Audio: Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon says Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades – Chicago’s Morning Answer
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
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.
Illinois lost another 54,000 tax filers and dependents, net, according to the IRS. Since 2000, fleeing taxpayers have taken $94 billion of annual adjusted gross income with them.
Disney was looking for a way to can Kimmel anyway, as his ratings were lower than a CPS student’s test scores. He gave them a way to do it and the political cover to blame the right. Win win for Disney.
The subtext is that JB hates it here in Illinois and wishes he were out in Hollywood with all the trendy people instead of being Governor of some cornfields. All those billions and he is still stuck in Illinois so he desperately wants the approval of the California lefties.
The funny part is that they want nothing to do with someone who doesn’t have the good sense to take Ozempic. They DO NOT want to be seen or have their picture taken next to a beached whale.
He may be on it. Looks like he has lost a few pounds.
Very first sentence claims ‘a popular late night show’ – not so. Kimmel lke Colbert are failing unfunny comedy shows. Easy business decision to cancel both.
He wasn’t indefinitely suspended because of free speech . He LIED AND SPREAD MISINFORMATION . He KNEW TYLER was FAR LEFT and in a TRANS RELATIONSHIP and came on stage and said he was a Republican. That is why he got suspended.
Kinda like all the lying and misinformation claiming the 2020 election was stolen.
You mean that election where Biden campaigned from his basement yet got more votes than Obama did? That one?
Where was Pritzker when Gina Carano got canceled for voicing her opinion? Disney claimed it tarnished their brand, even though her comments were made outside her work relationship. Fortunately, she won and Disney settled.
The newly-minted free speech warriors, who only a few years ago tried to set up a Ministry of Disinformation and told us it was not a free speech violation but merely “consequences”, are now drowning in their crocodile tears.
Free speech is one of the foundations of the USA. What makes America great is all of its rights for the private citizens. Always go with Free Speech.
Right on. It’s something we should be exceptionally proud of. We are among the few countries with a written, constitutional right to free speech, and the body of law interpreting it, as laid down by the Supreme Court, is very well thought out.
The Substack Pirate Wires makes a great argument that approving/celebrating political violence needs to be a cultural taboo, not just a free speech issue:
https://open.substack.com/pub/piratewires/p/murder-is-bad?r=oyco8&utm_medium=ios
Spot on. It must be a cultural taboo. No matter what your politics, if you celebrate murder you must be shunned in every respect.
Remember when Rahm cancelled a small business owner because the franchisee owner opposed redefining marriage (Chick-fil-a)? The franchise location eventually opened and employees many people but Rahm tried to block it. Remember crybully Talylor Lorenz doxxing people she disagreed with and ruining their careers? Pritzker stood by and did NOTHING. JB the Hutt supports free speech as long as he agrees with it.
Hey J(ail) B(ird) time for your biscuit!
It’s not an attack, you boob. It’s the result of a business understanding the reputational risk brought on by a guy who more than half (based on numbers of viewers) of the country simply doesn’t like or watch….
JB, you’re a clown…. This is the best thing that can happen.. that folks see just how much of a moron he is…
Glad to hear then you are OK with social media companies cracking down on speech they consider hateful.
The FCC did the same thing to Roseanne’s show when she made a remark – did you whine then?
Of course not.
Here’s Roseanne replying to Brian Stelters whining:
https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/1968486729226027273?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1968486729226027273|twgr^ebde3669ec2d62dfbbebcc0bb567441ab55462de|twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=https://twitchy.com/fuzzychimp/2025/09/18/roseanne-speaks-out-on-jimmy-kimmel-n2419148
ME is identifying the business decision made by the local stations and the network–they derive their revenue from advertising. Ad rates vary by number of “eyes” watching. If their customers complained about the content of the program in significant numbers and made forward looking statements related to their future viewing (or the absence thereof), the local stations are being responsive to their longer term interests. They aren’t “cracking down on speech they consider hateful”–they are responding to their consumers who believed Mr. Kimmel’s speech was both inaccurate and offensive and who, as a result, would not watch again. The consumer… Read more »
False equivalency there.
I am guessing Governor Happy Meal Warrior, a law school graduate, skipped class in law school the day they taught law. No one is preventing Jimmy Kimmel from exercising his 1A right to free speech. He is allowed to make incredibly sick and twisted commentary on any public street corner as he wishes. What he doesn’t get to do is cross the line, while at work, on the bosses dime and not have consequences.
He’s just upset Kimmel won’t be able to push democrat propaganda anymore.
Why in the world, would the governor of a state, give two rats rears about the cancellation of a television show by the Network Management? It is pathetic and embarrassing what our governor does with his time, and what he thinks is important. Jumbo, how about property tax relief, how about fixing the over funded/under performing education system and hundreds of other more important issues serving the Citizen in Illinois. Please, can we get together and vote this moron out of office…
It’s called freedom of speech. Some silly people think it’s important.
he can stay whatever he wants on his own time, but not on ABCs dime which must follow FCC guidelines.
I posted those guidelines the The Federalist article below, if you are actually interested to find out what his firing is based on
So, seems this has to settled between them. Personally I like freedom of speech, but if the law requires a muffle it’s beyond my pay grade to solve. Let those games begin, and let the best man win.
Lol. He’s not being prosecuted or charged by the government for his statements – that’s his First amendment protection. His employer decided his views didn’t match theirs and have every right to fire him and change staff or cancel the show all together. Any other statement by Jumbo is theatre.
Please tell how Kimmel lost his ability to speak freely, not matter how much of a lie his repugnant statements are.
Trumpty dummy does that ALL the time and apparrently somehow you don’t see it. “Nobody has ever seen it.”. “ Best ever”. “Worst ever”. Trump can only speak in some combo pack of lies and superlatives. The number of lies he’s told the general public spew from his guts like vomit.
Meanwhile, Randi Weingarten is on a book tour promoting her new book, Why Fascists Fear Teachers.
Newsflash, Randi:
Nobody fears people who cry that teaching kids to read is an insurmountable task.
And you still didn’t show us how Jimmy Kimmel lost his free speech rights while also bringing Trump into the argument. An argument you lost.
No, it is NOT a violation of the 1St Amendment.
Kimmell straight up lied to his audience violating FCC regulations that prohibit news distortion or a hoax.
Kimmel knew what he was doing by blaming the murder on the “MAGA gang”.
Good article here by the Federalist goes into detail-
https://thefederalist.com/2025/09/17/jimmy-kimmel-blatantly-broke-fcc-rules-and-brendan-carr-was-right-to-notice/
So, should the FCC have gone after all the Fox news hosts and executives that knowingly reported false allegations about Dominion Voting Systems during the 2024 election?
The FCC has no jurisdiction over cable, only over broadcast licensees. So no, the FCC shouldn’t have gone after Fox News.
While the FCC doesn’t regulate cable news it could have gone after Fox Corp. which oversees both Fox News and Fox Broadcasting. Rupert Murdoch oversees both entities and knew that Fox News was lying about Dominion Voting Systems. The FCC could have gone after Rupert on “character” issues, which the FCC can look at it to determine if you deserve a broadcasting license. But they didn’t, which I believe was the right decision. I remember some of the more liberal media at the time suggesting the FCC go after Fox Corp., and therefor Fox Broadcasting, because of the lying at… Read more »
what false allegations?
also, Fox News is cable, thus not using public airwaves thus not licensed by the FCC.
You are confusing Fox television stations with cable.
If you’d actually read the article I posted you would know this.
Report:
“Dominion deleted 2.7 million Trump votes nationwide.
Data analysis finds 221,000 Pa. votes switched from President Trump to Biden.
941,000 Trump votes deleted.
States using Dominion voting systems switched 435, 000 votes from Trump to Biden.
@DNI Gabbard
https://substack.com/@justindeschamps/note/c-158411842?r=9834u
Getting shot in the neck is an attack on free speech.
Hopefully in 2026 you Pritzker will be fired by the voters in Illinois, seek help Pritzker.
Did Kimmel cry? He’s known for that…
And for donning blackface to portray an NBA player and tasteless humor on “ The Man Show “, things that Mr. Virtue Signaling Crybaby would like us all to forget.
and cheering when “Roseanne” was cancelled-
the left motto:
“rules for thee but not for me”