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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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Ripping it the media is one thing-will he put his money where his mouth is and veto it?
Whether he should may turn out to be debatable. If — and this is a big ‘if’ — Rahm and the Dems would commit to genuine reform at the same time, at least parts of it might make sense. A payment extension would then be a bridge to a genuine fix, which so far the Dems won’t consider. The bond market likes can-kicking and the city will have great difficulty making the scheduled payments.