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Comment: A must-read by Richard Porter, a lawyer in Chicago and member of the Republican National Committee:
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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Here is a link to a slide presentation YESTERDAY at the Harvard Kennedy School on the topic: Avoiding Government Meltdown:Are There Effective Legal Solutions to Unaffordable Pension Liabilities?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=13&ved=2ahUKEwiI4p7-uPLkAhUOHTQIHaOWD6kQFjAMegQIAxAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hks.harvard.edu%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fcenters%2Fmrcbg%2Ffiles%2FHarvard%2520University%2520-%2520Avoiding%2520Govt%2520Meltdown%252C%2520etc.%2520-%25209-26-2019%25204835-1338-1028%2520v1%255B5%255D.pptx&usg=AOvVaw1-5zxtDQH42k3Hwf7hCJ7u
Fred Klonsky is always looking for the data. He won’t read my e-mail but if he’s a friend of yours please forward.
Cass, this is great. Posting it. Thanks.
Appreciate the article, unfortunately the dumb people of Illinois will continue to vote for the corrupt Mafia Chicago politicians, communists, and Union Thug politicians. They will never willingly file for BK and take a pension benefit hit. They will continue to go down the “Scorched Earth Death Spiral” process (raising taxes driving more and more people away) as the voters of Illinois are to stupid to ever vote them out. It’s only a matter of how bad does it get before the Feds force some type of de facto BK. Once this happens, Illinois should lose it’s right to Statehood… Read more »
And bankruptcy is going to happen real, real quick if the Democrats get their wish and Trump is impeached since Wall Street will crash and burn. Be careful what you wish for because you may get it.
Springfield gives no relief to Chicago and also prohibits Chicago from filing bankruptcy.
That’s like JB Fatboy boinking you in the bum and not giving you a reach around.
“Give Chicago the benefit of a bankruptcy we have already paid for.” This has to be one of the most ironic statements ever, given that the city is experiencing some financial difficulty, and the author is advocating bankruptcy as a solution to this financial difficulty, precisely because Chicago has for decades and decades made promises to its various creditors that it did NOT pay for. I thought the Trib was a Republican-leaning paper. Wasn’t it the Republicans, during the George W. Bush presidency, that made it much harder for individuals deeply in debt to declare bankruptcy? Now, they appear to… Read more »
Opine all you want about politics, Andrew. Just remember that you can’t fight the math.
This isn’t about whether the national GOP is consistent. It’s not. It’s about how to deal with a crisis and, so far, nobody in Illinois government has offered an answer.
Andrew, the city is burdened by crippling debt which it cannot repay and us also facing a current operating deficit it cannot close. And yet your focus is on abstract failure of Republicans to be consistent. Let’s assume you are 100 percent correct. What the heck difference does it make? Let’s say the city steals all of the wealth of the top 1 percent of the city. Takes it, like Hugo Chavez. It would only put a moderate dent in the debt, and of course income would be lost for years to come, not to mention the decline in productivity.… Read more »
Andrew….
IT WAS BIDEN’S BANKRUPTCY BILL!!!!!
https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/05/21/warren-biden-bankruptcy-bill-democrats
(and it was a consumer bankruptcy bill, not municipal)
You just can’t fix the ignorant snark from a liberal.