Breaking: S&P drops Obama's Illinois to *worst* credit rating of any state in country - blames Union pensions!

[link to helenair.com]


Illinois' already disastrous financial situation worsened
Friday as another credit rating agency downgraded its rating
to the worst of any state in the country, blaming lawmakers'
ongoing failure to resolve a multibillion-dollar pension crisis.

Illinois has a $96 billion unfunded liability in its five
state-employee pension funds, due to decades of shorting or
skipping its pension payments. To catch up, the state must
allocate nearly one-third of its general revenue annually to
pensions, putting a squeeze on money for services such as
education and health care.

Standard & Poor's analysts said Friday the new rating reflects
what the agency sees as the state's "weakened pension-funded
ratios" and lack of action on reform measures.

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