-- 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.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
I got a kick this morning on ABC out of the aldercreature harkening back to Fast Eddie politics as to what’s wrong with CHI financially. Never a mention of Johnson cutting 9 deputy mayor positions ( at 175K per ) , a 116 strong security detail, “ created “ positions for ex- cons and offspring of illegal immigrants, his wife’s 80K office makeover, etc. Nope, like his boss, the critter was putting it off on someone else, the whiter the better.
Kudos to the mayoral team to fully eliminate the property tax proposal.
Now get to work on eliminating the $40 million kick the can down the road suggestion and start making some real budget cuts…
And deep within the article we discover that once again the old reliable pension plan payments will get cut again. Add the pension plan cut to the new loans and the ugly head of kicking the can arises once again keeping everyone happy until it doesn’t. Heaven forbid the Chicago taxpayers have to pony up for their spending largesse but the day they do is fast approaching because most probably Trump will not be playing Santa with a bag full of bailouts and the State is broke. The surprised look on the Chicago taxpayers face when it happens will be… Read more »
Note the promoters and beneficiaries of kicking the can down the road: the public unions who expect to have their cake and eat it too. They whine that pension funds have been stolen while they demand more current spending on themselves. Then they blame the only group that gets no benefit, the taxpayers.