-- 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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Rule #1- Whatever government touches it will turn into Schitt.
Rule #2- Whatever government touches it will turn into Schitt.
Rule #3- Whatever government touches it will turn into Schitt.
I voted with my feet over 20 years ago and left Taxistan.
Consequently I have an extra $200K in my bank account.
Illinois taxpayers are basically tax mules for the public sector unions.
In a way PPF has a point that the pension funding should have been occurring from day one according to an actuarially sound schedule.
An immediate side effect would be to have brought the pain forward and thereby limit the growth in public sector pension obligations. Those recent property tax bills are just a harbinger of what’s coming down the pike.
I don’t see a happy ending here for anybody except those who smelled the water first. In the near future Illinois real estate will become a financial hot potato.
“ An immediate side effect would be to have brought the pain forward and thereby limit the growth in public sector pension obligations” Joe, although my writing upsets people on this site, this is my point all along. If we truly want to fix the state then we must at least be honest with ourselves. Would amendment 1 have passed if Illinois was paying the full freight (actuarial) of the funding? I would venture to say that if we force taxpayers to actuarially fund pensions, voters will finally start to make better fiscal decisions at the polls. Who knows, maybe… Read more »
Absolutely correct. Let Illinois teachers/school admins destroy all nurse/doctors who are earning half as much. Let Illinois do without medical infrastructure. Then Illinois voters/non-voters will finally be forced to pay attentions and do something.
The only ‘compassion profession’ left is medical. Teachers have long ceased that pretense because they have the law on their side…the Law that they have bought and purchased.
It is madness to expect decency, morality, or the expectation that the doing of good will be met in kind in Illinois.
Doctors earn half as much as teachers? Making up stuff again Susan. Nurses are underpaid in my opinion. Perhaps they should join unions and demand fair compensation. Doctors making over 300k on average while nurses make 80k? Doesn’t seem fair yet they both knew the wage differences when taking the job. That’s life.
I agree. You and yours are single fungible cancer cells in a malignant growth destroying the body which it needs alive to nourish its own existence. The cells of the body know enough to not multiply and demand resources from the body which will kill the body. Difference is, you are fungible, and have made no difference on Earth other than destructive in return for silly personal momentary desire fulfillment (which you could have acquired at far lower cost if you had any character or work ethic). That is why docs and nurses do not demand 20 years 2/3-year, 2/3-day… Read more »
“That is why docs and nurses do not demand 20 years 2/3-year, 2/3-day work does demand =$7-$8-figure present value pension entitlements.” Another Susan lie. Doctors that work for the state have some of the highest pensions in the state. The average teacher pension is between 800k-1.2 million NPV. I’ve shown you my work but apparently you are unable to perform the calculation. Last time I told you that fact you went crying to Mark, “please settle this Mark. I’m too inept to do the calculation myself”. Police, teachers, firefighters, doctors, and nurses are the backbone of any civilization. The people… Read more »
And all of this BS is why I am heading towards the exit door soon. Not to worry I only take with me $20,000 a year of tax revenue with me, I was only going to pay it for another 25 or 30 years. Just add it to the worthless teachers’ taxes. Not a single student is at grade level.
Overly generous pensions is the issue. There never was enough money to cover the Greed. The good news is there still not enough money, even if you double the taxes. This system is unsustainable, so suck it up, you’re not going to get the jack pot.
The notion of getting taxpayers to “finally wake up” and see what it takes to actuarially fund pensions has some appeal. But look at Chicago – property taxes are by far and away the easiest lever to pull for raising revenue. But I don’t see how they can be raised much higher. Taxes have almost doubled in the last decade, with a pension problem that has actually become worse. I just don’t see how it all works – ever.
AGreed. Let us bring this to a head, which cannot be ignored by voter/nonvoters/propertytaxpayers.
And the legislature
The PENSION TIME BOMB IS EXPLODING, it will kill the Chitty and the State.
Only way out of it for the taxpayer is to get out. Hundreds of thousands are fleeing every year and the number is increasing at an increasing rate. Ken Griffen took Billions with him in tax revenues. All the Chitty cops leave ASAP to Punta Gorda, Fl to live in luxury condos and homes.
The plan is unsustainable. It is DOA, taxes have to go up, up, up, up and away. Expect taxes to double every 5 years for the next 50 years or longer.
Overly generous pensions that were bought for the Public Sector vote has destroyed the Chitty of Chicago. Services will be cut drastically, and it still will not be enough to even come close to what is needed. This is the Largest Generational Theft in History.