Today’s quotable
Friday, Sep 25, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
“The city — perhaps optimistically — is relying on the state approving” the pension law, Standard & Poor’s wrote in a statement on the mayor’s budget plan that was introduced Tuesday. If the law isn’t approved, the city would end up more than $200 million in the hole next year.
“If the final budget that is adopted by the end of the calendar year fails to cover the larger pension payments with an identifiable and reliable revenue source, it would likely strain the (city’s bond) rating — potentially resulting in the rating being lowered by multiple notches,” S&P warned, raising the prospect that it could join Moody’s Investors Service in giving the city a junk bond credit rating.
“Given the uncertainty regarding the reform of its police, fire, municipal and laborers pension plans, we expect city management to consider contingency plans for addressing its pension liabilities,” S&P added in its statement.
When the Tribune this week asked Emanuel if he had a Plan B should the state not enact his police and fire pension changes, he said, “First of all, if I had a Plan B, the worst thing to tell the legislature is that you have a Plan B.”
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:25 am:
===“First of all, if I had a Plan B, the worst thing to tell the legislature is that you have a Plan B.”===
Love that candor. Great line, so true.
- cdog - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:28 am:
Maybe we all need to buy some credit default swaps. Let’s bet against a compromise, and hope those with the power to orchestrate a resolution are like-minded. Ch-Ching!!
I wonder if there are any big players doing that?
- Keyrock - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:52 am:
I thought we were already on Plan D.
- Amalia - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:55 am:
still low taxes, right?
- Anonymous - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 8:59 am:
When are Emanuel and Preckwinkle going to realize that pension “reform” is going nowhere. Democratic legislators are not going to put themselves on the line for something that likely wont be approved by the courts and will upset a part of their base.
- Wordslinger - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:02 am:
Fitch said the same thing a couple of days ago.
The rating agencies, born again after their sinful acts in crashing the world economy, now have the zealotry of fhe recently converted (hopefully, DOJ and Congress will notice, lol).
As recently as 2010, all three rated the city’s GO debt at least AA, just a few notches below U.S. Treasuries, the bedrock instrument of world finance.
In fact, the agencies raised the city’s ratings while Daley was selling off the furniture to pay for groceries.
Like there was a big difference between the city’s fiscal position in 2010 and now.
- A guy - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:08 am:
Whatever Plan B might be could prove they can’t handle the truth.
- Anonymous - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:13 am:
======“First of all, if I had a Plan B, the worst thing to tell the legislature is that you have a Plan B.”===
Love that candor. Great line, so true.====
Couldn’t agree more. It always drives me crazy when people in our coalition start talking about Plan B ahead of time. I always relate it to playing poker with your cards face up and your opponent does not.
- DuPage Dave - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:13 am:
Emanuel is in way over his head. He was handed millions in Wall Street deals based on his political connections and assumed therefore he knew something about money.
Then his ego leads him to run for mayor but, as it turns out, he does not have a clue how to steer the ship. He’s in his second term now but seems none the wiser.
In fairness, Daley left him with a stinking pile of garbage, but Emanuel volunteered for the job. As the stress level mounts he seems to become less articulate and more testy.
It’s almost entertaining to watch him squirm, but his actions affect the lives of real people who live and work in the city. So let’s hope he and his brain trust figure something out soon.
- Norseman - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:30 am:
Plan B, privately pushed by Rauner, is to have Omni Consumer Products takeover management of the city.
- Gooner - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:32 am:
Standard and Poor’s doesn’t seem to have a real understanding of Gov. Rauner.
There is not going to be a deal.
Neither Rauner nor Democrats will cave on union busting.
Now that Madigan is down at least two (Dunkin is gone and there is a vacancy), the Speaker can’t send anything to Rauner because he’s can’t override anything.
S&P may as well just cut that rating now.
- Cannon649 - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:36 am:
Rahm does not have the answer - he never did. He can not control spending mainly because his base will not let him. Not clear if wants to fix any issue that might effect him long term.
The “kick the can”approach is going be more difficult as the debt get larger, the creditors are fewer and the bond rating fall.
Note the state has a same type of problem.
No one has the solution and the problem compounds.
Leadership - Is not just raising taxes.
- Touré's Latte - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:36 am:
Madigan has never seemed much of a Chicago Machine guy. He as his own. Rahm and his staff will come to some sort of Plan M before M will move.
- Touré's Latte - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:36 am:
Madigan has never seemed much of a Chicago Machine guy. He as his own. Rahm and his staff will come to some sort of Plan M before M will move.
- @MisterJayEm - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:47 am:
Plan B?
“Prepare three envelopes.”
– MrJM
- nixit71 - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 9:51 am:
==Plan B, privately pushed by Rauner, is to have Omni Consumer Products takeover management of the city.==
Chicago could use the ED-209 to fight gangs. Unless, of course, the gangs are hanging out in stairwells.
- Anderson Villy - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:19 am:
==Cannon649==
Not snark: Who do you think is Rahm’s base? What can he realistically cut out of the budget that they won’t let him cut?
- Blue dog dem - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:37 am:
I know what plan B is. It’s going to happen eventually, so it might as well be NOW.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:43 am:
===I know what plan B is. It’s going to happen eventually, so it might as well be NOW.===
If it’s Bankruptcy, please, go lay down or something…
- Wordslinger - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:46 am:
Emanuel’s “base” is his fundraising network, which overlap’s considerably with the governor’s.
- Blue dog dem - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:47 am:
OW, since the Pope is in country, I was thinking maybe Rahm was going to do a Novena and pray for a miracle…..cause that’s all that’s gonna save us folks here in the a Windy City from ourselves.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:49 am:
- Blue dog dem -,
Bruce Rauner “outlawed” miracles…
- Blue dog dem - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 10:53 am:
Your right, I forgot that was on the last page of his agenda. That’s the problem with the old Evelyn Wood reading course. Kinda skip over a few words now and then….
- Anderson Villy - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 11:00 am:
==Emanuel’s “base” is his fundraising network, which overlap’s considerably with the governor’s.==
Exactly. Was curious if Cannon knew that, and if so, if he could then identify which budget lines were “off the table” for them.
It’s definitely not personnel, and it’s definitely not social services (which are pretty much all grant-funded anyway). It’s not “waste”. What does that leave us with that’s off the table?
- Anderson Villy - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 11:10 am:
Contrary to popular belief, Chicago is a two-party city. Corporate and Community. It was easy to forget under Daley. Rahm hasn’t quite figured out how to keep the Community side mollified yet. At least now I think he’s realized that’s a problem.
- walker - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 11:21 am:
==Contrary to popular belief, Chicago is a two-party city. Corporate and Community. It was easy to forget under Daley. Rahm hasn’t quite figured out how to keep the Community side mollified yet.==
Yahtzee
- Tone - Friday, Sep 25, 15 @ 1:22 pm:
“It was easy to forget under Daley”
Right and look at the City’s finances now.