April 6, 2026

Now, on to the news…

Photo credits: Scott Olson / Staff / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Chicago is in trouble. For decades, the city has been spending at unsustainable levels, and its unfunded pension liabilities are some of the nation’s largest. Tom Savidge writes that its fiscal troubles are reminiscent of New York’s in the 1970s and Puerto Rico’s in 2015.

“As with New York back then, if bond investors remain skeptical of Chicago bonds, it could lead to increased borrowing costs, impaired market access from a lack of willing underwriters, and even default,” he writes. “The scale of such a default could rival that of Puerto Rico’s, with consequences affecting both Chicago and Illinois.”

Will Chicago ask Washington, D.C. for a bailout? It doesn’t seem out of the question, but as Savidge argues, it would set a dangerous precedent. “Rather than properly manage their budgets, city and state officials may scramble to secure the next spot in line at the federal trough,” he writes. “Fiscal responsibility will erode as state and local officials pay more heed to federal policymakers and the terms of federal funding than their obligations to their constituents.”

Read his take.

Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom instituted several reforms to the California Environmental Quality Act, a law that has enabled development opponents to block new housing. The move was widely applauded for addressing the state’s shortage of homes.

But one of the new measures contains a problematic provision that has gone largely unnoticed. It essentially creates a hidden tax on housing by pushing the costs of reducing driving onto new construction. “In practice, that means younger and less wealthy households shoulder the burden through even higher prices in a state where housing is already unaffordable,” Jennifer Hernandez writes.

Read about the provision and why Hernandez calls it “social policy cloaked in environmental rhetoric.”

Nicole Gelinas joins Brian Anderson to discuss Zohran Mamdani’s performance as mayor and the fiscal condition of New York City. 

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The California Democratic Party has all the power in that state. The scale of the fraud, waste, and abuse in California is of zero surprise. I have lived here my whole life. As the state moved from politically purple to blue, the abuse of government and taxpayer funds has only escalated. The Democrats cannot be trusted to police themselves accordingly. And the media in California is utterly useless to do so either.”

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The Bird, commenting on fraud in California

Photo credits: Chip Somodevilla / Staff / Getty Images News via Getty Images