-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
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
It’s certainly true that Lightfoot’s lobbying operation in Springfield is inept as pointed out here, but this story misses the real point, which is that the General Assembly will pass what unions want, even if it’s as foolish as this.
The unions spend an insane amount of money on political donations. My local rep (will remained unnamed) is a huge union guy who gets close to zero donations from local residents in his district but takes massive party donations (nearly $2,000,000 from Democrat Party of IL), nearly every donation in the last few years, except for a few thousand dollars, has been from unions and corporate interests. No regular joe in the district gives him any money. So the question is, who does he really represent? He’s probably got a huge target on his back from the progressives at this… Read more »