Saturday, July 20, 2013

HOW TO RUN A CITY (INTO THE GROUND)

According to the Chicago Tribune, Detroit will have a long road through bankruptcy.

In the first 12 years of the new century, Detroit lost more than 26 percent of its population. That is in part because of the “cruel” exodus of General Motors and the outsourcing of American manufacturing, Both of those happened because of the long-term failure of the idealistic, liberal governmental intrusion into the market place and the unsustainable demands of unions.

Last year, the FBI cited Detroit as having the highest violent crime rate for any major American city. We read much less of that than of the Zimmerman verdict. That’s because the Zimmerman verdict could easily be spun to be about race, which it was not.

Detroit has been spending on average $100 million more than it has taken in for each of the past five years. The city’s $11 billion in unsecured debt includes $6 billion in health and other retirement benefits and $3 billion in retiree pensions for its 20,000 city pensioners, who are slated to receive less than 10 percent of what they were promised. Between 2007 and 2011, an astounding 36 percent of residents lived below the poverty line. Last year, the FBI cited Detroit as having the highest violent crime rate for any major American city.

And now Detroit’s desperate request for a bailout has been turned down by the Obama White House.



Who could have possibly known in advance that liberal policies and unions would wreak such economic havoc? Answer: Conservatives, but the only response to their warning was to call them the radical right.

And so we learn from our mistakes. Or do we?

As suggested by David Burge, the Iowahawk:

Turn Detroit into a national park, to show our kids the wonders of "Government Help."

6 comments:

The Debonair Dudes World said...

One hast to wonder if Obama was also suspended from school or did he get arrested for getting caught with burglary tools and stolen jewelry? Was walking around getting into fights? Did he punch anyone, and tell them that they were going to die tonight? Or did he slam anyone’s head into concrete 35 years ago?

sue hanes said...


Joe - It is sad that Detroit is going bankrupt. Hopefully something can be done to get it back on its feet. It's always been a bit of a problem city - hasn't it?

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Detroit is the perfect example of the result of Demokrat policies. You will not find any city in that bad of shape which has been run by Republicans. Detroit has been a Demokrat city for ages. And Detroit is what America would look like if Obama could stay in office.

Ducky's here said...

Which policies, Glenn?

White flight bigotry?

NAFTA?

The decline of American industrial cities from Camden to Detroit (and with them the middle class) is extensive. Some have been able to stop the bleeding by becoming medical centers like Pittsburgh or Cleveland but the right has offered NOTHING.

Your reaction is a typical right wing phenomenon. Like the reaction to Obamacare you whine about a complex problem and offer NOTHING. You aren't serious about solving anything.

Lone Ranger said...

I consider corruption to be a democrat policy. Wherever you find democrats, you find corruption.

In Detroit's case:

In 2010, the FBI indicted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick with several counts of fraud and tax evasion on top of the charges for which he served a prison sentence.

Last year, FBI agents indicted former Detroit Treasurer Jeff Beasley on charges of extortion related to city pension funds.

The FBI investigated Detroit's Department of Human Services and allegations of corruption there have prompted an effort by state officials to try and withhold money from the department.

Last year, the FBI put together a special task force just to investigate the corruption in Detroit.

And, what corrupt democrats started, the gangs are finishing. It has nothing to do with "bigoted" white flight. The black middle class is also fleeing. Leave it to a liberal to paint all problems as race-related.

You show me a city that is run by liberal democrats and I'll show you a city where crime, mismanagement and graft are out of control, a city that is in decline.

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Ducky,
Your ignorance is astounding. It is due to your refusal to accept correction, as demonstrated on every blog article you post on. You are a lemming following a failed and destructive ideology.