Democrats Disgraced in Detroit

[_bcspace]

Detroit Mayor Calls It In

Now I don't know much about Bing, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as Detroit has suffered for many years under the rule of the Democrats and their always failing economic policies. But the fact that he only narrowly won against the former mayor in less than one term went from "scandal-embroiled mayor to convicted felon" is indeed disgraceful but is only part of that disgrace illustrated by the article. Looks like the Republican governor is going to rescue that city.

[_Brackite]

Detroit files largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Welp.

Democrats screwed up.

Again.

They're killing that city through avarice. Terrible.

- Doc

[_Doctor Steuss]

I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to retire, expect a given amount in pension, and then end up getting only about 10% of what my retirement was budgeted on.

There was a thing on NPR this morning that said (If I recall correctly) that 2 out of every 5 street lights in the city were in need of replacement. I wonder if it will end up like a kind of ghost town, or if it will continue devolving into the armpit of America?

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

God forbid some men start patrolling this neighborhood due to the lack of police presence.

- Doc

[_bcspace]

Just as long as they stand their ground.

[_subgenius]

God forbid some men start patrolling this neighborhood due to the lack of police presence.

- Doc

Don't worry, the MGM Grand, Greektown, and MotorCity Casinos will be safe.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/19/news/ec ... cy-casino/

"The $11 million Detroit clears from the casino tax every month is "is roughly the equivalent of 30% of the city's total available cash on hand as of June 30, 2013." It also says the casino tax could pay for the city's entire fire department, or about half of the police department."

[_cinepro]

I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to retire, expect a given amount in pension, and then end up getting only about 10% of what my retirement was budgeted on.

That's what really sucks about the public employee pension debacles all over the country. It's not the employee's fault. Even the ones who juiced their pensions by gaming the system in their final years were just playing by the crazy rules their union and governments negotiated for them.

The fault lies with the governmental leaders who agreed to these unsustainable guarantees, and to a lesser degree the union leaders who insisted on them.

But regardless of who is to blame, the price will be paid, either by the employees themselves, or the rest of the taxpayers.

[_ajax18]

You may outlive your 401k but you'll never outlive your social security.

I'll guess they'll just have to get in the federal disability line with the others.

[_MeDotOrg]

First of all, Detroit's pensions are not egregiously high:

But the average pension benefit in Detroit is not especially high. The average annual payment is about $19,000, said Bruce Babiarz, a spokesman for the pension funds. And it is about $30,000 for retired police officers and firefighters, who do not get Social Security benefits, he said. Some retired workers get larger pensions, though: about 82 retirees who either worked many years or had high-salaried jobs are paid pensions of more than $90,000 a year, he said.

And yes, you read right, many PD and FD retirees are not eligible for Social Security. I'm not completely sure of the law here, but it appears that pensioned FD and PD workers have to be covered under something called a Section 218 agreement, which is different from state to state.