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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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Rauner had a lot to do with the pillaging of the public pensions making himself extremely wealthy at the expense of the public. The pension problem is not just a one issue thing…it has many facets. Here is a good series on the whole event and I am posting the third installment that deals with Rauner…just like Madigan and the rest…is not your friend. Follow the link and you can read the multiple installments. Gov. Bruce Rauner made a fortune charging high fees to public pensions. Once elected, he tried to slash pension benefits. A Manufactured Crisis EARLIER THIS YEAR,… Read more »
Utter nonsense. You are regurgitating political lies printed six years ago. Rauner made a FORTUNE for the pensions, which his why his firm was rehired repeatedly to manage some of their assets. None other than Cinda Klickna of the teachers union, as a TRS trustee, made the original motion to engage his firm, GTCR. She and the other union trustees gladly took the money GTCR earned for them. Their record for returns was exceptional. We wrote about this extensively at the time. Pension trustees are free to select the asset managers they want and if they think fees are too… Read more »
I have said repeatedly that the pensions should have been simply put into low cost index funds where there would be no need for the high paid so called professional investors. Historically time and time again it has been shown that after expenses Indexed investing beats out managed vehicles on a repeated regular basis. While I doubt any numbers touted from any Illinois source I would pose the question of what were the returns after expenses? There are many money managers that can and have outperformed the markets before expenses but after taking into consideration the incurred expenses a different… Read more »
You just don’t know what you are talking about. It was Rauner’s appointeee at the IL State Board of Investments, Marc Levine, who led a movement out of managed funds and into the index funds you like, for which he got national attention. You continue to call Rauner a pillager but the returns from his funds vastly over performed anything. If all pension assets had returns like his did the debate today would be about what to do with all their excess money.
Apples to oranges. S&P index fund get’s you like 9% – 10% with minimal fees. GTCR is private equity which invests in totally different assets. I would have invested with GTCR but those groups usually have a $1M minimum. Yes those fees GTCR earned were big but so were the returns to investors.
Thank you for the insults regarding my mentality. I have to admit however that in the past i have gotten much better and stronger ones over at Capitolfax but, being Mr. Miller’s publication has been in existence longer than this one, recognize that some things come with practical experience gained over time. Now I do question what is being touted as the great returns Rauner has provided the pension funds as reported here. However according to “Is Rauner’s firm GTCR losing millions of dollars for Illinois?” as reported at “TherealgopIllinois.com” there is not enough transparency to determine the returns provided… Read more »
You compare how much you put in to how much you got back. The other questions about GTCR and private equity funds, some of which are legit, are secondary and do not cancel out what the pensions earned during Rauner’s tenure. And, by the way, Miller’s comment board is rigged. If he were not blocking so many comments that he doesn’t like, he would be as swamped by fiscal conservatives as this site his and his articles there would be savaged.
The outrageous pensions that the greed-crazed unionistas are getting must be cut down to a fair, sustainable level.
Your not owed anything in life
So, even though any rational person would agree that these pensions are quite excessive and abusive to the IL taxpayers, Pritzker won’t work to resolve the problem because the pensions are “owed.” If you live in IL, have you packed your bags yet?
Until, we the people, stand up for ourselves and demand, and I mean demand changes and be heard loud and clear, sadly nothing is going to change. Somehow someway organizations need to send out flyers, surveys and pound Springfield, get lawyers involved, god only knows Springfield doesn’t like exposure of this extent. I know it cost money, but until we demand changes thru media exposure, protest on Springfield I don’t know of any other solutions. Help any ideas folks, let’s get the ball rolling. We have a great group here on wirepoints, so many great responses and ideas. We can… Read more »
One problem is the lawyers. [I can say that because I’m one.] A lawyer for the taxpayers might take it pro bono or on a contingent fee although there is no readily identifiable “pot” from which a winning lawyer could take a fee. Lawyers for the government would be paid by the taxpayers. Union lawyers would be paid out of pension funds which (they say) taxpayers would have to replenish. Most Illinois firms probably would have a conflict of interest because they represent the state or the cities or the school districts or whatever. What about U.S. attorneys? you may… Read more »
The union and the public sector pension pension funds are different entities.
Union lawyers are not paid out of public sector pension funds.
That’s wrong. Union lawyers were paid out of the Detroit Pension funds for decades to oppose the city, challenging the City’s actions to rein in pension costs. That was a contributing factor to the Detroit bankruptcy.
Very good article, hopefully Springfield will wake up some day. Oh I know it’s a FANTASY right