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The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning proposes to address the CTA’s systemic problems by requesting an extra $1.5 billion in transit funding from the state and $400 million for capital investments. This plan increases the area’s already immense tax burden on residents and does not address the transit authorities’ systemic problems.
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WIREPOINTS ORIGINAL STORIES
Audio and summary Illinois bill would override local law to allow homeless living in all public parks – Wirepoints
April 14, 2026
24 Comments
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.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago Fiscal Crisis Worse Than Pre-Bankruptcy Detroit, HIV Surge and Public Health Threat From Open Borders Goes Unreported
April 10, 2026
2 Comments
Summary and audio linked here.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
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.
WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times falsely blame Texas Gov. Abbott for 2020 to 2024 surge in Chicago Latino HIV, AIDS infections – Wirepoints Quickpoint
March 31, 2026
11 Comments
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
Using the CTA’s own data, the real picture of ridership is far worse than Illinois Policy’s Ravi Mishra presents. According to this data, CTA rail ridership is 34% of what it was in 2019 and 31% of the high-water mark of 2015.
The CTA is in an abyss. Despite the complete collapse of CTA ridership, the political animals want to paint the walls and dig more dungeons within the abyss they seem unable to acknowledge.
“We need a lot more to do less!” This is the motto of Illinois governmental agencies.
Almost as bad as the CPS