-- 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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Here’s a trivia question for you CPS grads. At a 7.2% annual rate, how long will it take your property tax bill to double?
Not a CPS grad but it takes 10 years. Hopefully they raise the taxes in Bowmanville by more than that so you can double your property taxes sooner and start finally paying your share. Too many Chicago residents aren’t paying enough in property taxes compared to the rest of the state. Chicago has been siphoning off tax dollars from the suburbs for too long. Time for the welfare queens like Old Joe to pay up. Use some of that SS welfare to help out your neighbors Joe.
Well PPF, my SS currently pays me 27K per year. I expect they’ll continue to index SS for inflation. It boggles my mind that I’ll be paying 20K per year in 2033 and I’m considering a move to Michigan’s Upper Penninsula.
You should consider a side hustle as I expect the finances of Illinois to implode about the time voters send Biden out to pasture.
I’m good. I didn’t prepare a retirement plan that hinged on welfare as you did. You’ll probably collect a half million dollars in your SS welfare all while complaining about taxes that you have to pay, If you really want our government to cut spending then you should be advocating that we reduce costs for SS and medicare. It’s just a massive welfare system that will only require more taxes. If you sell your home and move it will only prove that someone else was more than happy to purchase your home and pay those property taxes. No financial implosion… Read more »
Social security isn’t welfare because it lacks means testing. Call it whatever you want but it ain’t welfare.
It is welfare and it does have a means test built into it. Someone that pays in double in social security taxes doesn’t receive double the benefits. The people that earned less money get a greater benefit relative to what they paid in. These payments only continue out of the kindness of the taxpayers heart and we do not owe these recipients one penny. The entire program is an old age welfare program.
You’re confusing Social Security Income and Social Security Disability Income with regular Social Security. You have to earn money to get social security. That’s why illegal immigrants, people working under the table, etc, they don’t get it. Yes, it might be subsidized with an uneven distribution of benefits but that’s not welfare. This is a dumb conversation. I have other things to do today. Have a nice day.
Not confusing anything. Social Security income is based off how much you pay in but the people at the low end of the income scale get way more money relative to what they paid in. This has been built into the system as it’s not designed to fairly return a set percentage for everyone but to provide old age welfare. The government doesn’t owe these welfare recipients one penny if they decide to change the law. People paid SS taxes and have no rights to the benefits. It’s a form of welfare that rewards low income earners at the expense… Read more »
My retirement plan included leaving Taxistan over 20 years ago and not paying the HIGH taxes so that PPF and his fellow Illinois union simpletons can retire early and in luxury.
My bank account is $200K fatter from my smart financial decision.
Da Judge
Good for you. It sounds like you made the best decision for you and your family. Others will do the same as they continue to stay in Illinois and earn their living and pay their taxes.
I may leave the state as well if it benefits me financially. Life is filled with choices.
The UP? There are cheaper and warmer places than the UP to retire and live off social security. People are fleeing Michigan because it’s become so liberal, and that’s affecting the rest of the state, in particular the UP. The UP has really high poverty and unemployment rates compared to the rest of the state. And if you’re elderly, and looking for specialized healthcare, there are long wait times and it is expensive. You’d be better off moving to central or northern Wisconsin. I’ve known several retired people who’ve moved there or are planning to move there. The cost of… Read more »
Debtsor, I’ve been evaluating the tradeoffs. I’ll admit it’s cold during the winter but I’ll winter in Florida. I’ll still be near enough to Green Bay for major medical care but far enough from Chicago and Detroit. Uppers are not as liberal as the downstaters but they are poorer in general. Such as life…..
As society unwinds I want to be far away from major metro areas such as Chicago and Detroit. It’s gonna be ugly when 4th generation welfare recipients and people like PPF have gotta produce something for the first time in their lives. You could include Milwaukee in that mix too.
Old Joe, You can’t escape. Most civilization collapse when SHTF involves the rural areas too. Supplies lines get cut, and being in a cold, rural area, you’re the last stop on the supply chain. It could be days before deliveries of medicine or perishables make their way to your area. Additionally, the authorities usually find a way to attack the rural deplorables too: the French Revolution involved the Parisian elite slaughtering the rural peasants, the Russia revolution killed millions of Kulaks through starvation and Mao forcibly relocated city dwellers to rural areas to replace the farmers he killed or starved.… Read more »
All good points Debtsor. Thanks.
ID and SD and WY have low costs of living (well, ID did) and they are very. Some parts of ID are off the charts red, almost as unmanageable as the trial areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan but far more civilized. My understanding is that ID weather isn’t that bad either. Another place that’s supposedly low cost and decent is WV. Rural, beautiful, near civilization being east (and not north or west). It’s a lower standard of living but that’s one of the trade offs for low cost of living but it’s bit warmer than Northern WI or the UP.… Read more »
Buh Bye Joe. Make sure you sell your Bowmanville home to another person that will also pay the property taxes. We will get along just fine without your monthly welfare check that doesn’t contribute any state income taxes. You barely pay any taxes compared to the rest of us in the state and yet you still complain. Yet you actually think you’re a producer. lol
Consider da Dems pols in Illinois and Sheeetcago and their masters da public sector unions like a Black Hole.
How do you stop da Black Hole from sucking in more and more of your wealth via higher and higher taxes.
Get as far away as you can from it.
Illinoisans, vote with your feet and flee da Illinois Black Hole!!
Almost 10K per year on my Bowmanville crib.