-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Cook County’s health care tab is set to grow by about 6.6% to $4.26 billion next year, accounting for nearly half of the county’s proposed $9.14 billion budget. County officials attribute the higher spending to rising patient volumes but didn't say what's driving that increase.
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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Nearly all of downtown office buildings will enter into foreclosure. And as the illegals and criminals and thugs fill the void, tenants will continue leaving too. The big name tenants who resigned leases or moved to better space in Class A buildings will soon enough regret their decision to re-commit to Chicago. Chicago survived the great Chicago fire, the Great Depression, the Great Migration and the Global Financial Crisis. But Chicago will not survive the triple whammy of Lori Lightfoot, COVID and Brandon Johnson. It’s lights out, game over for the loop.