Chicago: The Liberal Utopia

I read in the news yesterday that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is warning that he may double property taxes in Chicago to fund a $1.07 billion balloon payment on its $19.4 billion pension debt for city employees.  The shortfall to the pensions comes to $7,100 per Chicago resident.  The municipal workers, police, labour and firefighters’ pension funds are currently sitting at 33 percent funded, far below the 80 percent that is considered healthy, according to Financial Times.  The Chicago teachers’ pension fund is also in trouble, currently sitting at 54 percent funded.  Chicago’s city council is taking steps to deal with the financial crisis, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Wall Street Journal – Last month, Chicago’s city council approved the issuance of $500 million in commercial paper and $900 million in general-obligation bonds purportedly to refinance existing debt and improve public works.  There’s little to stop politicians from pouring the proceeds into pensions – or later reneging on this unsecured debt if it were to file for bankruptcy.

The problems with Chicago’s finances seem to have spread to the State of Illinois.  The Publius Forum has a post about Illinois ranking as one of the worst states for losing citizens, coming in second for states with outward migration.  It seems that people just don’t want to live there any longer.  After looking at some of the data on the post about Illinois, it’s no wonder.

• Illinois has the most underfunded pensions in the country and faces a deficit growth of $17 million per day.
• The state also has the worst funded teachers pensions in the country.
• Illinois was identified as one of the worst states in the union for its oppressive, jobs-killing lawsuit climate
• Illinois had more home foreclosures than almost every other state.
• Illinois ranks as the 49th worst debtor state in the nation.
• Illinois was ranked the 48th worst state for business.
• Illinois ranked 48th for unemployment making it among the worst five states for joblessness.
• Its government also has one of the worst rankings for state transparency and accountability in the nation, too.
• As to big city stats, Chicago tops the nation with the highest unemployment rate.
• Illinois has the worst credit rating.
• Illinois Tops Nation in Growth of Food Stamp Recipients.
• Mercatus: Illinois ranks at the bottom of the most free states.

With Democrats in complete control it’s no surprise that financial disasters come along.  One need only look at a list of worst cities for poverty to see that they are all run by Democrats.  Liberals are weapons of mass financial destruction and they have destroyed city after city when they get complete control of it.  Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, El Paso, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Newark and many others… All have seen the poverty levels increase under Democrat control.  The destruction they bring comes in part from their methods of marginalizing Republicans in their cities.

IJReview – In modern Baltimore, the (political) machine has exploited class divisions, not ethnic ones. Officials raised property taxes 21 times between 1950 and 1985, channeling the proceeds to favored voting blocs and causing many homeowners and entrepreneurs—disproportionately Republicans—to flee. It was brilliant politics, as Democrats now enjoy an eight-to-one voter registration advantage and no Republican has been elected mayor in 48 years.

But Baltimore’s high property taxes have repelled investment in physical capital for decades. As that capital decayed and became scarce, labor became less productive and less prosperous. In 1950, the city’s median family income was 7% above the national average. Today it is 22% below it.”

The practice of buying votes through taxation and entitlements, rather than sound government policy, is ultimately flawed. This is not to imply that all Democratic politicians intentionally try to run a city, a state or society into the ground. Clearly, for love of power, some do.

Liberals have claimed for eons that conservative financial policies favor the rich and do nothing to help the lower class.  Clearly, in all the cities where liberals have had absolute control, their policies have been complete disasters and have done nothing but make bad situations much worse.  Not only does the lower class stagnate, but their ranks increase in number. 

I once had a discussion with a coworker in which we agreed it would be an interesting experiment to divide the country in two.  The liberals would have complete authority in one half and the conservatives would have total control in the other.  Note I did not say Democrats and Republicans, but liberals and conservatives.  Many Republicans would find themselves in the liberal half.  But, to continue…  Each half would enact their own fiscal policies and, over time, we would be able to see which half was more financially successful.  At the end of the experiment I don’t believe there would be any doubt that the liberal half would look like Chicago or worse.  But, actually, such an experiment is not needed.  One need look no further than the State of Illinois and the liberal utopia that is the City of Chicago to see what liberalism hath wrought.  Utter disaster.  And the man in charge of Chicago, the Godfather of liberalism in Illinois, Rahm Emmanuel, is reportedly considering a run for the presidency.  Heaven help us all if he were to succeed.