-- 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 am a free market and extremely staunch conservative and I actually agree with California and Illinois on this. The ‘independent contractor’ label is frequently misapplied by both the contractor and the principal as a tax dodge that unfairly hoses the taxpayer. Employer/Employee law, even if it is a crappy one, should apply to everyone equally in a free market, so as to level the playing field, and make for competitive markets. I say this because there are few cases where a worker is truly an independent contractor. My roofer for example is an independent contractor to me. I am… Read more »
Well said. Seems to me it will depend on where they draw the line, which will probably always be fuzzy.
Its only fuzzy to lawyers like us but to the rest of the world it’s a bit like pornography – you know an employer/employee relationship when you see it. The average uber driver is an uber employee. Just ask him what happens when their rating goes below the 5 star threshold. They get ‘fired’. Same for task rabbit, grub hub drivers, etc. Compare that to your bathroom rehab contractor, who is truly an independent contractor. Try applying the ABC rule to that guy and get him to finish your bathroom in less than 6 weeks. Even after you pay him.… Read more »
If your a gov employee/fake self serve progressive than your for cracking down on independent contractors because that will mean more tax $ to feed the beast and more folks eligable for gov programs. But if your an anti illegal imigration conservative than you’d have to be for this legislation because it will make it a lot harder to scrap out a living as illegal immigrant?
Yes, the IC would pay more taxes but that would also level the playing field for the employers who are honest and refuse to engage the ‘independent contractor’ fraud. It’s a lot cheaper for employers to dodge payroll taxes, for sure, but it also makes turns the honest businessman dishonest just to stay competitive in a market where everyone is trying to avoid taxes. Make the labor tax laws apply to everyone, not just those that are honest.