Honestly I may be clouded in my view . But I just see the Detroit model as a liberal blueprint on economics. Obviously you are correct corruption played as big of a role if not bigger so I never want to down play that aspect. Anyone who is not familiar should just Google Detroit and corruption its like nothing I ever saw in Kentucky. People talk about EKY corruption in politics and its child's play compared to Detroit. Stories sound like movies .

 

Honestly the problem stems back to crony capitalism and each party picks their groups to back. In this specific case the corrupt relationship between unions and politicians is the heart of the problem to go along with corrupt politicians in general.

 

Is the problem with the corrupt or inept politicians or the uninformed electorate who continue to reelect them?? Oops forgot--Personal responsibility in America left town along with Bush #1??

Also to be fair obviously revenue is a problem . So if the money isn't their you can't pay an unsecured debt such as a pension . There is no money.

Lol I know where you got these statistics. Its a misleading stat. It counts partial retirees as a part of the average. There are something like 98 cops who make over 90k in pension benefits. I can give you the list if you want of each pension list. There are 42 different union contracts tied to the city of Detroit .

 

Also you ignore that there are 2x as many people collecting pensions in the city compared to those working in the private sector. You won't win this argument based on facts. Pensions are a major issue to the problem.

 

Simple math seems to continually pose a problem for the liberal policies--Might have something to do with that 40+% illiteracy rate being spewed out by the educational systems??

Is the problem with the corrupt or inept politicians or the uninformed electorate who continue to reelect them?? Oops forgot--Personal responsibility in America left town along with Bush #1??

 

Obviously that is another major problem. That is why an emergency manager was put in place because the people couldn't help themselves. At the core of me I'm conflicted on a EM because he is not an elected official . But after 50 years of mistakes there was little choice left .

Speaking of Chicago again, while it continues to be my favorite "Big City"; there are parts of town that are better left unvisited. I read where the State had to take over the Chicago Public School System--Might have been after they fired the superintendent that had the audacity to demand that "High School Graduates" be able to read & write at a middle school level before being allowed to graduate----Heaven forbid!!

Speaking of Chicago again, while it continues to be my favorite "Big City"; there are parts of town that are better left unvisited.

 

That's the case in every major city. As Rick once said to Major Strasser... "There are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade."

Lol I know where you got these statistics. Its a misleading stat. It counts partial retirees as a part of the average. There are something like 98 cops who make over 90k in pension benefits. I can give you the list if you want of each pension list. There are 42 different union contracts tied to the city of Detroit .

 

Also you ignore that there are 2x as many people collecting pensions in the city compared to those working in the private sector. You won't win this argument based on facts. Pensions are a major issue to the problem.

How Detroit's pension benefits stack up vs. K.C., Dallas, Chicago, L.A. (Quick answer: Detroit's at the bottom of the list.)

 

Just how generous are Detroit's worker pensions for retirees? - Jul. 23, 2013

Speaking of Chicago again, while it continues to be my favorite "Big City"; there are parts of town that are better left unvisited.

 

Smaller cities also. There are certain parts of Lexington, Louisville, Bowling Green and many many more I wouldn't advise people to go into without at least a neighborly escort. There are parts of Kentucky and West Virginia that I wouldn't even stop for gas at.

What happens if the courts allow Detroit to renege on its pension obligations?

 

Detroit bankruptcy tests state pension protections - KansasCity.com

What happens if the courts allow Detroit to renege on its pension obligations?

 

Detroit bankruptcy tests state pension protections - KansasCity.com

 

How do you pay pension obligations both current and future that you don't have the money to pay?

You promise your kid when he's 10 years old that if he gets good grades and graduates from high school you'll buy him a car. The kid is a straight A student and graduates as class valedictorian. You on the other hand never saved any money and ran up so many debts that not only can you not buy your kid a car but you can no longer borrow money to buy your kid a car. By no fault of his and because of your irresponsibility your kid won't get the car he was promised. Same thing. The workers did nothing wrong but they are likely going to get screwed. Blame lies with irresponsibility of the city and their short shortsightedness in not making sure their pension obligations were taken care of.

How do you pay pension obligations both current and future that you don't have the money to pay?

If the law says you can't cut benefits, then you look at solutions, i.e., increasing the sales tax by a penny. If states and municipalities regularly do such to fund stadiums for professional football teams, then it's a no-brainer that similar should done to ensure that public-service retirees get every dime they're entitled to.

You promise your kid when he's 10 years old that if he gets good grades and graduates from high school you'll buy him a car. The kid is a straight A student and graduates as class valedictorian. You on the other hand never saved any money and ran up so many debts that not only can you not buy your kid a car but you can no longer borrow money to buy your kid a car. By no fault of his and because of your irresponsibility your kid won't get the car he was promised. Same thing. The workers did nothing wrong but they are likely going to get screwed. Blame lies with irresponsibility of the city and their short shortsightedness in not making sure their pension obligations were taken care of.

Similar is happening in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. If I were a public school teacher 10 years away from reaching the magic number of 27-30 years in the classroom, I'd be a little worried as to what's going to happen.

Now, now, now. Don't blame the leadership in Detroit for this mess. They're working hard, staying focused with their eyes on the prize.

 

Detroit council supports calls for federal investigation of possible civil rights charges against George Zimmerman | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

If the law says you can't cut benefits, then you look at solutions, i.e., increasing the sales tax by a penny. If states and municipalities regularly do such to fund stadiums for professional football teams, then it's a no-brainer that similar should done to ensure that public-service retirees get every dime they're entitled to.

 

If you've lost 60% of your population over the past 60 years, who's left to pay the tax?