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.
I’m sure most of these jumpers are neurosurgeons/orthopedic surgeons/airline pilots/computer experts/doctors and nurses.
Oh Dick, you’re such an awful piece of work aren’t you? The Dems have created an epic disaster with their wide open border policy. Even Pritzker hits the panic button every few days. You can try the old misdirection play if you want Dickie boy, but everyone knows the Dems blew it on immigration. Anytime you’re looking for someone to blame just look in the mirror Dick.