-- 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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CPS CEO provides the only path to sustainability. There is no alternative to consolidation and employee headcount right sizing. Stacy Gates immediately points out that Conehead the Mayorbarian is her ally and there will be no rationalization of underutilized schools or reductions in force. Stacy is living in a land of endless flowing cash from the few chumbolones who remain in the city and Illinois. Imagine employees of a failing company insisting that they must not be let go and must be paid even in the face of running out of cash or even having actual work to do. That… Read more »
Stacy is looting the treasury before it all collapses. She’s akin to a private equity CEO who purchases a struggling company, loads it up with debt, pays herself handsome fees for managing the collapse, and then lets it go bankrupt. We’ve seen this time and time again, Hertz, Toys R’ Us, etc. Stacy bought the City of Chicago, with Johnson as mayor. She’s loading the City with debt to pay outlandish salaries for her union members, she pays herself a pretty penny too, and when it all collapses, there will be a new mayor and a new union boss. Meanwhile,… Read more »
Stacy Davis Gates could not do any of this without the support of the majority of teachers who elected both her and Mayor Johnson. Despite the hand-wringing and lamenting of teachers who see themselves as long-suffering victims, teachers enabled this mess every step of the way. And nothing will change until teachers decide to vote for change.
CPS teachers are a self-selecting groups of folks who will always elect crazy communists to represent them.
The revenue can only come about with some significant changes from Springfield and the voters. The progressive income tax amendment failed in an election where Biden won handily, so relying on that source is little more than a hope and slow to implement. Forget the trading transaction tax. There would be no income raised – firms like CME would be gone on a flash. So Chicago is left with increasing property taxes which won’t close the gap and encourage exodus from the City. I can only imagine Gates’ frustration- she has a willing subject of a mayor but there is… Read more »
If this is what the teach as alignment, no wonder the proficiency of students is near 0%.