-- 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
A shell game, oooh yeah that’ll work.
hah yeah give the state more control over pension money, they have been doing such a bang up job!
Management fees. My bet is on this being ALL about increasing the fees charged by the main pension-fund money managers. And I’d bet a considerable sum that Pritzger et.al. get a kickback on this somewhere.
On the surface this appears to be a simple common sense approach to cutting administrative costs to allow funding to be more applied directly to the pensioners rather than the administrators. Digging into it however indicates that this is just another kick the can down the road situation that amounts to no more than making the more solvent funds reward the insolvent funds with no regard as to how to really rectify the situations. Consider that the somewhat responsible funded plans would be merged with the irresponsible plans such as in Harvey’s or Alton’s plans. Illinois needs a totally new… Read more »
Why would the right honorable conservative munis be willing to merge funds with the democrat controlled deadbeat idiots? Next they’ll want to merge obligations and debt.
The proposal to consolidate pension funds is just another example of a band-aid fix that won’t do much to ease the burden of the taxpayer. It makes it looks like the IL pols are serious about turning the state around financially. Reducing inappropriately high salaries, pensions, and health care benefits is the way to turn the state around.