Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer
April 22, 2026
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Summary and audio linked here.
-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
"It's going to come up in the next 6-8 years, that they'll be unable to fully pay the pensions that has been promised in this city to the police and fire.," said Savage a nationally syndicated financial columnist and author.
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Audio and summary Illinois bill would override local law to allow homeless living in all public parks – Wirepoints
April 14, 2026
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If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago Fiscal Crisis Worse Than Pre-Bankruptcy Detroit, HIV Surge and Public Health Threat From Open Borders Goes Unreported
April 10, 2026
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Summary and audio linked here.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
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.
Back when the Illinois constitution was written, no one predicted the stacked six-figure pensions and the full pensions for working one day in a classroom that currently drain the system. Life expectancy was.lower, partly due to poorer health habits and the recent availability of drugs to keep people alive longer, also draining the pension fund balances.
Bankruptcy is their only way out. The insanity must be reined in.
Shows to go ya: both words and their absence matter.
Can IL courts order legislators to increase appropriations now to ward off defaults? Clear separation of powers issue but WA courts fined legislature for failure to fund schools. Lots of problems (e.g. climate) on the horizon where sensible interventions are blocked by lobbyists and contributors. The sooner we can force the issue, the better the chance of avoiding the train wreck. Another formulation: can’t we block the [can] kick?
IL judges dare not attack IL legislators, lest they find themselves frozen out of the Democrat Party apparatus, and it’s practically guaranteed that Judge would have his or her district redrawn to ice them off the bench. If there’s anything we’ve seen in IL politics, it is that you don’t challenge the status quo, or you will be removed.
The power dynamics you describe are “interesting” and perhaps to be expected. However, why wouldn’t the union power brokers push for funding increases? I understand that some members prefer current pay raises even if it results in lower pension funding but that seems to be based on the presumption that the government will always pay … so why not have your cake and eat it too. But as actual pension cutbacks loom, why wouldn’t the unions change priorities and begin to push for increased funding? AND IF unions did that, wouldn’t elected legislators and judges begin to see things that… Read more »
“But as actual pension cutbacks loom, why wouldn’t the unions change priorities and begin to push for increased funding?” Illinois unions pushed for pension funding in the past and the courts told them they don’t have a right to a set level of funding unless the fund is on the verge of collapse. Also, why would any union ever agree to concessions in exchange for funding the pensions properly? Nothing requires this to actually happen. Chris Christie did this in New Jersey and then changed his mind afterwards (budget shortfall) and didn’t actually fund them as he said. The courts… Read more »