-- 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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“Budget surplus funds”?
What the hell does that mean in a totally bankrupt state?
Illinois is riding with the 4 new horsemen of the apocalypse (crime, taxes, illegals, and public sector unions).
After destroying our once thriving horse track industry with the lottery, then off track betting, then video gambling, then on line sports betting– the state give a crummy little $5.1 million to the horses. Laughable on its face. Many of us remember Arlington Park, Balmoral, Washington Park, Sportsman’s, and all the downstate great tracks. And all the thousands of jobs lost. This is a joke by some not so funny Democrats.
Horse racing no longer has a near monopoly on legalized gambling. Competition for the gambling dollar has grown enormously in the last few decades and that’s a good thing. Race tracks have tried to stay relevant with slots and becoming casinos but it’s not working. Many people still enjoy “playing the ponies” but the gambling world is moving forward. I don’t think the state should be supporting purses with $5 million of budget surplus money. If the sport can’t survive on it’s own, it should be allowed to die.