-- 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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Take from the functional and give to the dis-functional, with an intermediate step that enriches the parasites. Where does this trajectory take us? It certainly moves toward a society of dis-functionals and parasites (overpaid government union social workers). It won’t happen overnight, but this is what our “duly elected” “representatives” are promoting. And they are trying to perpetuate it through a ballot box stuffed with paper while they line up at the pension buffet table that they will empty in a decade or less. “Get it while you can” is a mantra that infests more institutions than government. Your average… Read more »
Arne, your parents should have named you Arse!
Yes, stealing from the poor to hand out money to his favored project. With “gun violence” so high and on the rise in this town, it is obvious these projects are useless. The solution – two parent households, role models who show the path to succeed in society, losing the grievance orientation, etc. Instead they take from the very poor…
I got it Arne! – For every gun turned in, offer a late-term abortion! That should do it in IL.
I smell another tax increase to support the gangbangers and thugs. Mayor Raggedy be all excited I bet. Turns out the root cause of the violence is an under investment in gangbanging tom foolery! If they siphon off more of the taxpayer’s money and give it to the gangs, the gangs will be happy about that. Arne will look on with a big smile.
Who do you think they’ll nominate for Jeff Fort? History just keeps repeating itself. This is all so predictable and preventable. We need to stand up and work together. No more pessimism Ex Illini! LOL For those that don’t know, Fort, gang leader of the Blackstone Rangers, obtained a charter from the State of Illinois to form a political organization, Grassroots Independent Voters of Illinois. Fort’s organization applied for and received a US$1 million federal grant (1960s Dollars) from the now-defunct Office of Economic Opportunity to fund a program to teach job skills to gang members. The Blackstone Rangers also… Read more »
They’re trying to do everything they can except throw gangbangers in jail…”That didn’t work throwing my baby daddy in jail!” The average baby mamma laments. But the sad truth is that yes, throwing your baby daddy in jail DID work and prevented your degenerate baby daddy from committing future crimes. It sucks your children can’t see their father, and you have to work two full-time jobs just to pay the bills, and your children will likely end up in prison too, but it’s a hard knock life. You can always flee America for somewhere else if you want, nobody is… Read more »
So then Medicaid will be underfunded meaning more dollars will be needed so on and so forth with the inevitable tax hike and to think if blacks would quit shooting each other none of this would be needed
It must be what the voters want, right? We’ve been told repeatedly that politicians do what voters want. It’s unfortunate that voters have been given the right to loot the state. Somebody should write a Constitution to stop that from happening.
Let us know when you write your magical amendment. In the meantime, be sure to pay all your taxes.
The looting will continue unless you can stop us, it’s our right as virtuous public employees!
I take it you don’t have that magical amendment to add to your fantasy constitution that solves that issue. Just more whining and complaining with zero substance.
Laws enacted or ratified by voters directly, indirectly, or by their elected representatives, are open to constitutional challenge. Ordinarily there would be an intermediate would block some issues proposed for a ballot — think an initiative to reinstate slavery or capital punishment for witchcraft. The starting point for the legal issue would be to challenge any law that permits or encourages looting, or prosecution of the looters. Prosecutorial discretion blocks many such actions. Additionally, public employees who loot could raise immunity issues and seek acquittal by a jury or a jury hung by one juror. The judges themselves or the… Read more »
Long diatribe by you and you don’t even understand the discussion. PP has made the case that when the majority votes, it’s “mob rule”. I’ve asked him many times how he would prefer decisions surrounding our government should be made if not done by the voters. He provides no alternatives and simply complains. Public employees are not looting just because ignorant people try to make that claim. They are following our agreed upon rules established in our constitutional republic. If the people are unhappy with the outcomes they are free to vote to make changes. These aren’t “makeweight” arguments but… Read more »
That may all be true but this is Illinois and what the King JB says goes. Just ask the Illinois Supreme Court.
Corruption and inefficiency in the government (including the legal system) are the “facts” that PPF overlooks — largely because of the difficulty and the cost of challenging people and laws that favor a particular segment of the society or the economy. “Majority rule” doesn’t address the “facts” of ignorant voters or those who don’t vote or those who beat the bushes for votes via a union or a cause. It is a fiction to maintain that issues decided or ratified by a “vote” really represent the will of the people. (This is not to say that we don’t need legal… Read more »
The amendment I would put in would be that the income requirements would be the same as SS so for 2024 is $168,600 and the maximum benefit is $4,873 per month which is still way below many pension. Capping the pensionable income would help instead of having no limits. Supers/professors are in the upper income brackets and receive the highest pensions like Leslie Heffez at approx $650,000 per year. If his was capped at SS levels he still would make a lot but not $650k. It would be more like $130K or 100% of the capped rate. His contributions were… Read more »
PP thinks it’s “mob rule” if the voters vote for their own best financial interest. My comment about how he would fix that with a constitutional amendment. Your amendment would be specific to limiting payouts for pensions but do nothing to stop people from voting their own interest. Also, your amendment does nothing for existing employees and would only impact new ones. Tier 2 pensioners are not expensive so they are not the problem. In fact their benefits will most likely need to be raised. Your amendment would solve a problem that doesn’t exist although it could head off future… Read more »
PPF, our basic disagreement is that you see no problem with people voting in their own best financial interest. Our founding fathers knew that people voting themselves into their neighbor’s pocket would be the end of the American experiment. As I have repeatedly pointed out, people banding together to vote for their own financial interest ends up in the situation found in Venezuela. You can keep yammering about the voters, amendments, etc. The fact is that no society can survive when people believe they can and should vote themselves into their neighbors’ wallets. I have also admitted that you and… Read more »
“PPF, our basic disagreement is that you see no problem with people voting in their own best financial interest.” Not quite. You assume because I point out that people vote their own best financial interest that I also support it. I am merely pointing out that almost everyone votes their own self interest and there is not way to regulate that. It’s like me pointing out gravity and you claiming that I support the current gravitational pull of our planet. It has nothing to do with what I support but rather just pointing out the fact that you can’t change… Read more »
The comparison to gravity is ludicrous. This is not an immutable law of nature. It’s pretty simple- nothing like amendment 1 should ever be on a ballot. No public unions who fund politicians to cater to their interests. Someone like Brandon Johnson should never be in control of public funds. It’s not that hard.
Who decides all the things that you say is “not that hard”?
The world does not operate to just what PP wants. Instead we decide as a group. The group disagreed with you as to how things should be run.
Also, I made the comparison to gravity for one simple reason. People will always vote their own self interest. It exists and is true whether you believe it or not.
I am well aware that the world does not operate to my preferences. I would not expect it to do so. I am only trying to stop the public unions from imposing their preferences on me. Their financial self interest can only come from my pocket. People will ultimately vote in their own financial self interest, if that option is available. The option to vote for self-enrichment should never be on a ballot, even when cloaked in claims of “it’s for the children”. The group is not the arbiter of right. The group thought slavery was fine. The group thought… Read more »
I had no part in that. Just because I don’t support stealing from retirees doesn’t mean I was part of any legislation or contract. The voters put themselves in this straight jacket. Look no further than amendment 1 to see that they still haven’t learned their lesson.
That’s funny, I clearly remember you telling us all about the great 3% increase you get each year.
True this amendment would be from when enacted going forward which will help down the road. As for today I would look at all the pension management fees and expenses which add up over time. How many hands are in the pot before someone gets their check? Even though it is a small amount but it helps. With all the snow we received I shovel one scoop at a time or one pass at a time with my snowblower. It gets done but not all at the same time. Nothing ever and I mean ever is mentioned by any elected… Read more »