-- 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.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
Only Chicago benefits from increased transit money. Let Chicago pay for it.
The key is unity of voters in central and
southern Illinois. Banded together we can
defeat the idiots in Chicago who give us scraps while they laugh at us and eat prime beef.
They need our money to continue the disaster by
the lake but more importantly they need votes
to win this war against us. Stick it to them and
vote them out in the midterm elections.
The only thing they fear along with their stupid
governor is the power of our votes.
VOTE THE Democrats OUT!
More empty busses to run from Alton to Edwardsville?;Perhaps another Madison county transit vehicle to be photographed while vacationing in Branson Mo? Please, just lower our taxes
Six big words out of Welch, If we get the policy right, don’t hold your breath.
And the sales pitch begins. The meeting to make a deal in the dark room with bourbon and cigars must have already happened. “Can’t give any details”…of course…The pathetic state government will of course take the billion dollars from the tax payers of Illinois and give it to the City of Chicago Transit (likely with little or no oversite) to continue to pay for over-built/under-used transit services, graft payoffs and patronage jobs. It will be complete waste of tax payer money and provide no benefit to any down-state Illinois Cities or tax payers, but they will blow the money anyway.… Read more »
Rather than address the declining patronage of the RTA’s transit services with inversely rising costs and spending by its Executive Directors, downstate Illinois taxpayers will indeed get something courtesy of Illinois’ political animals:
Screwed.
Railroader – your knowledge of the transit business is considerable. Here in DC, WMATA is a significant source of employment in the DC community. It can be argued that the entity creates middle class jobs in communities where they likely otherwise would not exist. How much of the empty bus and train situation can be explained by this?