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Chicago leaders are searching for a company to build the city’s first casino, but big gambling operators are concerned that the government’s plans will be too costly to make the project feasible.
The city is calling for a megaresort with hotel rooms, meeting space and a surrounding entertainment district, according to a request for proposals issued in April. Chicago is hoping a casino will aid its underfunded pensions, said city officials.
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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Put slots in the Obama temple. Maybe that will draw people.
Who would be foolish enough to go to a casino in Chicago? Win big, medium or small or even lose and you run the risk of armed robbery or hijacking as you leave. Not favorable odds.
Any “casino operator” signing on with Chicago is a fool. Chicago will micro manage them, and micro regulate them to the point where they will regret it. Then the SEIU will basically tell them how to treat, pay and compensate their employees. An operator in Chicago will not be able to review employees and promote them on an individual merit basis, it will all be massively collective. And good luck to any operator that needs to fire a bad employee as they will face the SEIU legal department. Then there is the skimming, shrinkage, corruption, bribes and favors such an… Read more »
Well-said, Rick. All the union greed and political graft that would be inherent in a Chicago casino would bring new meaning to the term “one-armed bandit.” Numerous Vegas casinos like to advertise their “loose slots” along with the payout percentages. That is not something that the Chicago casino would want to make known.
It seems a Chicago casino would benefit most from people in town for a convention or businessmen in town for meetings. Two years ago this might have been tenable but with business travel looking to be considerably less moving forward and the convention business in Chicago more on downward trend, the only thing a Chicago casino will do is cannibalize business from other area casinos.
High taxes, crime, democrat regulations, etc, etc.
Any casino operator will run from Chicago and Illinois!
Democrats destroy everything they touch!
Ah, yes, when all else fails, build a casino to generate revenue for a municipality in financial shambles. Also, let’s remember the repressive nature of a casino; i.e., it attracts many lower-income people who will lose money they can’t afford to lose.
I meant “regressive,” but maybe “repressive” could apply, too.
They will want the casino built near the west or south side communities of color so there will be no transportation issues so the thousands of local residents can get to their job (Hahahahahahaha). Not only will you be able to lose your money, chances are you will lose your life. If the city leaders have their way the casino will fail quickly.
Surely a casino in Chicago will be staffed by SEIU members right? And wouldn’t all those bartenders, cashiers, dealers, security, maintenance men, restaurant staff, etc. be paying union dues, collective bargaining and in defined pension plans? And surely they can strike right? Because the SEIU is a sacrament to the woke politicos in Chicago, they are in like flint for any casino payroll. Why on earth would any casino operator walk right into a spinning airplane propeller like that?
Actually, Unite Here and UAW are the big players in casino union representation.
Follow the lead of Walter Burnett, build lots of little bodega gambling joints, hundreds! Let the moms run it! Lavoris and Cloaca got the cred.
Any casino operator with a brain will stay far away from Chicago. The hiring will be ex con gang bangers and other minorities who will not come to work. There has to be equity you all know. The gangs will be waiting to rob players leaving the casino. The police are powerless because of the social justice city, county and state administration. The politicians in Chicago all come from minority roots and relate more to criminals than victims. Kim Foxx is a perfect example. The casino will fail. Forget about it.
Good luck attracting people to a casino in the violent city of Chicago. They can’t keep the Mag Mile safe, how will they prevent the mobs from taking over a casino? Like everything else, Chicago will find a way to screw this up as well.
The violence will be at the casino.
What about “equity” in gambling payouts? If disparate impact is prima facie evidence of racism, as the woke say, I assume they will be monitoring.
Mark – i would be concerned about “equity” in losses as well, The negative externalities with gambling rarely receive proper valuation. Casinos really don’t help unless they attract considerable money from visitors and outsiders. Having locals endure losses and the misery of addiction just makes a casino a bad bet (pun intended).
Yes, Willowglen, it’s indeed not a joking matter. The government is preying on a vice.