-- 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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This is yet another article that implies that IL can tax its way out of this pension and free health care unfunded liability mess. As wirepoints noted many times, that won’t happen without major pension and health care benefits reforms. Also, it’s laughable to read such articles that ignore what really needs to be done: pension and health care benefits reforms. Does any learned person think that continually increasing taxes are the solution? Once again, IL residents already realize that they’re over-taxed. Increasing taxes on residents who already have the highest or near-highest overall tax rates in the country will… Read more »
Martire has a point, but if the concern is stability, the move to tax services should be a revenue neutral one. In other words, reduce the overall sales tax on goods and apply whatever rate to services that, overall, would generate the same amount of sales tax revenue we do today.
Remember, when Bruce was first elected, he was considering a tax on some services.