American Thinker: Fiscally speaking, Chicago is a “dead man walking,” with no feasible means to meet existing financial obligations in the near future. City taxes already are high, and would have to be increased by multiples in order to pay for pensions (by far the biggest item) and even skeletal city services in the long run. In the short run, they would be crippling, driving people and business out even faster.
But there is a lot of money that can be squeezed out of a complex set of financial flows and assets on a multi-billion-dollar institutional scale. You can sell off or lease assets like highways, parking garages, and even the revenue from traffic light cameras and parking meters. Rahm Emanuel made his “F-U” money in the municipal bond market, don’t forget, so he has carried on the tradition of bleeding the wounded beast through legal means.
But as the Chicago fisc stumbles along on its last legs, the so-called servants of the public are doing very well, indeed, thank-you very much. more
They raised taxes and shuttered / consolidated some public schools.
BIG WHOOP!
Intake vs. expenditures is still unsustainable.
As Margaret Thatcher wisely observed of socialists ” eventually you run out of other people’s money.”
Thanks for the object lesson Chairman Rahm.
Just went to Angry white dude, his site is down. Not good.
These people need to start rolling in orange jumpsuits.
If you live in a metropolitan area them you pass them too often.
Person who believes they are God’s Gift meets reality. Talking about your beltway…beltline…whatever…
We always wished it upon them as they practically killed us but we are sorry we looked.
Morbid but true ???
The Chicago and Illinois pensioners, along with the respective bond holders, are going to get a haircut. There just isn’t any other way to fix the mess the Big Labor- Demoncrat axis has created.
Of course they will come to Congress and ask for a bail out and the answer should be FU. One more reason to never let the Demoncrats control Congress.
State constitutions can and must be changed to allow defaults on obligations.
You can’t get blood out of a stone.
“You can sell off or lease assets like highways, parking garages, and even the revenue from traffic light cameras and parking meters.”
Sorry Chicago, but you can skin the same sheep twice.
The high salary numbers don’t even include income “off the books”, bribery, kick-backs, contracts to relatives, confiscated assets, and other forms of corruption for which Chicago is infamous.
If Illinois tries to declare bankruptcy, the federal government should revoke its statehood and govern it as a territory. That would eliminate all the corrupt, incompetent, tax-sucking state bureaucrats and politicians in one fell swoop.
Just perusing the payroll linked, it seems that muslims are WAY over-represented at the city, and women seem to be payed at a level at least equal to- or higher than- men!
I used to live off Michigan Avenue in a really nice high rise.
Now I wouldn’t let my dog piddle on The Water Tower.
What a waste. Chicago used to be a super place to live.
I thought Rahm’s policy of driving people out of the city, to reduce population, was the plan?
Detroit rock shitty, here they come! WHOOT!!!