-- 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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Evanston continues to let Northwestern shirk its “good neighbor” fiscal contribution to Evanston’s municipal operating costs – which aren’t cheap, and reflect Northwestern’s progressive politics.
Mayor Biss could lead his city council towards sharp-pencil reductions in spending, but rather chooses to accept Northwestern’s continued refusal to execute a “Payment in Lieu of Taxes” PILOT agreement.
Cambridge Massachusetts gets $7 million every year from Harvard.
New Haven Connecticut gets $11 million from Yale.
Princeton New Jersey gets $3.6 million from Princeton.
Translation: we need more money to waste and to make us feel better about ourselves.
Dear Mr. Mayor, progressives never embrace new ideas, they simply take money from the makers in society, and give it to the takers. What’s new about that age old scheme? Once a thief, always a thief.
“Our progressive values and ambition require funding to realize, and, unless we embrace growth and new ideas, we won’t be able to access that funding without unfairly burdening those who can least afford to pay.”
Translation: More money down the drain for useless feel – good stuff like ‘reparations’, homeless ‘services’, and the like…