-- 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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Illinois has only 5 Republicans for 18 seats in the House in Representatives. We send 13 of our 18 seats in the House as Democrats. That’s 28% of the seats that are Republican, and 72% that are Democrat. Yet consistently in every statewide election, republicans achieved 37% of the vote (Rauner 2018) to over 50% of the vote (Rauner 2014). But only 28% of our representatives are Republicans. Why does no one, yes no one, ever talk about this gerrymandering? I’ve seen a million articles about WI gerrymandering, and NC too, and PA, which all favored Republicans, often by slim… Read more »
As expected. Kudos to reps Peterson (MN) and Van Drew (NJ) for choosing their country over a partisan witch hunt.