-- 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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I would like to see that seniors over age 62 do not have to pay school taxes. This would save me more than half on my property tax bill. This would lead to less out migration which is sorely needed. In and around the Atlanta region seniors can get up to 100% of school taxes deducted from total tax bill. When you send your kids to private school you still have to pay for the public schools and after they are done you pay for public for life but you do not have to pay for the private schools for… Read more »
I read this article, and then looked at the “Illinois Economic Policy Institute.” After reading a blatantly false article on how “restaurants can absolutely afford a $15 minimum wage,” I began to get a little angry. But then I realized that this IEPI site is probably a creation of the public unions of Illinois. They saw what the IPI (Illinois Policy Institute) has done to provide facts and non-mainstream media research and get people informed. So I assume they created a very similar name and launched a propaganda arm of the Illinois public union industry. Does anyone know anything about… Read more »
Exactly right. It’s a pro-labor outfit set up a few years ago. Ripped off the IPI identity and peddle crap like this, which is utterly dishonest.
Thanks Mark. I was stupefied to read their article telling me about how fantastic the $15 minimum wage would be for all restaurants in the state. In it, I was told that restaurants in Chicago apparently have 2 points of “GDP” extra to give away for salary increases, and that everyone would be “fine.” You could say that I’m a bit of an expert in this area, and it’s clear that these guys have never stepped out of a classroom or union hall into a small business and run it. Their academic reasoning was so flawed to empirical comparisons that… Read more »
IEPI is what you get when you cross trade union research with taxpayer-funded university resources. They *might* be affiliated with the national Economic Policy Institute or the North Star Policy Institute, which are also union-funded.
One of the authors of the article – Robert Bruno
“I became a professor because I believe that it is the best way for me to act on behalf of working-class men and women. LER has a long standing and significant commitment to labor studies and the institutions that support collective bargaining.”
Just the right fella to have lifetime tenure to propagate economic and political philosophy for 30 years or so. FDR RIP https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2013/aug/13/scott-walker/Did-FDR-oppose-collective-bargaining-for-governmen/
Tell you what…how about you give me this 10% property tax reduction FIRST then I’ll consider the progressive tax plan.
Whats the point? They can just arbitrarily raise your assessed value at any time in the future.