-- 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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Kroger is closing 9000 underperforming stores, largely due to theft. Amazon is cutting 30,000 corporate jobs. perhaps looking to replace them by robots or computers. How many retail stores have closed in Chicago and San Francisco and elsewhere? Trump et al have laid off or furloughed thousands of Federal workers including military personnel. [Enough examples.] Illinois and many other places face multiple millions $ of unemployment claims. Sidebar: Many enterprises are switching over to A.I. creating misery for those who need to talk to a human. I spent half an hour today getting past numerous computerized attempts to block me… Read more »
Totally agree. Your last paragraph is key, but I have no confidence that the issues you emphasize are being addressed.
Below is an A.I. summary that may or may not accurately give the current state of the law. However, it encourages me about my curbstone instincts: In American constitutional law, the right to equal protection is generally superior to the right to contract. A contract that violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment can be nullified by a court, as constitutional rights have a higher standing than contractual ones. The constitutional conflict Equal Protection Clause: The Fourteenth Amendment mandates that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”. The U.S.… Read more »
Meanwhile back in Chicago, the drain circling continues unabated with full throated support from the citizenry. Slaves in the truest sense of the word.
Not slaves but serfs
Chicago is controlled by the public sector unions. They always want more money and do not care if you are broke. A once great city has been destroyed by the public sector unions. Even after bankruptcy the city will be a goner. Till pensions are eliminated the financial issues and higher and higher taxes will not change. No one has sold more Texas and Florida real estate than the public sector unions.
Hopefully a bankruptcy judge will void all existing contracts and pensions and have it hold up to challenges.
That would require a change in the state constitution by the same people who elect JB, BJ, … so good luck with that idea!