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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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While trying to rightly chastise the financial woes of Illinois, Mr. Hicks article ironically resembles an elitist Illinoisan attitude. While referencing it, he fails to acknowledge the Chicago political machine as culpable in the downstate neglect. Anyone who spends 10 minutes in Illinois is very aware the gerrymandering prevents any kind of servant uprising. He also fails to recognize that the farmers in rural Illinois likely could contribute much more to the economy but the US would have to commit to farming in the US again, and reduce their bad habits of importing goods from Mexico and Argentina and the… Read more »
Lots of holes in this piece of tripe. He notes that those in the downstate ( would love to see the criteria for that) get more return on their tax dollars and more welfare per person, while ignoring that the overwhelming number of people on welfare reside in CHI/ Cook County. He also trumpets the lower rate of people leaving the state in northern IL while ignoring the bus loads of illegals that have predominantly landed in northern IL. It seems lost upon him that the average Illinoisan is tired of funding the welfare settlements known as CHI, Cook County… Read more »