Audio: Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon says Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades – Chicago’s Morning Answer
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
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.
Illinois lost another 54,000 tax filers and dependents, net, according to the IRS. Since 2000, fleeing taxpayers have taken $94 billion of annual adjusted gross income with them.
Yes. And did you see all those cuts in waste and spending? Neither did I.
Here’s an article from Fox News about the mayor.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/chicago-mayor-boots-public-rowdy-132450708.html
Why would so many alderman agree to this mess when they see an incompetent mayor with a 14% approval rating (does CTU comprise 14% of Chicago, how is his rating that high?) and an opportunity to run right over him? Why did no one stand up for $1 billion in cuts, to lead the charge for structural change against a dope on the ropes? What a missed opportunity. But not at all surprising.