-- 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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No bankruptcy possible. Just more taxes for you idiots that live there. But hey, you must like it.
Not only Chicago, but the whole State of Illinois is going bankrupt.
Overly Generous pensions is an understatement.
The debt is so large, it will likely never be paid for.
The cost is not only the pension underfunding amount but add to it the lost tax revenue from high-income earners and businesses fleeing the state because of it.
The CPS went broke in late 1979. Mayor Jane Byrne ordered the Police Pension Fund to “invest” in public school bonds so the teachers could get paid. The chaos and turmoil Mayor Byrne presided over is a children’s party compared to the City’s problems today. The one common factor is the failure of education.
“In 2022, retirement benefits and debt service accounted for 43 percent of the city’s budget.”
“On average, 49 percent of 911 calls seem to go unanswered…”
“The City that Works”, yeah?
Works well for the average City of Chicago employee earning $98,508 a year plus benes and future pension.
“Bigger, better, safer?” I don’t think so.
Health care benefits for retired city employees was dropped by Daley 2.
Cops still get health care benefits after retirement.
Gone when you turn 65. Rahm eliminated it and bragged about doing it.