-- 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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60 Minutes did a piece this past Sunday on cannabis in California. The rules and regulations for small and large growers are mind blowing. Permit fees/tax’s/disposal and weighing of the leaves and the by products must all be documented/etc The Illegal growers are flourishing and some have their fields in close proximity to legit growers. Expectations of $500M/yr in state tax revenue not even comes close. This is probably the fate of Illinois also. Cannabis & Casinos = Corruption! The 3C’s that will both save and destroy Illinois at the same time. The Illinois Way!
There are newspaper articles about illegal cannabis dispensaries opening and closing like pop-up stores all over California undercutting the legit businesses…And the law apparently didn’t specify who would be responsible for enforcing these laws so there is literally agency trying to close them down – is it the revenue department? the EPA? The local police? The county? no one knows who is responsible for shutting down the illegal dispensaries so no one does. What a complete debacle. “That would leave room for black-market operators to serve consumers.” The black market IS the market for consumers. That’s not suddenly going to… Read more »