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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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Both Pritzker and Lightfoot won by landslide margins and both very explicitly promised not to cut pensions, just like Trump very explicitly promised (uniquely among Republicans) not to cut Social Security. Abandoning these promises would constitute an extraordinary betrayal of the voters who elected them, and would likely not enhance their re-election chances. If I recall correctly George H.W. Bush did not fare well in 1992 after he abandoned his “read my lips – no new taxes” pledge made in 1988.
I think it’s a long reach to argue that a majority of voters have thereby endorsed cessation of efforts to reduce pensions and, implicitly, the increase of those voters’ taxes to make the pension funding deficit go away. Why not amend the constitution and seek voter approval to raise taxes by whatever amount it takes to pay all pensions promised in the past together with any increments contrived by legislators but not in excess of $X per year for any individual (human) taxpayer? Then let each voter check a box to indicate how much (s)he is willing to pay. Of… Read more »
I think they overwhelmingly support pension reform. Why not just ask them through a referendum? Why is a tax increase the only option they should be offered? Many, many things went into why they voted for Pritzker and Lightfoot; no mandate on pensions should be inferred.
The headline is a lie. I follow the news and I’ve not heard about any “quest” for a pension amendment have you? It doesn’t even reach the level of “fantasy” let alone “quest”. A better description is that it is the “third rail” and these two jamokes will go nowhere near entertaining a pension amendment even as a fantasy suggestion, let alone it becoming their quest. John Kass is the only good thing about the tribune, when I stopped buying printed papers a few years ago I can’t remember reading the tribune until just now.
I can’t stop laughing, it’s just too funny. Oh wait, the fake news editorial board of the Trib is serious? NO, they can’t be serious…Hahahahahaa
Debtsor, I think the Trib editorial board has been very good on state fiscal issues, especially McQueary. They’ve been on it for many years. The reporters, on the other hand, are out to lunch.
Yeah but it’s still the Trib. I cancelled that subscription in 2016 when they got full blown TDS and I’ll never give that failing organization another dime again.