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Originally Posted by left of center
State supersedes the city in most legal situations. The mayor and other officials from Chicago can try to lobby and influence the statehouse, but otherwise there isn't much the city itself can do.
The city has mostly tried legal fixes to the pension issue such as requiring union employees to contribute more or adjust the amount paid out to retirees. All have been struck down by the courts due to violating the pension amendment in the state constitution. We will need continually higher taxes just to keep up with the interest payments. The situation itself is wholly unsustainable, and given the lack of political backbone to fix the issue we've basically reached the end of being able to kick the can. The only eventual conclusion is the city and state default on payments.
I feel bad for the pensioners, but it's really not fair to ask 98% of the state to sacrifice their future for the sake of the 2% that are snowbirding in their second homes in Arizona and Florida.
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Lobbying isn't going to do a damned thing, honestly. What needs to happen is getting some new blood in Springfield with the cajones to do what's needed to be done, which is apparently to get rid of that constitutional amendment that was stupidly put into place who knows how many years ago.
Lobbying individual legislators isn't going to work, but a massive educational campaign aimed at the electorate themselves might just do the trick. Just put it only on the most biased left and right-wing media outlets to make sure the nuts on both sides understand the seriousness of the issue being dealt with, since the moderates pretty much understand the situation, I would imagine.
Aaron (Glowrock)