-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
A premium Fraser Fir would have cost between $80 and $100 just a few years ago. Now, that same tree runs from $100 – $150. “In years’ past, you could hire local people, and you could pay $12 to $13 an hour. And now it's very hard to find anybody that wants to do hard work like this,” said David Guenther, owner of Ken’s Christmas Trees in Melrose Park and Bridgeview. “So a lot of it is hired out...and it's $25 to $26 an hour to secure your labor.”
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.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
Hmm, I wonder if the Forest Preserve has any “U cut” Xmas trees?
no chance ,they are long gone
There are Christmas trees that come in a box. $100 buys one that will last for years. Ho Ho Ho. (sorry Kamila)