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.
Somebody has to cover the folks that can’t seem to pay their bills but can’t be disconnected because utilities are a “ basic human right “ per Lightfoot. You’re already doing it through nebulous “tax “ on your phone and electric bills, so why not water as well? Even big earners such as Johnson and Gates are struggling with water bills in Joes wonderful economy.