“Massive and growing” pension hole. Lowest credit rating for any major city except Detroit. via Moody’s downgrades Chicago amid pension crisis – Mar. 4, 2014.

http://politics.suntimes.com/article/springfield/madigan-pushes-100-million-bid-obama-library/tue-03042014-1037pm

http://www.illinoisobserver.net/2014/03/04/poll-rauner-romps-leading-nearest-rival-by-25-points/

http://politics.suntimes.com/article/springfield/dillard-unveils-economic-plan-tax-credits-create-jobs/tue-03042014-210pm

Here’s the rundown of states which have the most taxing bodies — Illinois ranks highest, with 6,963 units of local governments.   http://politics.rebootillinois.com/2014/03/03/uncategorized/lilyoberman/illinois-top-industry-creating-bureaucracy-thats-joke/1065/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Twitterfeed-Mdoubek#.UxYv3F52fLF

http://www.theintelligencer.com/local_news/article_a2be976c-a2fe-11e3-aae1-001a4bcf887a.html You just gotta wonder about the judgment of a female candidate who accepts a free corndog when there’s a photographer around.

The backlog is expected to fall to $5.6 billion by June 30, which is the end of the current fiscal year. That’s down from a high of $9.9 billion in 2010. The figures came from a letter acting budget director Jerome Stermer wrote to legislative leaders, adding that the unpaid tab was $6.4 billion in December. via Illinois bill backlog could fall to $5.6 billion | Northwest Herald.

Public pension plans threaten the financial health of U.S. cities and states more than taxpayers realize, billionaire investor Warren Buffett said. “Citizens and public officials typically under-appreciated the gigantic financial tapeworm that was born when promises were made,” Buffett wrote. Comment: Our purpose statement here at WirePoints has said just that from our start: the gigantic scope of the pension crisis is under-appreciated. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-03/buffett-says-pension-tapeworm-means-decade-of-bad-news.html