-- 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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chicago has a long, storied history of anti-capitalist and pro-union radical activism (eg haymarket, alinsky, hampton), so it’s not surprising that we find these topics discussed in the public schools. one hopes that these subjects are presented even-handedly (i.e. violence is bad, 8 hour workday rules on balance good, etc). that said, i’ve heard CPS teachers explicitly commit to including pro-socialist bias in their pedagogy, presenting the concept as “watch out, we’re indoctrinating your kids, ha ha ha” and being met with lots of cheers. of course, a teacher’s explicit and implicit biases and political views are bound to seep… Read more »
Let’s be honest, a CPS education is nearly worthless for most graduates anyway. That’s why I moved to the suburbs. Ironically, my grandmother did the same in 1961 because a CPS education was just as useless back then too. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Even more ironically, CPS itself is the exemplification of socialism: a very small number of ‘connected’ families can attend the small number of exceptional schools. The rest of the families with any means at all either sends their kids to private schools or leave the city altogether. The remaining students get… Read more »