-- 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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They should pass this. Mike Royko used to joke about a tax like this in his columns. They should also raise property taxes, increase water fees, increase taxes on amusements, and pass a transaction tax. It would be good for the citizens of Illinois because it might finally wake them up to what is really going on. Machine politicians have an enormously good grasp on the elasticity of supply and demand when it comes to what to tax, and who to tax.