-- 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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Second City Teachers is the successor to Substance a “reform” group created by the late George Schmidt. George was a good friend though radically liberal. He documented school waste and child abuse in the 70’s but was crushed by Union leaders Robert Healy, Jacqueline Vaughn and a guy named Reese. Good luck to SCT, but the battle is lost!
I’m surprised their not insisting on divesting from Israel on the taxpayers dime?
“‘My report was mostly covered up by the Chicago media,’ [pension consultant]Tobe said.” His report is linked, if anyone wants to read it. It would have benefited from a succinct bullet-point summary. I wouldn’t want to overestimate the conscientiousness of Chicago media, but it’d take a fair amount of time to write a concise article about this. It appears that the problems include poor investment returns (tho I did not find any specific figures or comparisons), excessive and hidden fees (certainly a failure of pension fund management), and the City’s failure to provide sufficient funding. All aggravated by the pension… Read more »
What??? The grifters of CTU like Stacy Davis Gates and her water bill/property taxes scams are also scamming their own pensions? You mean that CTU thieves cant be trusted even among their own band of thieves? Whodathunk it? Looks to me like just more proof that all CTU members are criminals awaiting their own special corner of hell.
This is what I have been saying for years now including contacting my state Rep many times about the lack of transparency on pension management fees. For a select few politically connected the fees are King Solomon’s Mines for them. How many hands are in the funds before the pensioners get their money? How much money was lost due to the loss of compounding over decades? But does it matter when the taxpayer is on the hook regardless of returns or the cost of implementing the pensions.
SURPRISE……SURPRISE