-- 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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JB sweetened the pensions in Chicago because it was turning purple, this will buy enough votes to keep Chicago Blue for the election.
Everyone is watching the decline of what used to be one of the great cities in the USA. Right now, there is little to NO HOPE at this point it will come back in your lifetime.
“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.
“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
— Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”
The Fat Lady is warming up her vocals.
I read this article with interest. On one hand the 28M loan to the fire pension fund is intended to cover for Cook County’s ineptitude in processing property tax bills. A show term challenge. On the other hand, it demonstrates that more and more taxes (although they will come) will not solve the City’s pension woes.The borrowing was to avoid an asset sale, as a soon to be funded 18 percent pension plan can’t afford an asset sale. There wouldn’t be a need for borrowing or concern for a sale of assets if the fund threw off sufficient funds to… Read more »
The current property tax bill delay has nothing to do ineptitude and everything to do with the evil of Democrats AKA Communists. Property Tax bills will be in the mail precisely the day after Election Day. Such ineptitude isn’t a bug. It’s feature.
The county contracted for the system in 2015. By any reasonable measure it should be functional by now.m