-- 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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Back in the early 70’s a good friend of mine worked midnights at the PO facility in Forrest Park, the former Torpedo Plant. Employees had preprinted labels with their address or friends address. When they saw something they liked they’d slap a label on it. This was when you could by guns through the mail!
So now , no mail service, no retail stores, nothing but desolation until they crack down on crime.
Nothing new based on my experience in the 1960’s when “mailmen” in the city where I lived would hide their trucks and work a separate paid job until it was time to return to the station. The mail wasn’t stolen, as far as I know, but was delivered twice a week when it wouldn’t interfere with the paid job. The father of a good friend was a postal union officer and shared this with me over a bottle of Chianti. His job was to protect the mailmen from getting fired, not to protect the system. The ethos then seemed to… Read more »