-- 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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These renters are price-gouging
A necessary component of a ‘rent freeze’ is a ‘real estate property tax freeze’ as a substantial portion of every tenant’s rent goes to the local government. The landlord is just the middle man doing the collection on behalf of the county. Naive renters don’t quite understand that $700 of their $1,200 rent goes directly to pay the pensions of people who no longer work for the government, but instead, are in red states in their cheaper housing, fishing and boating their retirement time away. It’s all a big mess as it’s all interconnected. A generalized rent strike means that… Read more »