Would Have Been Helpful To Know: IFT Prez Sits On Board of CTBA

The guys over at the Illinois Mirror took a second to stop their Rich Miller-hating and uncovered (at least for us here at the Truth Team) this little nugget that makes the Carol Marin lead discussion on Chicago Tonight a little bit less that something that should be taken at face value.

Earlier this week, they convened a panel to talk about politics and the fiscal condition of the State of Illinois.

The panelists included John Tillman - a guy from the Illinois Policy Institute, Dan Montgomery - the President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Bruce Dold from the Chicago Tribune Ed Board and Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.

Martire and Montgomery seemed to be on the same page the whole segment.  We wondered why they seemed so chummy.

Turns out, the Mirror guys know why:  Montgomery is on the board of Martire's CTBA.  Isn't that convenient?

Chicago Tonight had a good debate on Illinois’s growing unfunded pension liability.
John Tillman of the libertarian-leaning Illinois Policy Institute was there, as was Chicago Tribune Editorial Page Editor Bruce Dold. 

Representing the teachers union and other state workers were Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and Dan Montgomery, president of the Illinois Federation of Teacher. 

What host Carol Marin didn’t tell you was that Montgomery sits on the board of the CTBA, which she and other members of the media like to tout as a non-partisan arbiter of everything budget related, especially when it comes to taxes and pensions. But as we’ve pointed out in previous posts here and here, they’re not. In fact, the CTBA is also a favorite tool of Rich Miller, the former Mike Madigan staffer who now passes himself off as the Sage of Springfield through his Capitol Fax blog. He often uses slanted CTBA “reports” to beat up on candidates and politicians who offer up new ideas to get Illinois’s fiscal house in order. 

Marin would have done better by her viewers if she disclosed during the intros that Montgomery sits on the CTBA board.

Go check out the whole thing.  While you're there, go enjoy some of their funnies.

CTU Boss Karen Lewis Has Two Vacation Homes, Claims She's "Middle Class"

Give the Truth Team a home in Union Pier (although...we'll be honest...we'd prefer New Buffalo!) and a home in Hawaii and a $200K annual salary and you'd never hear from us again.

But...Chicago Teacher's Union Boss Karen Lewis?  She's check all those boxes (the $200K annual salary, the two vacation homes), but she still insists that she's 'middle class'.

Now...listen...we're not ones to play the class warfare card, but we can't help but see the irony here.

Chicago Teachers Union boss Karen Lewis is defending her six-figure salary and three homes -- one of which is in Hawaii -- as "solidly middle class." 

The Sun-Times reports that Lewis, who frequently busts Mayor Rahm Emanuel for hanging out with rich people like himself, commands a combined salary of $201,047 for her CTU position as well as her union gig as executive vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. (Emanuel, meanwhile, earns $216,200. But he's got millions in his bank account.) 

According to the paper, Lewis and her retired teacher husband own a Hawaiian condo, which they bought several years ago for $240,000, in addition to their home in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood, purchased in 2007 for $405,000. She and her sister share ownership of a vacation property in Union Pier, Mich., priced at $305,000.