ryan, having been convicted of multiple felonies, is denied blah blah blah".

Ultimately, it is of no matter. The Supreme Court of the Land will reverse them, because they, the Illinois Supreme Court in a 6-1 ruling, blatantly disregarded their own precedent in Taddeo v. Board of Trustees of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, (IMRF).

2/20/2010 09:43:00 AM

Look bleeding heart... you work for the guy? This is not unfair to deny him a pension. We don't get out pension if we commit a felony at the end of our careers. Its being soft on these criminals that has this state and city corrupt more than any other.

If there is no fear or significant reprisals, these politicians will continue to break laws and cost YOU, yes you the taxpayer - financially and in other ways.

YOU pardon him, in your heart. We'll vote to keep his ass responsible for what he did and hope that others of his kind end up there with him. A jail sentence doesn't take away the responsibility nor does it bring back the cash and crooked deals that have fucked this state and city. Take your bleeding heart and bleed for the citizens of this city. They are the true victims that deserve a pension, raises, lower taxes and a chance to better themselves. Not some asshole that had all that and fucked it away because of greed.

2/21/2010 01:48:00 AM  
Anonymous Old Grey Guy said...

How about Dan Rot-In-Hell Rostenkowski, who fucked us out of 60% of our Social Security benefits. He collects his

Congressional pension, and collected it even while he was in the federal pen.

Jimmy Carter Pardoned him, can we get the Messiah Obama to Pardon Bill Cozzi.

2/20/2010 08:59:00 AM


As a retiree who enjoys reading this blog the above comment should open your eyes boys and girls. That tool of stamp stealing son of a bitch screwed every copper who works second jobs so they could get the Social Security benefits they earned. This rat bastard and his Democrat pals screwed every last one of us on this issue. I have seen the man twice since I retired. On both ocassions I walked up to the man and spat right at his feet and called him numerous names that cannot be posted on this site. I just prayed he would have taken offense to the point where he made a move toward me. Nothing would give me greater satisfaction then to smack that world class asshole right in the mouth. If any of you spot him please do the same. Don't worry he's just another cowardly politican like all the others.

Many of you know who I am by my posting name. I would love to post my real name but my son would suffer the wrath of the 35th Street Democrat tools.

2/21/2010 10:34:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To respond to 2/20/2010 11:30:00 AM's comment that Ryan will only get $70,000 taken away and he will still receive $120,000, the poster is not correct. The IL Supreme Court ruled that Ryan will receive NOTHING. NO PENSION T ALL.

I am not here to defend either sides of the issue. I am merely bringing up pension laws.

The State Assembly is the group that defines and writes the pension laws that we in Chicago have to follow. One poster related that if we, as officers, get convicted of a felony, we will not receive a pension. This is true. However, what is different in Ryan's case is that he did not hold the position of Secretary of State or Governor for three decades. We work for one entity, the CPD, for three decades and get the pension accordingly.

Politicians get to add up their service from other areas of government jobs to build up time to get the sweet pensions they receive.

Ryan worked in local politics, Kankakee County politics, etc. before running for any job that reports to Springfield.

Politicians create pension sweeteners for themselves for those people that dabble a little bit in one area of the public sector and then another.

The argument Thompson made was all the allegations against Ryan were from when he was SOS or GOV. Hence, he should be able to receive the $70K as his pension would be had he retired before becoming the SOS.

The biggest concern is that the more pension issues go before any court, and in this case, THE court of IL, the better the chance for others to use the judicial system to get (or not get) pension benefits, and not the executive branch and the legislative branch as it is intended.

Our Pension Law needs protection. We must stay vigilant on it. We must stay together on it. We work for a pension. We earn a pension. But there is a growing voice that wants to remove our traditional pension system from the books. Are we ready, prepared, for that fight?

2/21/2010 11:19:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What precedent is she talking about? Oh, the one that says the clouted keep on getting, weather its "quarters Boyle" getting a new city job, or any number of ex aldercrooks or city officials getting consulting jobs or cush spots at wastemanagement, or like one exalderman getting a great do nothing job with the water dept. then becoming a lobbyist with the red light camera company etc....

2/21/2010 02:02:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The public sure as hell hasn't caught on. If they have, elected municipal officials would would hide out for fear of being chased down, flayed alive and dangled from lamp posts by irate citizen/tax payers for breach of fiscal duty in failing to safeguard and grow the citizens hard earned treasury.

2/20/2010 07:57:00 PM"


if there weren't still people with guns and badges......

2/21/2010 05:38:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Burkes and Daleys...when are the sheeple of Chicago going to wake up and OUST these assholes! I can't wait to leave this f#%$ing city, county and state. Only six years left on this job and I am gone!!!!

2/21/2010 10:17:00 PM  
Anonymous The Box Chevy Phantom said...

02/21/2010 05:38:00 PM...

"...If there weren't still people with guns and badges."

Fellow citizen, you can rest assured that if we ever had the occasion to be in proximity of one of our so called elected officials being rendered some extrajudicial justice (and rightfully so) at the hands of our fellow tax-paying captives, we would not heed their cries for help or interfere with the people's justice.

Most of us feel this way...

We're just waiting for the day City Hall gets stormed and the powers that be order the Police to take offensive action against their fellow citizens.

you can be assured the Police will step aside and let the course correction come at the hands of the fed up citizens.

THIS is what they truly fear!

2/21/2010 11:51:00 PM  

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