-- 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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The forest preserve exists not to preserve county forest land, but rather, to give patronage and nepotism jobs to county favorites. Preserving land is merely a byproduct of a growing bureaucracy, and as the bureaucracy grows, so does the amount of land preserved, which is why something like 10% of Cook County is owned by the forest preserve, including tiny little plots of land in the middle of nowhere just for the save of having some patronage hire come along and pick up the garage once a week.
Not true
Another tax silo in a forest of tax silos. Voters will look at this one tax increase and think it’s no big deal, forgetting that all the other tax silos all ask for the same increases. The referendum will pass easily and voters will wonder why their property tax bill is so high.