The irony of Governor Quinn’s suspension of Illinois legislators’ recompense (by Jane Artabasy)

Dear Chicago Tribune Editorial Board:

What delicious irony!  Regarding the issue of teacher pension costs, Gov. Quinn suspends legislators' pay for not doing their jobs, while we (retired teachers) are facing frightening, long-term pension cuts after actually doing our jobs teaching Illinois' children.  The bright side to this draconian scenario?  At long last Illinois legislators will feel the distress of someone in power arbitrarily withholding compensation assumed to be contractually secure.

When it comes to the mindsets of our state's legislators, this new wrinkle in Springfield will perhaps bring unintended consequences.  Perhaps the quality of empathy will finally start to share the policy space dominated--so far--by the bloodless agendas of politics and the cold, calculating strategies of self-interested plutocrats.

--Jane Artabasy