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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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They rely on large number of participants who will continue to vote for them. Kass calls it bribing the people with their own money. The problem is because of gross mismanagement, the money is drying up. The average taxpayer paying the bills make less than the average political hack, or even average state worker. The sad thing is the poor, whom Dems profess to care so much about, are the ones who get squeezed the most. It’s sickening.
CHI has far more aldermen with smaller precincts than most major cities. One for the south, west and north sides each and one for downtown would suffice. Even two per each of four districts would be a tremendous improvement.
To end the problem just put a cap on all pensions no matter how much they earn. Working in the public sector right now makes many if not all employees millionaires.
Don’t cap the pension, end all government pensions.
That, or at least just start taxing them at the state level above x amount.
So, you are good with also taxing IRA, 401k and private pension payments? You won’t get away with just taxing public pensions. Also, taxing “only above x amount” may violate the flat tax requirement of the Illinois constitution. Does this mean you would support a progressive income tax amendment to the Illinois constitution?
We are talking about public pensions and not privately owned IRA’s or 401k’s that are funded with one’s pay. Big distinction. Illinois taxes unearned income today, and I see no reason they couldn’t try the same with means testing public pensions. I’d welcome the test of your theory that doing so would violate the constitution.
You won’t be able to target just public pensions and you won’t “means test” them. It’s a diminishment that specifically targets pensions and not retirement income as a whole. The courts would see right through that. Falls right in line with other ideas such as charging a “service fee” to cash a public pension check for those that moved out of state. We can’t tax those people that left so we will just rename the reduction as a “service fee”. Good luck with that theory.