Illinois State Senator Chris Lauzen made three simple suggestions to solving Illinois’ $83 billion unfunded pension liabilities: end abuses of the present system, raise the retirement age to 62, and limit cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs) to 2 percent a year. What he failed to mention is how to get these changes implemented.

The release last week of the Federal Reserve’s much-anticipated three-year study of America’s finances, its Survey of Consumer Finances, confirmed what many families already know: Between 2007 and 2010 the average family’s net worth declined by nearly 40 percent, mostly because of the decline in housing prices. The Fed study also confirmed that their incomes also fell significantly in real terms, by nearly eight percent.

Wayne Allyn Root, former Las Vegas odds maker, reiterated his prediction from last December that Romney would win big in November.

Following another last-minute late-weekend meeting of European Finance Ministers, Spain’s new Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy happily announced that not only would his country receive more bailout funds than it needs, it’s coming without any strings attached. This is because, according to Rajoy, the new measures instituted since the victory of his People’s Party last November have been so effective in bringing common sense and prudent behavior back to the country’s financial markets. Those “radical” fiscal, labor market, and financial sector reforms that were instituted were the key, he said.

In his latest statement to his supporters, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul answered a number of questions but left open many more. After announcing in May that he would no longer participate in any other presidential primaries but would concentrate instead on states where primaries had already been held in the hopes of generating additional support, his supporters now know two things: With 200 bound delegates he has no chance of winning the Republican nomination in Tampa, Florida, over the weekend of August 27. But he expects there will be more than 500 delegates there supporting his position, which is far more than anyone anticipated.

Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf testified on Wednesday before the House Budget Committee about the federal government’s “Long Term Budget Outlook.” His office just released its latest study which showed two scenarios: one bad, the other worse.

On May 2, Jason Grotto of the Chicago Tribune penned his two-year experience in ferreting out how former Mayor Richard M. Daley and his friends were able to milk the city’s pension system for millions and hide it from public view for 20 years.

General Motors' CEO Dan Akerson supports increasingly closer ties with the Chinese tyrants, explaining that it's good for business. "By Bob Adelmann"

The bankruptcy trustee in charge of liquidating MF Global issued a report today that there "may be valid claims" against CEO Jon Corzine.

Last Friday the City Council of North Las Vegas, Nevada’s fourth largest city just north and east of Las Vegas, voted unanimously to suspend part of its union agreement in order to balance its budget. With property tax and general tax revenues down by more than 30 percent in just the last three years, North Las Vegas was facing a shortfall of $30 million in its $500 million budget.

Under state law it must submit a balanced budget by June 1. Negotiations with three public employee unions, the North Las Vegas Police Officers Association (POA), the North Las Vegas Police Supervisors Association (PSA), and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), began in January but the unions refused to make the concessions necessary to keep the city solvent.