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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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Great analysis by Kass on an analytical basis that few journalists can match. Getting elected mayor– or any other elected job for that matter –is a simple matter of arithmetic. Vallas will need 30-35 percent of the black vote– which he can get if he focuses on crime prevention and school choice. He needs at least 25 percent of the Hispanic vote– which is possible if he focuses on schools, crime and job creation. And of course he needs 75 percent or so of the white vote. Nobody wants Lori any longer . She is a disaster by everyone’s calculation.… Read more »
Vallas may be the only one in the field who can.
To take on the job of Chicago may requires either extraordinary courage or extraordinary ignorance. It’s sure not ignorance with Vallas. He’s wonkier than us at Wirepoints in terms of knowing the financials, numbers and facts.
I’m betting that his internal polling is favorable to some extent or he wouldn’t be doing this.
Absolutely right. Much of what needs to be done to save Chicago is politically very unpopular – especially with the “Takers” of Illinois like entrenched machine politicians, CTU, SEIU, AFSCME, the welfare class, etc. – and the other tasks revolving around long-term financial stability will be very painful in the short term. Most of humanity is unable to suffer short term for long term gain.