January 19, 2025
Will Chicago Be the Largest U.S. City to Declare Bankruptcy?
Since the days of Big Bill Thompson, Chicago has been a cesspool of graft and corruption. Can waving the magic wand of bankruptcy cure the city of almost 100 years of amoral governance? Don't bet the farm on it.
Since the days of Big Bill Thompson, Chicago has been a cesspool of graft and corruption. Can waving the magic wand of bankruptcy cure the city of almost 100 years of amoral governance? Don’t bet the farm on it.

The city of Chicago is in dire fiscal and financial straits with an almost billion dollar budget deficit, bonds rated at junk status or below, numerous extremely costly legal judgments, a shrinking tax base, and unfunded public pension liabilities to the tune of an astonishing $42 billion.

Other than that, it’s a great place to live.

The state of Illinois has its own financial troubles, so the city can expect little or no help there. And good luck getting a federal bailout through the GOP Senate and signed by a president who’s been called a “racist” by the mayor.

The shrinking tax base is clear proof that citizens are already over taxed. And since it’s Democrats in charge, there won’t be much cutting of city services.

The only option for Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the city council is restructuring the city’s massive debts. In other words: bankruptcy.

[…]

See Also:

(1) Don’t Move to Austin. It’s Rotting from Within

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Don Deacon
Don Deacon
September 16, 2019 3:14 pm

I think the same thing awaits Canada, particularly with Trudeau at the helm.

BTDT
BTDT
September 16, 2019 12:16 pm

It’s not a pot of gold waits at the end of the progressive left rainbow. It’s a Democrat shithole. Proof – Cities like (the short list) Chicago, Atlanta, Ferguson, LA, San Fran, NY, Portland, Austin. They and numerous others fit the description perfectly. But as this article focuses on Chicago… a genuine Democrat run shithole city worthy of being labelled with a travel advisory by the government of both the USA and Canada. 

Chicago’s last GOP mayor was elected in 1927. The nation’s third-largest city is home to some of the worst inner-city violence imaginable. More than 2,300 people were shot there last year, and nearly 400 lost their lives to homicides.

Its finances are just as grim. “Chicago is so broke,” IBD contributor Stephen Moore explained months ago, “that its bonds are junk status, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel had to go hat in hand last week to the state capital, Springfield, for bailout money to pay the bills.” Things have been rotten enough, Moore said, to send “a record number of people … fleeing Cook County, home to Chicago.” Only a little more than half of the city’s pension liabilities are funded.

As a former Obama advisor once gloated….”Lack of transparency is a huge advantage. And basically, you know, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever”. So keep on voting Democrat fools. There’s a lot more public safety and prosperity to destroy out there. You all are still allowed to keep too much of your own hard earned money from the government. Misery loves company. Vote Democrat, ANY Democrat anywhere at any level as you search for that ‘pot of gold’.