-- 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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One has to question as to what municipalities mean when they claim that they need to recoup “ lost revenue “. Nary a mention of layoffs or abandoning wasteful projects as when Joliet recently tried to sneak a 197K “ sculpture “ that resembled an arch of toilet paper past the taxpayers until the residents raised holy hell about such nonsense in a town with torn up, poorly patched, rutted streets and sidewalks worn down to gravel.
Presidential nominee incipient Pritzger is willing to use all devices available to burnish his resume. One hopes that he is a “poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage. And then is heard no more.”