-- 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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I have a great idea. Let’s cut spending! Get rid of the flowers in the parkways, the stupid street sweeping, all social justice initiatives, close all the useless Office of This and That located all around the city, limit overtime (and threaten to fire anyone who ‘slows down’ because they can’t do overtime), and so on, and so on. The City’s budget last year for 2018 was $10.1 Billion. A 10% haircut should be easy. Heck, I bet I can cut $10,000,000 a day for the next 100 days and hit a billion and hardly anyone would notice.