-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Marbury vs. Madison be damned.
Ted talked to Dan and Amy about the scope of Chicago’s financial crisis and what Mayor Lightfoot should be doing about it. Chicagoans are burdened with more debt than they can ever pay and the only way to reduce that burden is through structural pension reform.
Includes a link to Wirepoints research.
Cook County’s public health system expects to provide a staggering $590 million in health care next year that it won’t get paid for.
On Friday, Cook County Health CEO Dr. Jay Shannon warned that the amount could climb even higher if new federal rules begin in October. Those rules would deny permanent residency or visa renewals to immigrants who use or might use government programs like Medicaid. “The chilling effect that this may have on people accessing services that they have a right to, is right now a large X factor,” Shannon said
Union leadership seems to have looked at teacher uprisings in certain red states and in Oakland, Calif., and drawn the conclusion that the same tactics will work here, igniting a grassroots brushfire of support for their cause. But teachers in those districts truly are miserably paid and their schools woefully underfunded. Chicago teachers, however, have been well paid for years, and Chicago isn’t Oklahoma or West Virginia. Chicagoans understand the connection between good schools and a city’s economic viability. They’re also smarting from the tax burden being placed on them. And they’ve just elected a mayor who ran not on
llinois has committed $500 million toward the construction of the institute and other university facilities, contingent on matching private sector funds. Gov. J.B. Pritzker hasn’t provided a timeline for releasing that money.
The Tennessee treasurer told the Sun-Times, “When I became aware of the risks associated with IIP’s business model in light of federal law, I requested the investments staff to sell the stock.” He said his concern is about the Controlled Substances Act, which makes it illegal to “knowingly open, lease, rent, use or maintain any place, whether permanently or temporarily, for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing or using any controlled substance” — which marijuana remains under federal law despite Illinois’ and other states’ moves to legalize it.
A spokeswoman for the city’s Finance Department said the agency is examining whether to make commercial property a part of the tax increase. If it’s included, it would be the second time the administration has expanded the proposal’s reach since Lightfoot began publicly discussing the idea in recent weeks.
Initial discussions involved applying a higher tax rate to sales of homes valued at $1 million or more, similar to a proposal offered by progressive aldermen who want the money earmarked to help the homeless. But in her address about city finances Thursday night, Lightfoot said the tax should
Comment: Very sad news indeed. They’ve been among the few voices in Illinois media recognizing the scope of our crisis. Along with filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy and notifying employees of potential layoffs starting this October, News-Gazette Media will be sold to the family-owned Champaign Multimedia Group LLC, an affiliated company of Community Media Group.
By continuing practices such as automatic raises and taxpayer-subsidized platinum health insurance, along with a new $2,500 bonus, the AFSCME contract will transfer more than $3.6 billion in extra compensation from taxpayers to state workers.
Such job growth is “essential to helping close Chicago’s racial health and wealth gap,” said some promoter.
Comment: “People could very well buy into the opposition’s argument that the state can’t be trusted to keep this new tax focused only on high-income taxpayers.” Ya think? and so far we’ve only heard from the state and Chicago. Still to come are Cook County and hundreds of other municipalities across the state state that are broke.
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