on paper, chicago's pension liability is much larmer than detroit's, and pretty much every other citycott cohn joining us live from chicago. scott, are they sort of giving you an evil eye there? >> reporter: well, you know, it's my hometown, so they can't be too nasty to me. it is not a pretty story, kelly. as you said, no city -- not even bankrupt detroit -- has as serious a pension issue as chicago, and you could argue that detroit has a plan to get out of it, although it is bitterly contested in bankruptcy court. so let's look at the numbers by comparison. detroit's pension plans are about $3.5 billion short of what they need, according to the emergency manager, kevyn orr. chicago, nearly $27 billion, according to mayor rahm emanuel. chicago is a much bigger city, so let's look at it in a different way. chicago's pension gap is nearly seven times the city's annual revenues, according to moody's. in other words, it would take seven years, if they devoted everything in the pensions, to pay it off. los angeles, houston, three times that, and detroit just 1 1/2. so the situation here i