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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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The article basically says that Rahm hasn’t adequately screwed over the taxpayers enough in his plan. Municipal bonds are rated based on how thoroughly they screw over taxpayers, nothing else. Good ratings come from solid collateral (aka the taxpayer). If that collateral is delivered to the market, even immorally, it results in good ratings. The article names over and over “structural” changes are not enough, meaning essentially, that they want the people screwed over more.
Exactly right. Always read The Bond Buyer knowing that it reports through that lens. That reporter, Yvette Shields, is the best in terms of accuracy, and I don’t fault her for reporting things through the lens of bond buyers. But bondholders care only about repayment, so they love taxes and long term consequences mean little.