Maybe they should try socialism. Oh, wait - never mind.
“Comrades, this is Civic Cloward-Piven in action. Once our useful idiots in all the Democrat led municipalities follow suit, our goal of the universal Soviet will be close!!!” - Some anonymous Socialist
One “innovative” and “untested” “fiscal scheme” for Chicago is to begin cutting spending and eliminate the rampant fraud, waste, and abuse.
Sounds like a fantastic idea! Yes, let’s put more taxes on the backs of suburbanites and farmers to subsidize gang bangers. /s
I weep for my hometown.
Who in their right mind would buy these bonds?
This absurdity would not (could not) exist, and we wouldn’t be subject to long-term leftist statism, if we had a gold-backed currency.
Chicago has done some crazy things. Such as, they borrowed against anticipated parking meter revenues for the next 75 years. They got about $1 billion, as I recall, from that deal.
But that money was all gone within a year.
Chicago cannot blame their problems on Republicans. Democrats have run Chicago for generations, so if Rahm Emmanuel tries to make some political statement, he can’t realistically do so.
I think they have considered some things, such as professional services tax, which would be a tax on your CPA or law firms business. But that probably can’t raise enough revenue to balance their budget.
Chicago got the government they deserve.
Maybe they could tax the youth gangs, who have laid waste to big areas of the city. They have lots of illegal income from God knows what they are doing.
sarcasm
“Chicago’s bonds, graded as “junk” by analysts,..”
Chicago is junk.
I’d loan them an anchor if they were drowning.
The Dems are setting up a sale of Chicago to muslims by mortgaging the city to them. Who else would pay for something at less than junk bond credit rating? Hussein Obama wants his Presidential Palace to include a mosque there. Soros has the $Billions, and Islam has the mayhem Soros want to implement in the U.S.
Subtract out the Chicago metro area and the state of Illinois is actually for the most part financially viable.
So, the pension debt is three times their annual tax revenues from all sources. And their general obligation bonds are about a year’s revenue.
They need a CPA to study their finances. I’m sure someone has done some studies.
Perhaps the solutions, such as trimming expenditures, which could lead to layoffs of teachers and city workers, is politically impossible?
I think I heard the city owns O’Hare? If so, maybe they could sell the airport,and get a one time infusion of cash?
Then again, one time infusions of cash don’t seem to resolve their nightmarish financial issues.
Anyone who buys any Chicago Debt should have his/her head examined.
Cook county is an excellent place to not live.
They need more tolls on the roads. And double the price of metered parking. Double all taxes on everyone. No, triple them. Put toll booths on sidewalks so pedestrians have to pay $3 per block walked. Tax the buildings, $10 per square foot of space. Put a $15 tax on every Bear, Cub, Bull, Sox and Blackhawk ticket. Tax joggers. Tax bikers. Tax boaters. Tax everything.
They will make Detroit's bankruptcy look like a cake walk, and Meredith Whitney maybe in high demand on the teli if it does occur...
Loaning money to Chicago ... investing for people who wear meat to run with the lions.
Earlier, a muni-bond expert exposed Chicago’s bond financing scheme as a house of cards. An examination of the city’s bond documents uncovered taxpayers paying billions for greedy politicians shady financial legerdemain, including:
<><>(1) using long-term financing to cover day-to-day expenses,
<><>(2) using bond proceeds to pay pension obligations, and,
<><> (3) misappropriating returns from the interest rate swap portfolio (a sub rosa ATM for paying the citys day to day expenses).
The stench from Chicago’s political sleaze is permeating the putrid city hall air... starting w/ Obama’s ex-COS Chi/Mayor Rahm Emanuel. ....and remember, these kingpins of Chicago criminal politics moved into DC with Chicago kingpin Barack Obama.
ANALYSIS Bonding is eternal taxation——the insider deals bonding companies made w/ shady pols to get bonding business would tell a tale of greedy pols accumulating riches through massive govt corruption.If these bonding deals were effectuated by way of referendum at the ballot box——and misled investors into buying tax-fee muni bonds——the SEC would be interested.
EMAIL enforcement@sec.gov
Massive govt corruption might include forgery, falsification of official records, fraudulent state budget entries, tax evasion, illegal wire-transfers, misuse of public office.
Tax-exempt municipal bond investors (including public education bond investors)— have legal grounds to sue if they were deceived about deceptive bond offerings. In many cases, bond issues are approved by voters-—at the ballot box—so that voters may have also been misled WRT uses of fraudulent bond offerings.
Also culpable are:
<><> bonding companies underwriting possible fraudulent bond issues;
<><> banks holding possibly fraudulent bond proceeds;
<><> State/city’s modus operandi in allocating tax-exempt bond proceeds,
<><> the sub rosa acceptance of bond proceeds.
<><> state/city vendors accepting possible fraudulent bond proceeds.
<><> publicly-funded state/city agencies advocating the uses of fraudulent bond proceeds.
The SEC, FBI, banking overight agencies, and the IRS, would be interested in the activities of state/city entities WRT bonding.
EMAIL-—FBI TIPS PAGE https://tips.fbi.gov
EMAIL—enforcement@SEC.gov
Contact the IRS Fraud Unit
EMAIL Banking oversight agencies
Taxpayers should find out which Chicago banks are facilitating this.
<><> Which banks are designated the official repositories of municipal tax dollars.
<><> Which banks are dispensing the ill-gotten proceeds....and to whom.