The short answer: If you invested in a fund that buys the shares of gold-mining companies — as many

The prospects of Illinois lawmakers resolving a $ 97 billion unfunded pension liability dimmed as the House adjourned today without any clear indication that a majority would support a bill making state employees and teachers pay more for their retirement benefits.
With the current legislative session set to end Jan. 9, the obstacles facing a pension overhaul mounted as the Senate gave no sign that it would return to act on any retirement legislation, if it were to pass the House of Representatives.
Illinois has the weakest pension system in the U.S., with 39 percent funding for five major groups of public employees, according to the Civic Federation, a Chicago-based nonprofit research group. Lawmakers have repeatedly failed to overcome political obstacles to fixing the system.
The measure before the House would require employees to pay an additional 2 percent of their salaries. It also would delay annual cost-of-living increases by six years, until age 67, for retirees. A coalition of Illinois unions has pledged to challenge the bill in court if it's signed into law.
"They're taking the Tea Party approach let's just cut, cut, cut," said Henry Bayer, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, a union representing public employees.
State pension requirements are consuming an increasing portion of annual spending. Illinois devoted $ 5.7 billion to retirement funding this year and is scheduled to pay $ 6.7 billion in the next budget year, squeezing other services and programs.
The state Senate approved a more limited pension restructuring last year that doesn't mandate higher contributions. Senate President John Cullerton has said the House approach "most likely violates" comfort inn san diego the constitution, Rikeesha Phelon, a Cullerton spokeswoman, comfort inn san diego said today.
During a hearing on her bill, Nekritz said the Illinois Supreme Court "will be the final arbiter on that decision" and said the "time is now to end the excuses and say 'yes' to reform of our pension systems."
Democratic Governor Pat Quinn has said he would sign the bill if it reached his desk. Quinn, 63, said on Dec. 10 that the battle to control employee pension costs "is our fiscal cliff and we need to deal with it" or analysts will lower the state's credit rating again.
The governor told reporters during a breakfast meeting comfort inn san diego at Bloomberg's Chicago comfort inn san diego bureau that there's "a clear and present danger" of another downgrade if state lawmakers don't restructure the pension system.
Four months ago, Standard Poor's cut the state's credit one level to A, sixth highest, citing retiree costs, and gave it a negative outlook, an indication that another downgrade may occur. Only California, ranked A-, has a weaker rating among U.S. states.
The Civic Federation showed the combined funded ratio of the state's five pensions fell to 39 percent comfort inn san diego as of June 30, from 43 percent at the end of fiscal 2011. No other state's ratio was below 50 percent comfort inn san diego in that year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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I was born in Chicago, (the windy city) where I learned how to shovel snow very well. I am an expert snow shoveler. I'm also passionate about politics and I love trying to help and wake up the uninformed and the misinformed.
And loved ones and friends to cut you slack for being a total fucking "C", out of the blue. This time # 5690ish I'm learning the symptoms are physical not emotional. Kind of like the Pain and Pleasure connection. I think, if you move into the addiction withdrawal comfort inn san diego energy and let it wash over you, find your oar[mine's comfort inn san diego hot water with lemon and honey. If there's no lemon or honey, that's NOT a problem. It's the water.] At the risk of sounding strange; the energy for sex,pain,addiction withdrawal,love withdrawal seems to be almost a physical vibration on the same plane. I can almost recognize comfort inn san diego it before it whacks me upside the head. 4 weeks wisdom A very different energy than sex,laughter,love,safety,protecting,playing. That energy makes me want to fuckin' smoke a cigarette! oy
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The world s biggest hamburger chain is set to expand its test of chicken wings to Chicago this week, after a successful run in Atlanta last year. The wings are being sold in servings of three, five or 10 pieces with prices starting at $ 3, according to Lynne Collier, an analyst with Sterne Agee.
A spokeswoman for McDonald s confirmed the test in Chicago would start this week at about 500 restaurants but said there weren t any plans yet to bring the wings to other cities. She noted that no new sauces were being offered with the wings and that the creamy ranch sauce would be the default dipping sauce.
Fast-food chains typically comfort inn san diego test items in select markets before taking them national. But for McDonald s, which has 14,000 U.S. locations, adding comfort inn san diego chicken wings to the permanent lineup could be tricky.
Prices for chicken wings have been climbing over the past year, reflecting an increase in the number of restaurants serving them, said David Harvey, an agriculture economist comfort inn san diego who specializes in poultry and eggs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In December, the cost of wings in the wholesale market in the Northeast was 26 percent higher than a year ago. Wings sold for $ 1.90 a pound that month, compared with $ 1.30 a pound for boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Rather than becoming a permanent part of the menu, McDonald s could offer the dish for a limited time; the chain has said it plans to ramp up the frequency of such special offers comfort inn san diego as a way to give customers more variety. But whether it will offer Mighty Wings even on a limited-time basis will likely depend on McDonald s ability to get wings at reasonable prices, said Collier, the analyst with Sterne Agee.
There could be other challenges. comfort inn san diego Richard Adams, a former comfort inn san diego McDonald s franchisee who now runs a consulting firm for franchisees, said that menu items generally don t work unless they can be eaten easily in the car. He noted that the majority of McDonald s food is purchased at the drive-thru.
This isn t the first time McDonald s is offering wings, however. According to the National Chicken Council, McDonald s first introduced them in 1990 at some locations, prompting other fast-food chains to follow suit. A McDonald s representative wasn t able to immediately provide the history of Mighty Wings.
The latest test comes amid intensifying competition for McDonald s, which for years had outperformed rivals such as Burger King and Wendy s with a steady stream of new menu items, such as snack wraps, fruit smoothies and specialty coffee drinks. But now Burger King and Wendy s are working to revamp their images and menus.
This past spring, Burger King launched its biggest ever menu expansion comfort inn san diego to include its own snack wraps, fruit smoothies and specialty coffee drinks. And last week, the Miami-based chain even introduced chicken nuggets comfort inn san diego that more closely resemble McNuggets, replacing the chicken tenders it previously sold.
In addition, McDonald s is facing competition from newer chains such as Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Panera Bread Co., which serve higher-quality food for slightly higher comfort inn san diego prices. In October, McDonald s said a key sales figure dropped for the first time in nearly a decade. The figure rebounded in November after the Oak Brook, Ill., company said it would return comfort inn san diego to emphasizing its Dollar Menu to lure price-conscious diners.
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7:35PM comfort inn san diego EST December 3. 2012 If you own a gold fund, you ve probably heard about the big gains gold bullion has made this year. You may also be wondering why your gold fund hasn t shared in any of those gains.
The short answer: If you invested in a fund that buys the shares of gold-mining comfort inn san diego companies — as many do — you probably lost money this year. If you bought shares of a fund that buys the metal itself, you made money.
The argument for gold-mining stocks is fairly simple. When the price of gold rises, a company that produces gold sees its earnings increase at a faster pace than the metal itself. Let s say you owned a mine that