-- 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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We are in a meltdown financially and our elected officials can’t think of anything better to debate than sports complexes. I can’t wait to get the hell out of this state.
If public funds are used, the teams should provide an equity interest in the team equal to the funding to the public entity that provided the funds. Pay to play!
They should pass a law prohibiting use of taxpayer money for the land and construction costs of a stadium. Permit spending to give access to water, power and possibly some street infrastructure. Take the issue off the table this way.
I don’t care how bad or good the teams are, they’re owned by billionaires. Keep them out of the taxpayers pockets or else wind up with a crooked deal like the one Hochul pulled for the Buffalo Bills, a team her husband is on the board of.
The public should never finance stadiums for billionaire owners. End of story.
This is kind of like tying teachers pay to student academic performance. I don’t see why they would hold professional athletes to a higher standard – although the idea is good. The sports teams should just leave – the state can’t afford them and it doesn’t appreciate them enough to change their spending on illegals, CTU and the like to support something the regular citizens of the state would benefit from.