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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.
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The article, authored by “a 30-year veteran of the CIA,” doesn’t tell us whether a US or European company would be able to provide a competitive bid. It doesn’t tell us where the equipment would be built– I suspect it would be made in Chicago, by local workers, using some components from China. It notes accusations, probably true, of misbehavior by CRRC, but I wonder how many major U S companies are untainted by similar practices. I suppose the author’s present employer (Veretus Group) has a client who will benefit from obstructing Metra’s proposed purchase.
A Democratic Party Mayor, in a Democratic city, in a Democratic County, in a Democratic state, financially supporting Red Chinese companies over American companies…
What is so surprising about this!?