Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer
April 22, 2026
No Comments
Summary and audio linked here.
-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy cautioned that the fleeting business community could create a "big issue" for Chicago. "If these buildings are vacant, where do they think they're going to get their revenue from on real estate taxes and income taxes and things of that nature? They're going to do it through a $12 billion proposed program that was sent out by supposedly some of the mayor's allies. It just is not sustainable and it doesn't work."
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Audio and summary Illinois bill would override local law to allow homeless living in all public parks – Wirepoints
April 14, 2026
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If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago Fiscal Crisis Worse Than Pre-Bankruptcy Detroit, HIV Surge and Public Health Threat From Open Borders Goes Unreported
April 10, 2026
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Summary and audio linked here.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades
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.
Surely Mr. Duffy realizes that CME’s concerns regarding proposed “bad for business” new city policies and new taxes are of zero-zero-zero interest to Mayor’s Office.
The folks over on the greedy pension site make snide comments whenever a large corporation leaves for greener pastures. Maybe they should concede that Mr. Duffy has a better grasp of math than they do.
Additionally, you’ve got a guy whose personal FICO score is maybe 600 overseeing a $15 billion dollar budget. Why could possibly go wrong?
Yes, that FICO score exposes Mayor Johnson’s probable fiscal approach to Chicago’s many fiscal budget gaps and pension problems: spend more, don’t pay the bills, complain loudly about oppressive corporations abusing folks, and just levy more taxes. Because he knows there are no longer consequences for deliberately ignoring your financial responsibilities.
There are consequences for deliberately ignoring his financial responsibilities. He pays a higher interest rate on his mortgages, car loans and credit cards, and he has lower credit limits. He frequently has to fight off creditors, park his car in his neighbor’s garage to avoid repo, and not answer the door to avoid service of the lawsuits. He begs and pleads with creditors for more time. He pays higher life insurance and car insurance rates, and he has to come up with larger down payments, and enjoy a financial audit every time he applies for credit. These consequences, for low… Read more »
CME needs to just bite the bullet and move already. Ken Fisher et al waited around and look where it got him. Move on because if for no other reason I am enjoying watching Chicago go down in the flames that will take the Democrats with them
The pension time bomb exploding gives government no other choice but to raise taxes big time for years to come. They could cut pension payment but that will never happen. So business has no other choice but to pay or leave. Many are going to leave for good, never coming back. The remaining residents will have to pick up the bill and they may not have the earnings to do so. Something is going to have to give and soon.
That’s what happens when you put pols in charge with no business sense.
I can hear it now, the harpies screaming….”Ill-conceived is a dogwhistle for racism!!!”
Where have these rubes been for the last 20 years? Oh yeah, catering to the Dylan crowd and their DEI/ESG initiatives.
The beauty of our Union is that, as residents, we can make a RATIONAL decision and get the HELL out of Chicago and Illinois.
Good luck!
The new Mayor had a golden opportunity to clarify, and there was ‘no comment’. The hand writing is on the wall. The ‘doom loop’ is real.
Chicago downtown vacancy is at historic highs right now — with more to come as long term leases expire — BJ’s tax grabs and biz hostile wish list will spike those vacancy rates sky high
BJ is a lightweight and is in way over his head.
Chicago is in big trouble IMO.
Lightweight is too kind. Guy is barely functioning. Likely incapable of understanding second-order impacts of decisions he is making or, by doing nothing, making.
Maybe he can fiddle?
He certainly doesn’t look very smart. He doesn’t sound even of average intelligence when he talks. Lori had many problems, primarily arrogance, ineptitude and an insane ideological belief system, but she didn’t sound dumb. Not particularly smart but no one ever suggested her head was full of a box of rocks. But this Brandon Johnson guy acts and looks really stupid. I doubt he understands future conditionals.
Being ‘aggrieved’ all the time with the CTU doesn’t make for more than mob type leadership. Shop Stewards are fine, but that doesn’t qualify you for the mayorship in a complicated and much subverted large city. Mayor Johnson is only compounding his weaknesses with what appear to be ‘wokesters’ in key positions. That’s why I predict Pritzker and the CPD will be getting buckets of blame – the buck has to be passed.