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Michigan court clears way for Detroit bankruptcy to proceed
A Michigan judge's attempt to halt Detroit's bankruptcy proceeding was blocked Tuesday by a higher court.
At issue: Does the Michigan constitution bar the federal bankruptcy from going forward? Do the state courts have any power to stop a federal bankruptcy case?
Tuesday's ruling by the Michigan Court of Appeals stays an order by Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina issued last Friday.
Aquilina had ruled that the bankruptcy violates a provision of the Michigan constitution that prohibits the cutting of pension and retirement benefits.
The bankruptcy would reduce the pension payments due to about 10,000 city employees and nearly 20,000 retirees. The suit had been brought by retirees and their pension funds.
The court fight over whether the bankruptcy will proceed is not over. The Court of Appeals said Tuesday that it would "grant immediate consideration" of the case.
Related: Just how generous are Detroit's pensions?
Detroit became the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in the nation's history last week after a filing by state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr.
Orr and Snyder said the city can not afford its $11.5 billion in liabilities associated with pension benefits, retiree health care and unsecured debt held by investors. Orr will ask the bankruptcy court to slash what the city owes retirees and debt holders to $2 billion -- a move that would mean deep cuts in retirement benefits.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/23/news/economy/detroit-bankrupcy-ruling/index.html?iid=SF_E_LN
At issue: Does the Michigan constitution bar the federal bankruptcy from going forward? Do the state courts have any power to stop a federal bankruptcy case?
Tuesday's ruling by the Michigan Court of Appeals stays an order by Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina issued last Friday.
Aquilina had ruled that the bankruptcy violates a provision of the Michigan constitution that prohibits the cutting of pension and retirement benefits.
The bankruptcy would reduce the pension payments due to about 10,000 city employees and nearly 20,000 retirees. The suit had been brought by retirees and their pension funds.
The court fight over whether the bankruptcy will proceed is not over. The Court of Appeals said Tuesday that it would "grant immediate consideration" of the case.
Related: Just how generous are Detroit's pensions?
Detroit became the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in the nation's history last week after a filing by state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr.
Orr and Snyder said the city can not afford its $11.5 billion in liabilities associated with pension benefits, retiree health care and unsecured debt held by investors. Orr will ask the bankruptcy court to slash what the city owes retirees and debt holders to $2 billion -- a move that would mean deep cuts in retirement benefits.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/23/news/economy/detroit-bankrupcy-ruling/index.html?iid=SF_E_LN
The town I grew up in was one of the first in California to go under. To me the connection is fairly obvious. Both cities were overly dependent on a single source to employ people -- one the auto industry the other a Naval Shipyard. When the revenue dried up, the problems started. If you elect people with little desire, will, or imagination to diversify you "get the government you deserve".
thedailysheeple? ROFL Never heard of it! Thanks, I will check it out.
-I cannot say what the facts are at this point as it is hard to find unbiased information=
25 Facts About The Fall Of Detroit That Will Leave You Shaking Your Head
1) At this point, the city of Detroit owes money to more than 100,000 creditors.
2) Detroit is facing $20 billion in debt and unfunded liabilities. That breaks down to more than $25,000 per resident.
3) Back in 1960, the city of Detroit actually had the highest per-capita income in the entire nation.
4) In 1950, there were about 296,000 manufacturing jobs in Detroit. Today, there are less than 27,000.
5) Between December 2000 and December 2010, 48 percent of the manufacturing jobs in the state of Michigan were lost.
6) There are lots of houses available for sale in Detroit right now for $500 or less.
7) At this point, there are approximately 78,000 abandoned homes in the city.
8) About one-third of Detroit’s 140 square miles is either vacant or derelict.
9) An astounding 47 percent of the residents of the city of Detroit are functionally illiterate.
10) Less than half of the residents of Detroit over the age of 16 are working at this point.
11) If you can believe it, 60 percent of all children in the city of Detroit are living in poverty.
12) Detroit was once the fourth-largest city in the United States, but over the past 60 years the population of Detroit has fallen by 63 percent.
13) The city of Detroit is now very heavily dependent on the tax revenue it pulls in from the casinos in the city. Right now, Detroit is bringing in about 11 million dollars a month in tax revenue from the casinos.
14) There are 70 ”Superfund” hazardous waste sites in Detroit.
15) 40 percent of the street lights do not work.
16) Only about a third of the ambulances are running.
17) Some ambulances in the city of Detroit have been used for so long that they have more than 250,000 miles on them.
18) Two-thirds of the parks in the city of Detroit have been permanently closed down since 2008.
19) The size of the police force in Detroit has been cut by about 40 percent over the past decade.
20) When you call the police in Detroit, it takes them an average of 58 minutes to respond.
21) Due to budget cutbacks, most police stations in Detroit are now closed to the public for 16 hours a day.
22) The violent crime rate in Detroit is five times higher than the national average.
23) The murder rate in Detroit is 11 times higher than it is in New York City.
24) Today, police solve less than 10 percent of the crimes that are committed in Detroit.
25) Crime has gotten so bad in Detroit that even the police are telling people to “enter Detroit at your own risk“.
- See more at: http://www.thedailysheeple.com/25-facts-about-the-fall-of-detroit-that-will-leave-you-shaking-your-head_072013#sthash.yMwIZDX0.dpuf
25 Facts About The Fall Of Detroit That Will Leave You Shaking Your Head
1) At this point, the city of Detroit owes money to more than 100,000 creditors.
2) Detroit is facing $20 billion in debt and unfunded liabilities. That breaks down to more than $25,000 per resident.
3) Back in 1960, the city of Detroit actually had the highest per-capita income in the entire nation.
4) In 1950, there were about 296,000 manufacturing jobs in Detroit. Today, there are less than 27,000.
5) Between December 2000 and December 2010, 48 percent of the manufacturing jobs in the state of Michigan were lost.
6) There are lots of houses available for sale in Detroit right now for $500 or less.
7) At this point, there are approximately 78,000 abandoned homes in the city.
8) About one-third of Detroit’s 140 square miles is either vacant or derelict.
9) An astounding 47 percent of the residents of the city of Detroit are functionally illiterate.
10) Less than half of the residents of Detroit over the age of 16 are working at this point.
11) If you can believe it, 60 percent of all children in the city of Detroit are living in poverty.
12) Detroit was once the fourth-largest city in the United States, but over the past 60 years the population of Detroit has fallen by 63 percent.
13) The city of Detroit is now very heavily dependent on the tax revenue it pulls in from the casinos in the city. Right now, Detroit is bringing in about 11 million dollars a month in tax revenue from the casinos.
14) There are 70 ”Superfund” hazardous waste sites in Detroit.
15) 40 percent of the street lights do not work.
16) Only about a third of the ambulances are running.
17) Some ambulances in the city of Detroit have been used for so long that they have more than 250,000 miles on them.
18) Two-thirds of the parks in the city of Detroit have been permanently closed down since 2008.
19) The size of the police force in Detroit has been cut by about 40 percent over the past decade.
20) When you call the police in Detroit, it takes them an average of 58 minutes to respond.
21) Due to budget cutbacks, most police stations in Detroit are now closed to the public for 16 hours a day.
22) The violent crime rate in Detroit is five times higher than the national average.
23) The murder rate in Detroit is 11 times higher than it is in New York City.
24) Today, police solve less than 10 percent of the crimes that are committed in Detroit.
25) Crime has gotten so bad in Detroit that even the police are telling people to “enter Detroit at your own risk“.
- See more at: http://www.thedailysheeple.com/25-facts-about-the-fall-of-detroit-that-will-leave-you-shaking-your-head_072013#sthash.yMwIZDX0.dpuf
You make an interesting point. I read somewhere that they didnt want bailed out. They want bankruptcy. I cannot say what the facts are at this point as it is hard to find unbiased information. Im still searching.
Has anyone questioned why we bailed out the banks yet can't bail out our cities ?
Doesn't that say something about where the priorities of our politicians lie ?
Doesn't that say something about where the priorities of our politicians lie ?
The left is trying to spin it as a republican issue because Dems have controlled Detroit for decades but it's Republicans fault?
Unions should hold some blame as the motor city is not so much motor anymore because unions demanded so much.
Unions should hold some blame as the motor city is not so much motor anymore because unions demanded so much.
The link was probably written by a conservative, but if you turn on your filter a little bit and look at the facts, it is a reasonable article.
If you could erase all of the bad business decisions by not only Detroit's government but the national government as well, we'd be free and clear of debt. Both parties have a say in this. None are taking responsibility.
Nature of the game I guess.
If you could erase all of the bad business decisions by not only Detroit's government but the national government as well, we'd be free and clear of debt. Both parties have a say in this. None are taking responsibility.
Nature of the game I guess.
The quicker everyone can admit that things are a mess, there were way too many bad business decisions being made and quit making this a political issue, the quicker people could get to solving the problem. (I don't imagine that will happen any time soon. People are too wrapped up in the political blame game.)
Isnt everything these days a political blame game? Does make it hard to get at the truth. Thanks for the link, I will check it out when I get more time.
Isnt everything these days a political blame game? Does make it hard to get at the truth. Thanks for the link, I will check it out when I get more time.
I only read a portion of the article so I'll have to get back to it later, but it sounded like they are trying to discount some of what is very wrong in Detroit simply because they are traditionally "right wing conservative".
That's nothing new. Anything to lay blame somewhere else rather than admit that numerous failed practices lead to this and move on to repairing what it is that lead to this.
About pension plans. Some municipalities in California have done similar things. Paying numerous people pension plans that did not focus on the long term affect of doing so. Sounded like a great idea at the time. Sounded completely reasonable at the time, but the long term affects, cost of living increases to those pensions and as the city grew and more people were hired and consequently retired.... the bottom fell out. That is only one small part of what went wrong, but its discounted.
Big corporations are as bad as the city is when it comes to retirement plans and pensions. Take the auto industry for instance. Pensions were promised under union deals. It was under the assumption that everything would be going great, more and more cars would run off the lines and fill peoples pockets. They didn't take into account things like NAFTA, so they continued to promise pensions that were not going to be doable when NAFTA would be outsourcing jobs. Corporations look out for their bottom line so they were for NAFTA (greed) and then realized that they could not keep up with these inflated money promises to their people.
Other things like the crime rates (not being able to fund enough cops) and the garbage pick up issues. People do all they can to move away from things like that. The leadership of the city has been questionable for a long time. They lived far beyond their means for far too long. They took out a bunch of loans to try to keep everyone happy and had no way to repay those loans.
The blame game is lame. Its everybody's fault from either side of the political spectrum that got Detroit where it is.
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/arnold-ahlert/toxic-government-by-democrats-detroit-2/
The above link is an op-ed piece but it does point out the factual information that Detroit has been run mostly by Democrats and democratic theory.
It's okay, though. The quicker everyone can admit that things are a mess, there were way too many bad business decisions being made and quit making this a political issue, the quicker people could get to solving the problem. (I don't imagine that will happen any time soon. People are too wrapped up in the political blame game.)
That's nothing new. Anything to lay blame somewhere else rather than admit that numerous failed practices lead to this and move on to repairing what it is that lead to this.
About pension plans. Some municipalities in California have done similar things. Paying numerous people pension plans that did not focus on the long term affect of doing so. Sounded like a great idea at the time. Sounded completely reasonable at the time, but the long term affects, cost of living increases to those pensions and as the city grew and more people were hired and consequently retired.... the bottom fell out. That is only one small part of what went wrong, but its discounted.
Big corporations are as bad as the city is when it comes to retirement plans and pensions. Take the auto industry for instance. Pensions were promised under union deals. It was under the assumption that everything would be going great, more and more cars would run off the lines and fill peoples pockets. They didn't take into account things like NAFTA, so they continued to promise pensions that were not going to be doable when NAFTA would be outsourcing jobs. Corporations look out for their bottom line so they were for NAFTA (greed) and then realized that they could not keep up with these inflated money promises to their people.
Other things like the crime rates (not being able to fund enough cops) and the garbage pick up issues. People do all they can to move away from things like that. The leadership of the city has been questionable for a long time. They lived far beyond their means for far too long. They took out a bunch of loans to try to keep everyone happy and had no way to repay those loans.
The blame game is lame. Its everybody's fault from either side of the political spectrum that got Detroit where it is.
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/arnold-ahlert/toxic-government-by-democrats-detroit-2/
The above link is an op-ed piece but it does point out the factual information that Detroit has been run mostly by Democrats and democratic theory.
It's okay, though. The quicker everyone can admit that things are a mess, there were way too many bad business decisions being made and quit making this a political issue, the quicker people could get to solving the problem. (I don't imagine that will happen any time soon. People are too wrapped up in the political blame game.)
I found this article very informing with links to bak it up. What say you?
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/23/dont_buy_the_right_wing_myth_about_detroit/
So deciphering thru the spin and getting to the truth takes wading thru both mudpits. It makes sense to me, but am still researching for info,
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/23/dont_buy_the_right_wing_myth_about_detroit/
So deciphering thru the spin and getting to the truth takes wading thru both mudpits. It makes sense to me, but am still researching for info,
I think its a combination of things like bad leadership maybe? Privatization plans? Jobs being outsourced? I think we are seeing the beginning of another national movement. Bankruptcy of big cities to get out of previous committments of pensions and the like.
Again, its the little person that gets stuck holding an empty bag.
Again, its the little person that gets stuck holding an empty bag.
I haven't really seen an entire city fall apart to this extremity. I know that one of the causes was the loss of the auto industry. However I also know having family there that Pittsburgh was able to pull through after the loss of the steel industry. I would be interested if anyone who is more familiar with the situation might give some ideas on what would bring the city back.
It does seem unfair that people who worked and contributed to the economy of the city will be effected because this would impact on them even if they relocated. There might be other areas of city funding to reduce first.
It does seem unfair that people who worked and contributed to the economy of the city will be effected because this would impact on them even if they relocated. There might be other areas of city funding to reduce first.
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