Senator Kirk is unaware of the common denominator between Chicago and Detroit, it isn’t the body count.
Chicago could follow Detroit into bankruptcy if Mayor Rahm Emanuel is not re-elected, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) warned Monday.
Without mentioning Jesus “Chuy” Garcia by name, Kirk said Emanuel’s challenger lacks the “gravitas with the bond market” to secure Chicago’s mountain of debt and prevent Chicago from going the way of Detroit, which recently emerged from bankruptcy.
“Rahm’s re-election is essential to maintaining the value of Chicago’s debt market. We need a strong capable leader… I would worry about the value of the Chicago debt if Rahm was not re-elected…. It’s a concern if we have some of the less responsible people running against him,” Kirk said.
“None of them could command the respect of the bond market. A collapse of Chicago debt, which already happened with Detroit, I think would soon follow if somebody who was really inexperienced and irresponsible replaced Rahm.”[…]
Emanuel has emphatically rejected comparisons between Chicago and Detroit, citing Chicago’s more diverse economy.
“It’s a non-partisan election but it sounds like a political comment. He’s entitled to it,” Garcia said.
“This is a serious issue and we’ll continue to address it head-on.”
Now that there are only two candidates left standing, both are under pressure to be more specific on how they plan to solve Chicago’s $20 billion pension crisis and the $10 billion in unfunded pension liabilities at the Chicago Public Schools.