Let us take a good look at the recent editorial “Will Illinois Democrats ‘Let the people vote!’ on pension reform?” (July 26) and the stances of right-wing politicians and public policy groups on pensions. First, let’s recall the good old days of the 1980s and ’90s, when Illinois lawmakers used budget tricks called pension holidays and other underfunding maneuvers. Each pension holiday was actually a borrowing by the state and residents against the future pensions of municipal employees: custodial workers, teachers, teacher aides, firefighters and police officers, among others.