-- 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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Why take a train to a small town with no public transit when you can just drive instead? Rail in the US makes little sense. It is as if none of these legislators ever did a semester abroad in Europe or Asian and saw why high speed rail works well there but not in the US.
So, the existing Rockford, Peoria, Decatur, and Moline lines will feed into this high-speed rail system. Is part of the intent to revitalize these cities’ economies? If so, that seems like wishful thinking. With the system in place, will people travel to these cities more frequently to revitalize the economies? The commission should consider alternate cities where the chances of economic revitalization are greater. Unfortunately, if they’re going to restrict their search to cities in or adjacent to IL, it’ll be difficult to find worthy candidates.
When was the last time anything good came from an 18 person committee?
Ya still waiting on the property tax commission