-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
When steel and manufacturing jobs dried up over the last several decades in Venice, the town lost two-thirds of the population, followed by its only grocery store and only school. Now, the Illinois Grocery Initiative is funding a new grocery store in Venice through a $2.4 million state grant. It's set to begin construction next month, along with a medical clinic and affordable housing. A new school has already been built.
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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Getting a new school too for its under 100 students thanks to the taxpayers of Illinois.
Then, the same people who say downtown Chicago is making a comeback can say the same about the East St. Louis area.
Population at 1,500 in 2020 and has been declining. No stores in nearby towns? Very heavy subsidy per person, let alone per family.
This place isn’t just “dying”, it’s *dead*; any money poured into here is sheer waste; from Wiki:
“The median income for a household in the city was $19,853, and the median income for a family was $24,432. Males had a median income of $35,515 versus $22,411 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,483. About 34.9% of families and 39.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 55.7% of those under age 18 and 29.6% of those age 65 or over…’
Law of supply and demand works, this won’t.