-- 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 don’t blame Chicago for shutting down the pools due to the lack of lifeguards. This is an equity issue. Pools are racist you know so they need extra lifeguards to make sure people don’t drown, and if they can’t hire extra lifeguards, then no one gets to swim at all. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/15/in-pools-young-blacks-drown-at-far-higher-rates/9146213/ In pools, young blacks drown at far higher rates NEW YORK (AP) — Swimming pools are a much greater danger to black children and teens than they are to other kids, a new government study shows. Black children ages 5 to 19 drown in swimming pools at a… Read more »
My child took swim lessons when he was young. Lessons – even through the park district – are expensive and time consuming, and it takes hours and hours of practice and consistent pool time to acquire the skills. Especially if there’s no local pool, learning to swim is a commitment for both the parent and the child. And it has to be ingrained in the family. My parents signed me up for swimming lessons when I was young, as my grandparents signed up my parents for lessons when they were young, and so on, and so on.
They sink like cocobolo.
Activists: “Kids get in trouble because they have nothing to do!!!!”
City: “They could get trained as a lifeguards and make great money in the summer while hanging out at the pool all day.”
Activists: “But the kids have nothing to do!!!!”