Wake Up, Illinois Teachers!

Ty Fahner, President of the Civic Federation

Penny Pritzker, Pension Thief!

Hey, Teachers!  Want to know who’s after your pension?  Take a look at the following list.  These are the officers and members of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.  If you are an active Illinois teacher, these are the super wealthy individuals who are pouring money into the campaign to change your pension formula. 

Now take a look at the video that the Civic Committee paid for as part of its Illinois Is Broke campaign.  The woman in this ad is NOT a teacher.  She is an actor.  Think of all the money that is being wasted by the Chicago millionaires and billionaires on this campaign: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-bLrmEhyiA

And can you guess why these millionaire and billionaires are picking on you, a teacher with a family?  Sure you can!  THEIR GREED KNOWS NO BOUNDS!  They pay less of a percentage of their income in tax to the IRS than you do.  Think of it!  The Pritzkers' tax percentage is lower than yours--just like Mitt Romney's is!

The Civic Federation, the Republicans, and now our illustrious governor refuse to look at alternatives to changing the pension formula for active teachers or screwing the retirees out of their Cost of Living Adjustment.  There has to be another way, doesn’t there? 

Active teachers, these jokers want to take away your future pension, which is protected by the Illinois Constitution, and put you in a 403(b) account. DO NOT LET THEM!

And if you are a retired teacher, these millionaires and billionaires want to eliminate your Cost of Living Adjustment and take away the one-quarter of your medical insurance premium that the state now pays (Wait a minute, the state is currently not paying its medical insurance premiums. We just heard from our doctor this week that CIGNA, the retirees' insurance carrier, told our doctor that he would get paid when the state paid CIGNA.  Sheez!)

I wonder if billionaire Penny Pritzker (see list below) ever has to worry about her doctor not getting paid by her insurance carrier.  I’ll bet she doesn’t, fellow teachers!

According to TRS, the average teacher’s pension in Illinois is $29,000 per year, a far cry from what former District 211 superintendent Gerry Chapman is bringing in—and far more typical!  But we always hear Gerry’s inflated numbers, don’t we?

Take a look down the list and see the businesses that these people represent.  If you are like me, you wonder how teachers can fight back.  How about a boycott!  I’m going to bold face those companies that I’ll never visit again.  NEVER.  And, I’m going to make sure I call or send them a letter telling them why they’ll never get my business again.

Chairman, W. JAMES FARRELL
Retired Chairman & CEO, Illinois Tool Works, Inc.*

Vice Chairman, MILES D. WHITE
Chairman & CEO, Abbott

President, TYRONE C. FAHNER
President, Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago

Members

GARY D. AHLQUIST Senior Vice President and Managing Partner
            Booz & Company   

JOHN P. AMBOIAN Chief Executive Officer - Nuveen Investments, Inc.   

ANTHONY K. ANDERSON Vice Chair and Midwest Managing Partner - Ernst & Young LLP   
GERARD J. ARPEY Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - AMR Corporations/American Airlines, Inc.  

CHRISTOPHER B. BEGLEY Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Hospira, Inc.  

THOMAS L. BERNARDIN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Leo Burnett Worldwide  

NORMAN R. BOBINS Retired Chairman, LaSalle Bank Corporation*  

WILLIAM J. BRODSKY Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Chicago Board Options Exchange   GREG Q. BROWN Chairman & Chief Executive Officer - Motorola Solutions  

JOHN A. CANNING, JR. Chairman - Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC  

GREGORY C. CASE President and Chief Executive Officer - Aon Corporation  

THOMAS A. COLE Chairman, Executive Committee - Sidley Austin LLP  

ELLEN COSTELLO CEO and US Countryhead - BMO Financial Corp.  

JAMES S. CROWN President - Henry Crown and Company  

LESTER CROWN Chairman - CC Industries, Inc.  

WILLIAM M. DALEY Vice Chairman - JPMorgan Chase & Co.  

DEBORAH L. DEHAAS Vice Chairman and Central Region Managing Partner - Deloitte LLP  

MARY N. DILLON President and Chief Executive Officer - U.S. Cellular  

WILLIAM J. DOYLE President and Chief Executive Officer - PotashCorp  

CRAIG J. DUCHOSSOIS Chief Executive Officer - The Duchossois Group, Inc. (Arlington Park Race Track)

JOHN A. EDWARDSON Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - CDW LLC  

HON. RAHM EMANUEL* Mayor - City of Chicago (We already know what this little ____ thinks of             teachers.  I refuse to visit Chicago or spend money there AT ALL!)

JOHN R. ETTELSON President and Chief Executive Officer - William Blair & Company  

CHARLES L. EVANS President and Chief Executive Officer - Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago  
THOMAS P. FITZGERALD Managing Partner - Winston & Strawn LLP  

MICHAEL T. FOLEY Chief Executive Officer, Zurich North America Commercial and Regional  Chairman of the Americas  

MATTHEW R. GIBSON Partner, Head of Investment Banking, Midwest Region - Goldman, Sachs & Co.  (I’ll bet you’ve heard of Goldman Sacks before, haven’t you?)

SUE L. GIN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Flying Food Group, LLC  

JAMES T. GLERUM, JR. Chairman, Head of North America Regional Banking - Citigroup  

RICHARD W. GOCHNAUER Chief Executive Officer - United Stationers  

RICHARD C. GODFREY Partner - Kirkland & Ellis LLP  

ILENE S. GORDON Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer - Corn Products International, Inc.  
KENNETH C. GRIFFIN Founder and Chief Executive Officer - Citadel, LLC.  

PATRICIA HEMINGWAY HALL President and Chief Executive Officer - Health Care Service Corporation  

JAY L. HENDERSON Vice Chairman, Client Service - PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP  

MICHAEL J. HOGAN President - University of Illinois  

W. BRUCE JOHNSON Interim Chief Executive Officer and President Sears Holdings Corporation  
LESTER B. KNIGHT III Founding Partner - RoundTable Healthcare Partners  

FRED A. KREHBIEL Co-Chairman - Molex Incorporated  

HERBERT W. KRUEGER Chairman - Mayer Brown LLP  

PAUL V. LA SCHIAZZA President - AT&T Illinois  

EDWARD M. LIDDY Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - The Allstate Corporation*   

DONALD G. LUBIN Partner, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP*  

JOHN W. MADIGAN Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Tribune Company* (Surprise, Surprise!!!!!)  

TIMOTHY P. MALONEY Illinois President - Bank of America  

R. EDEN MARTIN Former President, Civic Committee*  

LESTER H. MCKEEVER, JR. Managing Principal - Washington, Pittman & McKeever, LLC  

ANDREW J. MCKENNA Chairman - Schwarz Supply Source Chairman - McDonald's Corporation  

W. JAMES MCNERNEY, JR. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer - The Boeing Company  
JAMES S. METCALF President and Chief Executive Officer - USG Corporation  

DAVID W. NELMS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Discover Financial Services  

WILLIAM A. OSBORN Retired Chairman & Chief Executive Officer - Northern Trust Corporation*  
 ROBERT L. PARKINSON, JR Chairman & Chief Executive Officer - Baxter International Inc.  

SHEILA PENROSE Chairman - Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc.  

DONALD S. PERKINS Retired Chairman - Jewel Companies, Inc.*  (It’s Dominck’s for me!)

P. CODY PHIPPS President and Chief Executive Officer - United Stationers  

PENNY PRITZKER Chairman - TransUnion, LLC  

THOMAS J. PRITZKER Chairman - Hyatt Hotels Corporation  (On to Motel 6!)

FRANK S. PTAK President and Chief Executive Officer - The Marmon Group, LLC  

BRUCE V. RAUNER Chairman - GTCR, LLC  

J. CHRISTOPHER REYES Chairman - Reyes Holdings, LLC  

LINDA JOHNSON RICE Chairman & Chief Executive Officer - Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.  
JOHN W. ROGERS, JR. Chairman & Chief Executive Officer - Ariel Investments, LLC  

PHILMER H. ROHRBAUGH Vice Chair and Managing Partner - Chicago Business Unit - KPMG LLP  
 IRENE B. ROSENFELD Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Kraft Foods Inc.  

JOHN W. ROWE Chairman Emeritus - Exelon Corporation  (Parent of Commonwealth Edison) 

JAMES T. RYAN Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer - W. W. Grainger, Inc.  

PATRICK G. RYAN Chairman Ryan Specialty Group  

JOHN F. SANDNER Retired Chairman of the Board, Member of the Executive Committee - CME Group  
MORTON O. SCHAPIRO President - Northwestern University  

CHARLES A. SCHROCK Chairman, President and CEO - Integrys Energy Group, Inc.  

MICHAEL D. SCIMO Managing Director, Chicago Office - Accenture  

GORDON I. SEGAL Chairman - Crate & Barrel  

JAMES A. SKINNER Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - McDonald's Corporation  

JEFFERY A. SMISEK President & Chief Executive Officer - United Continental Holdings, Inc.  (Merged Airline)

DAVID B. SPEER Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - ITW  

HARRISON I. STEANS Chairman of the Executive Committee - Financial Investments Corporation  
CARL W. STERN Vice Chairman, Investment Banking - Goldman Sachs & Company  

RUSS M. STROBEL Retired Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer - Nicor Inc.  

RICHARD K. SYKES Managing Partner, Midwest Office, McKinsey & Company, Inc.  

RICHARD L. THOMAS Retired Chairman - First Chicago NBD Corporation*  

GLENN TILTON Chairman of the Midwest Region - JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman of the Board - United Continental Holdings, Inc.  

MICHAEL J. TOWER Partner - A.T. Kearney. Inc.  

FREDERICK H. WADDELL Chairman & CEO - Northern Trust Corporation  

GREGORY D. WASSON Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Walgreen Co.  

DAVID B. WEINBERG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Judd Enterprises, Inc.  

THOMAS J. WILSON Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer -The Allstate Corporation  
 ROBERT J. ZIMMER President - University of Chicago

Notice how the list contains CEO's of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Chase, and CitiBank, the same companies that caused the recession in this country.  But have any of the sharks who caused the economic meltdown gone to prison?  Hell, no!  They're busy giving Ty Fahner the president of the Civic Federation, money to reduce your pensions.  It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

My daughter and my wife, who are still both in the public schools, tell me about the apathy that they find when they mention pension reform in the teachers lounge.  “Their eyes glass over,” my daughter says of her colleagues.  “They ignore me and go on talking,” says my wife.

Better wake up, people, because what happened in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana could happen here.  With the Chicago Tribune and the Wall Street Journal pounding the drum for pension reform, you better believe the legislature will try to ram this through after the November elections.

You contribute over 9% of your salary to your TRS for your pension, just as I did.  I paid for Wilma Tregg’s, Sally Roe’s and Al Radcliff’s pensions just as you are paying for mine. 

The State of Illinois is the bad guy in this whole thing because the state has not kept up its funding.  They forgot the 405 million dollars in 2005 that was supposed to go to TRS.

Governor Quinn, Tom Cross, Civic Federation members, please look for another way to solve the state’s pension “crisis.”  You’ve crapped on us enough already.  Crap somewhere else!