-- 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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Budget cuts should be #1, hello???
Road funds should be used to build and maintain roads . Not to be used for transit BAILOUT . Service cuts and layoffs . Number of riders has decreased yet they just keep the same number of workers or increased them .
If Chicago transit were carrying at least the same number of passengers as in 2019, this could be justified. Maybe. It isn’t. Service cuts must come before any further political animal payments.
But…this is JB the Hutt’s Illinois. Sensibility and common sense are not welcome here.
Tax- the answer for every misspent dollar
Head count , rate hikes and service cuts. Everything else should be off the table.