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"To put it in simpler terms: The fact that Illinois’ five- and six-year bond yields are trading around 3.5% and 3.8% shows that investors think the state’s credit is closer to junk-rated municipals than its investment-grade peers."
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Audio and summary Illinois bill would override local law to allow homeless living in all public parks – Wirepoints
April 14, 2026
27 Comments
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago Fiscal Crisis Worse Than Pre-Bankruptcy Detroit, HIV Surge and Public Health Threat From Open Borders Goes Unreported
April 10, 2026
2 Comments
Summary and audio linked here.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
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.
WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times falsely blame Texas Gov. Abbott for 2020 to 2024 surge in Chicago Latino HIV, AIDS infections – Wirepoints Quickpoint
March 31, 2026
11 Comments
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The rating agencies need to be class action sued. They manipulate the very things they rate, they enable the Ponzi scheme and they make a market trading in the misery of Illinois taxpayers. None of this ends until both the actuaries and raters are held responsible for colluding with Illinois politicians, ignoring Wirepoints, Illinois Policy, basically ignoring 5th grade arithmetic. You watch, it still wont hit junk, the powers that write the paycheck of the raters and the actuaries basically stipulates that they shouldn’t think, just be stupid rubber stamps, we’ll cover for you. Actuaries suck and so do bond… Read more »
How long have we heard that without the tax referendum Illinois bonds would be rated as junk? Well the tax failed and now we hear this. I blame the rating companies to a degree on this one. Call it junk asnd lets get on with fixing the eventual mess once and for all.
The governor has a lot of junk in his trunk.
If Illinois bonds are trading like junk, they’re junk