Tribune Expose: 12 Horrifying Secrets of Chicago's Imminent Fiscal Collapse

The Chicago Tribune has published a special report (subscription required) that offers a stunning glimpse into the Second City's true financial situation -- peeling back the obfuscation and misdirection offered by the corrupt Democrat hacks who have run the city for the last century.

Its report is worth reading in its entirety, but 12 salient details summarize the imminent collapse of Chicago's finances:

• Chicago has more general obligation debt per capita than any of the 10 largest U.S. cities except New York

• Chicago even has more general obligation debt per capita than Detroit

• When the city does reveal its spending plans to the public, the information often turns out to be inaccurate or misleading

• 63 percent of all property taxes went to debt payments last year

• The dependence on bond money has created a massive debt burden even as the city wrestles with chronic deficits and a pension crisis. Chicago's outstanding debt on general obligation bonds has quadrupled during the past 18 years, reaching $7.2 billion last year. With interest, that amount nearly doubles.

• Most of Chicago's debt woes can be traced to the long reign of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, but the borrowing he relied on so heavily has continued under Rahm Emanuel.

• The billions in bonds issued under Daley allowed him to cut ribbons, plant trees and hand out large contracts — helping him become the longest-serving mayor in Chicago history.

• The Tribune provided former mayor Daley details on its analysis, but he declined repeated requests for interviews.

• Rahm Emanuel has done virtually nothing to address the situation since taking over as Mayor. Just like Daley, Emanuel has used bond money for short-term budget relief.

• Chicago leaders routinely use bond proceeds to make interest payments on the bonds themselves, borrowing more than $450 million since 2000 just to pay interest.

• Daley and Emanuel have used $1 billion in bond money to pay for legal judgments and settlements. The practice not only forces future generations to pay a huge price for the city's misdeeds but also is likely illegal under the tax code.

• For a series of bond issues, Rahm Emanuel's team had to pay higher interest rates than most of the bonds they replaced; they did so to push payments out to the year 2039 (an expert says "this suggests the noose is tightening"). It also means taxpayers in 2039 will be paying off bonds from 1993. Some of that original money went into public housing that was torn down more than a decade ago.

Ain't the infernal alliance of public sector unions and Democrat hack politicians great?

In the ongoing battle between mathematics and Democrats, math has extended its perfect record to about 75 bazillion to zero. But, hey, ain't you Chicagoans happy you voted to keep Sandra Fluke flush with contraceptives?


Hat tip: BadBlue 24x7 News Service.