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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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It’s too bad our politicians don’t have the will to fix this. At some point there will be enough of a loss of residents and businesses that they will have to do something. Even the migrants will be leaving Illinois because it will be worse than Venezuela.
Well, the notion that more taxes directed to public employee union pensions is the only real solution is correct enough. Which means either more taxes, so there’s more to spend on pensions, or spend far less tax $’s on stuff other than pensions, or some combination of the two. Reducing payroll and future pension expense by eliminating vacant positions and additional hiring just increases the proportion of expensive (and aging) ‘legacy’ employees to ‘cheap’ new-hires. Current pension benefits and taxpayer’s obligation to pay them are constitutionally guaranteed. Assuming that you could even get a guvmn’t employee 401k pension past the… Read more »
Been going on for decades and not one thing has been done to fix it. Greedy, Disgraceful parasites draining the life blood out of anyone they can.
The only way to fix it is to put more money into the system. People such as yourself will fight that because you don’t want taxes to increase. Yes it’s been going on for decades because the voters refuse to elect leaders that will fund the pensions. Pensioners deserve every penny that is owed to them. It’s their money and not yours and I would expect if you had a pension you would also expect your full payment. I have money in a private brokerage account and I expect every penny in that account to be paid to me. Pensions… Read more »
Yep, pretty much exactly correct. A majority of Illinois voters decide.
We’ll see if the water can get hot enough to make the frogs jump out of the pot before they’re cooked.
Considering that most of them are just about about medium well done now, I’m not hopeful.
A majority of Illinois voters who now contain more and more government employees. This is the point. 45% in my Illinois City, with a further 25% retired.
We now have a “Government Class” resembling an ever increasing voter block. Why would any of these people ever vote for someone who has the audacity to suggest curtailing their life of luxury?
Something has to give. You believe we will end up at a 80% tax rate in Illinois? I think not.
PPF – at a general level, I agree that voters in Illinois have received the government they have voted for. But query the rejection of the 2020 progressive tax amendment. How did this happen? It couldn’t have just been the votes of those with over 300k and over in AGI. It had to be the case that those hauling in 80k a year rejected the amendment in large numbers – the suburban voting patterns support this view. The amendment was soundly rejected in an election which Biden won handily. There is a deep lack of trust in the State’s (really… Read more »
“But who in his right mind would give Springfield the right to raise taxes on a California style regime?” I agree with you that voters don’t trust Illinois politicians. Who would? That said, the progressive tax amendment will never pass unless it is framed as a choice between a flat tax increase for all or a progressive tax on the “rich”. The legislature passed the tax rates that would be implemented if the amendment passed. They could have accomplished the same thing but passed the new tax rates OR the flat tax increase of 6 or 7% if it doesn’t… Read more »
Bloated, crooked public pensions are the cancer that is choking Illinois to death