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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.
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.
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I’m not sure even Johnson could do a deal more boneheaded than the one Daley executed!
They can just overpay by at least five times and float a bond issue for it. No one tracks where that money goes anyway. Then they can refinance it from here to eternity when payments come due and continue to wonder why the state finances are in the toilet.
City council needs to go ahead and rubber stamp it. This is extremely urgent, no time to actually read the agreement. Just sign it and read it after it’s a done deal.
King Midas in reverse Johnson will screw this deal up seven ways from Sunday. Bet it.