-- 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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How about confiscating everyone’s property then renting it back to us. Oh wait! they are already doing that by excessive taxation or how about just redistribute wealth from the many and give to the few who have political clout!
Lotteries tend to prey on and punish lower-income sectors of society disproportionately. Therefore, a city lottery is a bad idea.
It’s true that the lower classes purchase more lottery tickets. But I wouldn’t call it preying, simply because it’s a totally voluntary purchase, like a pack of cigarettes or a case of beer or a slot machine. I have no problem at all with a city lottery, it’s nowhere near being a solution to anything. But it is voluntary unlike finding some way to tax a greater percentage of the low income folks which is involuntary.