-- 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.
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Keep. voting democrat Chicago!
Virtue signaling run amok! Seems Lightfoot’s appointments are based on skin-color and sexual orientation, with qualifications and experience and leadership skills largely ignored. I too noticed that the new CFD Chief’s primary resume features is 1) POC; 2) aggrieved minority (Black and woman); 3) St Sabina community-organizer. Tragic death of her son is no reason for her CFD advancements. I’ve read ZERO regarding her qualifications and genuine leadership and firefighting-experience. Time to discuss Planning Commissioner – another disastrous POC choice who is incapable of productively overseeing much-needed real estate development to further Chicago’s desperate need for more tax-base. Nope, that… Read more »
The new commissioner is a st Sabina type with a son who was involved with gangs who got killed. Just because she’s black she gets the job. Lori is a racist.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot nominates Chicago Fire Department’s first woman commissioner ““The Fire Department must have membership and leadership that mirrors the communities it serves every day. As a child, I never laid eyes on either a female firefighter or a firefighter of color,” Nance-Holt, who is Black, said in a statement. “There were no role models who looked like me, and so I never thought that becoming a firefighter, which was my dream, would be a possibility for me. As fire commissioner, I intend to show the next generation of young Black women that they too can achieve any and… Read more »
I wish I could analyze her appointment on the merits, but that’s impossible. We have no idea if she was competent as #2 at the CFD, if she is respected by her subordinates, or if she is good at her job. None of that matters to Lori’s administration. All that matters is that she checks the boxes: ~ Black ~ Identifies as a woman ~ Complains there were too many white men firefighters 35-40 years ago. ~ Co-founded a social justice/anti-violence grift with St. Sabina’s Pastor Pflager ~ Fails to discuss firefighting or saving lives, focuses instead on superficial color… Read more »
Both Daley administrations promoted segregated unions in exchange for votes; Fire Department and Park District jobs went to whites, CTA reserved primarily for minorities…add to the list. White dominated unions are history.
Chicago is not alone. As I see it, who’d want to work for politicians? Or be forced to join a union and work in a collective that watches its coffee breaks and quitting times more closely than their to-do lists? I lived in that world for about 6-months. Those who rationalize their jobs as callings to public service and try to ‘splain it as great benefits and pensions. A smug group of self-important Rodney Dangerfields. Not only to they walk among us, they make a lot of decisions that the rest of us have to live with.
Lori came into office as the triple threat (woman, black, lesbian, short) and staffed her office with people from every intersectional background imaginable, with social justice grifting as the only previous work experience required. The one demographic she purposely disqualifies – cisgendered straight white men – also happens to be the largest pool of highly educated and competent applicants. Her administration has all but put up a sign that says “Irish need not apply”. The only cisgendered straight white man she deals with publicly on a regular basis – the FOP president – she insults as a clown and a… Read more »
Great comment, debtsor. I’ve read that the tribal layout and segregation in Chicago is by design, and goes back to before Richard J Daley, who turned tribalism and race hustling into political wards, votes, jobs and public unions. We really are up against an entrenched system here.
Mike Royko let us know about the effects of the tribal layouts and segregation in the 70’s. I read Boss as a teenager and being from the suburbs, found it gripping. Of course who really listened?