-- 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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Many people wonder “what went wrong” in Puerto Rico and why the island’s “economic miracle” of the mid-20th Century degenerated into financial crisis and bad government.
To help understand what happened, we must look at what went wrong in the U.S., with its own deterioration of the government and economy. It’s about the enormous power of public employee unions.
Puerto Rico was ruined by public unions | Opinion – Sun Sentinel (sun-sentinel.com)
Tier 1 public pensions/medical, outrageous and set at fantastic levels which are bankrupting non-public union taxpayers. Not only that, but these fantastic pensions were not funded, intentionally, for many years so a second generation could drink from the same trough. Plus they were designed so no one cared about pension amounts cause often the pensions were set locally, but paid by the state. Public pensions are the only thing IL politicians have done precisely (with public union attorneys I’m sure): unlike social security (for non public union taxpayers), benefits cannot be cut and municipalities cannot file for bankruptcy as a… Read more »
Hey, don’t hold back! After all, we’re cheaper than paying for a psychiatrist.
Don’t walk but run out of this State.
Getting rid of herpes will be easier than selling real estate in Illinois.
Says the guy that doesn’t have the guts to leave and only complains non-stop.
Not to worry, I will not be contributing to your overly generous pension. Let the remain mentally challenged do that. The young and rich are fleeing at increasing numbers every year. Take a math class (no one is at grade level) and you will find out the numbers do not come close to adding up.
You keep saying that you’ll leave and stop paying for pensions but yet you remain. This pension issue clearly makes you miserable. Do something about it other than post the same boring stuff over and over again. You’ve been on this board complaining for years and yet you still do nothing to improve your situation.
Someday maybe you’ll work up the courage. I know you can do it. Don’t be frightened.
I think Poor Taxpayer needs some support for moving, don’t you? Maybe we can help him pack for it. He’s one negative dude full of anger and lack willpower to get his mental state on a positive track. He’s slow to learn happiness is primarily a state of mind and somewhat less so one related to one’s environment. Go and resolve to be reasonably happy wherever you choose to be planted!
I have come to the conclusion that some people just love being miserable. They wake up every day and choose to be miserable. Even the ones that move away come on this board to complain non-stop. It is their hobby and they don’t know any other way.
In poor taxpayer’s case, he has no intention of moving any time soon. Anyone that was actually moving wouldn’t be so unhinged.
Well, this is one place that proves “misery loves company.” A good many respondents here absolutely fixate on looking for life’s negatives and seem to revel in it with people of like interests. For every negative in life surely there must be a positive, if only you are creative enough to find it.
Here’s a solution: Declare bankruptcy and give the union slime a big haircut. Shave the heads of CTU, AFSCME and SEIU.
This fits the Definition of a Ponzi scheme to the T.
Should be illegal no matter who is running it.
Illegal contracts are not enforceable.
All the Chitty of Chicago cops are buying luxury homes in Punta Gorda, Fl. so keep the money coming. It is not cheap to drive a luxury car and boat and go out to dinner 5 times a week. So keep the money coming.
86 and sunny blue skies, wish you were here.
The standard plan is to do nothing. Welll run it to the limit until all the money is gone and wait for Washington to fix it.
Do not count on it. The Federal Government is also A$$ high in debt. Most taxpayers of other states do not want to pay anyone else’s bills. Maybe they will change Federal law and Allow states and cities to go bankrupt. That way the courts decide what is to happen. Overly generous Pensions are the Root Cause. Not enough money in the world to pay for them. The only way out for honest hardworking taxpayers is to Flee, like hundreds of thousands already have.
A city income tax of 1.5%?
Is bankruptcy a plan?
Can you sing “Economic Disaster”? PPF and the Illinois Supreme Court says Ponzi scheme Pensions must be paid. This fits the definition of a Ponzi scheme 100% and should be declared Illegal, no matter who is running the Ponzi scheme.
The Ponzi Pension Time Bomb is exploding, and the only answer is to double taxes every 5 years for the next 50 years and cut services. Overly generous pensions are a result of the politicians selling out the taxpayer for the public sector vote (they show up almost at a 100% showing). The normal hard-working family now has to pay for this, big time. The only way out is to vote with your feet like tens of thousands have already. It is cast in stone now, pay more and get less for the rest of your life.
“Johnson, 46 wants to raise taxes on companies that profit from doing business in the city, including hotels, and airlines that pollute the city’s air. He would reinstate the so-called “big business head tax” with a $4 per employee levy on companies that perform 50% or more of their work in Chicago. He’s also proposing a “mansions tax” on the transfer of high-value properties and a levy on securities trading.” versus “Vallas, 69…has an entire page on his campaign website devoted to pension funding. He would put the city’s retirement funds under the direction of independent professional investment managers who are… Read more »
Plan/? How about the kick the can down the road plan that has worked so well for the past Mayors.