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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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LOCAL GOVERNMENT CRISIS BREWING: Fiscal health varies widely at the local level, but like the federal government, over a dozen states and far more large cities are already in fiscal trouble. In addition to the threat of unbudgeted higher interest rates and credit downgrades, the IMPOUNDING OF FEDERAL GRANTS AND THE LOSS OF SANCTUARY CITY (JURISDICTIONS) FUNDING WILL WREAK HAVOC ON STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, particularly the fiscally weak. Collectively, federal funding was 34% of total state spending in 2024. While all states rely on federal funding in a meaningful way, federal funding exceeded general state funding in 24 states. Before the impounding of… Read more »
Great comprehensive review. A simpler take: collectively we can’t afford what we and our “representatives” want to do. Seems a basic flaw in democracy and the concept of vox populi. Wise rulers have to be willing to lose elections. Tell it like it is. Same with preachers and other advocates.
Thanks. The states are really headed for trouble. Don’t know why the national business media hasn’t picked up on this. It hasn’t been challenged at the supreme court level yet, but some have made the argument that public union controls are unconstitutional under a basic constitutional principle called the Non-Delegation Doctrine. It states that government officials are not allowed to cede their governing powers to any private entity. That governing is a trust that the voters give to an official who must maintain that power. That principle is reflected in several places in the US Constitution. The guarantee clause in Article Four… Read more »
Ban public unions entirely is a much better answer and Chicago needs to declare Bankruptcy ASAP!
FDR warned against public sector unions. He was right then, and still is.
The numbers are so large my guess is someone is not going to get paid. The High-income job creators are leaving and being replaced by poor immigrants.