My Blog

Tag: Pension Time-Bomb

  • More Bankruptcy Coming (to a city near you)

    The top 10 biggest U.S. cities on the brink of pension bankruptcy. #1 Philadelphia – Unfunded liability of $9 billion, $16,696 per household, only 1 year before the pension accounts are empty #2 Chicago – Unfunded liability of $44.8 billion, $41.966 per household, money runs out in 4 years #3 Boston – Unfunded liability of…

  • IL Public Pension Debt at $133 Billion

    Ten U.S. states have public pension liabilities that are at least as big as their annual revenues, according to a Moody’s Investors Service report released on Thursday that found the Illinois pension bill was equal to 241 percent of its revenues.  … According to Moody’s, Illinois has the largest net pension liability in the country,…

  • Moody’s Downgrades Chicago’s Motor Fuel Debt

    Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded to A3 from Aa3 the rating on the City of Chicago’s (IL) $181 million of outstanding rated motor fuel tax debt. The outlook has been revised to negative. via Moody’s. Surprises no one.  Barely qualifies as news actually. The City’s broke.  Unemployment (real unemployment, the U6 number) is out of…

  • SEC Hits Illinois with Securities Fraud Charges

    Illinois broke federal securities laws in misstating the true health of the state’s depleted pension funds when going out onto the bond market between 2005 and early 2009, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday.  … The finding of securities fraud doesn’t subject the state to any fines or penalties but amounts to a warning…

  • Illinois Pensions — A Simple Primer

    I found this while at the Khan Academy. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tczu_dvVuuk]

  • Quinn Spends Another $1.5 Billion We Don’t Have

    Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday signed into law an extra $1.5 billion in spending for road construction and child welfare investigations, even as Republicans decried the measure as including ill-timed, pork barrel money. via Chicago Tribune. What is wrong with this guy?  Really? Quinn already stopped a bond auction because the rates for Illinois…

  • Crain’s Propaganda on Illinois vs. Indiana

    My comment on a brainless story: Since when is Crain’s the new PR mouthpiece for Quinn and Rahm? Except for the graphic this piece is nearly 100% opinion. So Indiana spent $300k on a campaign and got 20 or so companies to move. Those companies may provide several millions worth of tax base; yielding a…

  • Quinn Balks at Illinois’ Fresh Interest Rate

    Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration delayed Wednesday’s planned sale of $500 million in construction bonds, saying a recent credit downgrade because of inaction on government worker pension reform left the market “unsettled.” The decision was made after officials with the governor’s budget office spoke with potential bidders who indicated they would seek interest rates higher than…

  • Gov Official Warns Cook County Retirees Of Local Debt

    In May, 2012, the collective debt reported by the local primary taxing agencies in Cook County was more than $140 billion! To put that in context, the total debt-per-household in the City of Chicago was $87,720, and $35,774 in the suburbs. Since local governments cannot print money, they rely on property taxes as their main…

  • Pensioners Take Note, Municipal Bond Storm Coming

    [B]ut California too is now starting to hand it to bondholders. Cities in California are now testing the limits of bankruptcy law, and not paying the debt nor the payments for retirees to the state system. Thus this article describes how the state retirement system (CALPERS) is suing to demand payment, and saying that retiree…