-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
In Chicago, defunding the police would almost necessarily mean employing fewer cops, and that would cut against the recent trend. The Chicago Police Department budget has grown by roughly 20% since 2015, when it was about $1.5 billion, including grant funds. This year’s outlay was nearly $1.8 billion, some 15% of the city’s whole budget.
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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