This could get very interesting,very fast.
I drove around Dallas on vacation and then drove back to Chicago. It’s striking how all the roads and bridges in Chicago look so old by comparison.
Earlier this year there was a long article from an urban planning journal that said the talk in that industry was how precipitously Chicago had declined in the last decade by almost every measure.
Daley abandoned ship at the right time for him.
A major trend in the next five-ten years will be baby boomers deciding where to live when it is time to retire (and they don’t need to commute any more).
One factor they will look at is _future_ local and state tax rates.
The only elderly left living in Illinois in ten years could be Medicaid recipients—and think about what that will do for local and state revenues vs spending.
Illinois does not have a lot of time left to fix this.
I can’t wait for the day all those LINK cards stop working.
This year Illinois taxpayers will contribute $14.15 million to the General Assembly Retirement System. Under new accounting rules from Moody’s, the Illinois legislature’s pension system is only 13 percent funded.
From the below link when I researching Obama’s pension.
http://illinoispolicy.org/blog/blog.asp?articlesource=5166
Wonder if the legislators will forgoe their pensions /sarcasm
..even in Illinois.
The only thing that you can conclude from this is that the majority of the voters who actually go vote like the government that they elected. I would suppose that they don't give a rat's ass that the Ill government is broke and getting broker. They have no idea, nor do they seemingly care, what happens when Ill cannot pay their payroll, let alone their supplier bills.
Maybe someday even the moron level voter will finally realize that if they keep electing lunatics to run things, they will keep getting lunatic policies.
...but...*sigh*.... maybe not
Here is that urban planning article that details Chicago’s precipitous decline. It’s called, “Second-Rate City”:
http://www.city-journal.org/2012/22_2_chicago.html
Illinois has civil unions and is working hard to legislate homosexual marriage. Illinois has one of the largest abortion mill in the United States. Illinois leads in STDs, unwed mothers, violence, corruption.
SIN is the underlying problem in Illinois.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
I love it! When Romney comes into power, there will be NOTHING too big to fail. Even rat states.
Plan “A” - Reelect Obama.
Plan “B” - Scream racism.
Put on the popcorn —
I’m in the Finance biz. I seem to recall that back in about 2002, the State of Illinois floated bonds of 10 b to borrow money, invest, to make up for the shortfall in pensions. So, it might just be worse than you think, if you aren’t including debt that is associated with the assets.
Imaging that, Illinois borrowing money, to invest in the stock market, because they are SOOOO far behind in pension funding. So, not only do the tax payers pay taxes do fund the pensions, but they are on the hook for borrowed money, and need to pay interest on that money...
Sadly, I doubt that Illinois is the only state to have done this desperate move.
Thing is - the toll roads were going to take care of the roads & bridges and the gambling boats and lotto were going to save the schools. Hmmmm...
The mathamatically simple plan is to halve pension payments forever. Problem solved
Teachers Retirement System (TRS) - 46.1%
State University Employees Retirement System (SURS) - 45.3%
State Employees Retirement System (SERS) - 34.9%
General Assembly Retirement System (GARS) - 20.2%
Judicial Retirement System (JRS) - 31.0%
When I left UofIll in '91, I rolled retirement from the State Screwniversity Retirement System into an IRA. My grandmother upbraided me for that. "Oh, they'll never let that go bust."
They just might. I think I was right.
////////To close the gap with spending cuts alone would require over 25 percent across the board reductions in all spending (other than for pensions, debt service, and transportation)./////////
i like that idea best.........
could someone explain why the bond prices have not crashed?
If a state can not pay its debts, its government fails. The state loses status as a state: Reverts to being a non state territory, just as the pretended secession of South Carolina et al. caused the states to revert to territories. The promises of the state are then meaningless. The Federal government would then be able to appoint a territorial governor, and arrange a new state government, with a new constitution giving proper constitutional protections.