-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
“What we … just did in the hopes of saving money is told [law-abiding residents] that, when these neighborhood terrorists continue to terrorize their communities and are caught, and if anything happens, we’re willing to pay them hush money to go away. That is unacceptable. We have told these neighborhoods that, ‘You are on your own,’” Lopez said.
“It is disgusting to me as an alderman. It is disgusting to me as a member of the Brighton Park community — and more so as a [resident of] the city of Chicago that we would even consider paying a family that has so terrorized the neighborhood a single dollar — let alone $1.2 million.”
“There’s definitely a component of this where lawyers know they can sue the city on these types of cases and the city is gonna want to settle,” O’Shea said.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
Interesting to categorize the settlement as ‘hush money’ to the family of a criminal, but ultimately it sways few. The truth is that the city’s residents *hates* the police, they view it as a racist occupying force, the oppresses and terrorizes the citizens. It’s a no-win situation for the police.