Detroit expected to go bankrupt next week.

[dadx4]

Should be announced sometime next week that the state will have to take it over.


The liberal utopia will soon wither to nothing. Our government is following in it's footsteps. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2269966/Blighted-home-says-Detroit-going-bankrupt-Families-flee-leaving-streets-broken-governor-cuts.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490)

The story of Detroit's decline is decades old: Its tax revenue and population have shrunk and labor costs have remained out of sync.

LABOR COSTS ARE OUT OF SYNC......Hmmmmm.


The LABOR costs are almost half of the entire budget.....

The city's labor costs, including health care and pensions, are shrinking in absolute terms but rising as a share of the budget.


They are slated to drop to $968 million, or nearly 49.5 percent of the operating budget, in the fiscal year ending June 30 versus $1.14 billion, or 45.5 percent, a year earlier. A bankruptcy would be messy.

One of the city's biggest challenges is its complex set of labor agreements with a whopping 48 bargaining units that represent most of the city's workforce.

[busigator96]

Didn't Miami go bankrupt three times?

[tegator80]

This is one of the reasons why the unions have funded Obama. They saw their Utopian ideal come crashing down on their heads with nowhere else to turn. Needed to take over the NLRB to remain viable. And I think they have played it out well...for them, not for the country.

[PSGator66]

@busigator96 - Detroit is no Miami.

[gator7_5]

Birmingham's been in bankruptcy for years. Union or not, all you have to do is look at the political leaders calling the shots in these cities to figure out why.

F'n crooks and idiots..

http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/13/news/economy/Birmingham_brink_Whitford.fortune/index.htm

[busigator96]

@busigator96 - Detroit is no Miami.

what does that mean exactly?

[rivergator]

Almost every city has neighborhoods that were once full and vibrant and have now decayed. But Detroit has taken that to a whole new level. Vast areas not just decayed, but fully abandoned.
Truly awful.

[gatorman_07732]

Yeah, there is zero real estate market in Detroit

[mastoidbone]

Example 7,432 why unionizing public workers hurts the citizenry....but demos don't care about people like that I guess.....

[Dreamliner]

Another consummate Blue City goes belly-up.

[wargunfan]

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/0f85vithhcl8jnny7b2.jpg
Lots of real estate bargains in Detroit.

[wargunfan]

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/ai1dxg1cb5im8w221qvs.jpg
Here's another steal.

[wargunfan]

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/nu15vmtumbu3cu498pp.jpg
Looking for a mansion? Look no further.

[wargunfan]

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/9x9juayrfb4dsv2tjlk9.jpg
Many affordable neighborhoods are convenient to downtown.

[wargunfan]

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/wgyljxoxu24cmak6a7jd.jpg

[wargunfan]

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/dnsvjarnjovnpm85fgav.jpg
Looking to relocate your business? We've got just the spot.

[rivergator]

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/0f85vithhcl8jnny7b2.jpg
Lots of real estate bargains in Detroit.

truly depressing

[PSGator66]

A lot of Detroit looks like a war zone. Someone sent emails comparing it to actual war torn places in the world and it fit right in.

[rivergator]

Some area there have had so many houses demolished that they look ready to go back to being rural.

[exiledgator]

Some area there have had so many houses demolished that they look ready to go back to being rural.

A direction they need to go.

[ThePlayer]

Didn't Miami go bankrupt three times?

Yes...that's why Don Johnson went without socks.

[Juggernautz]

How soon will LA & NY follow suit?

[gatorman_07732]

How soon will LA & NY follow suit?

:huh:

[JerseyGator01]

What's scary is I've think I've driven by some of these properties in my many travels through Detroit. Not even close to an expert, but what stands out the most about the city is the smell in certain parts. Downright awful near the highway.

[tegator80]

Some area there have had so many houses demolished that they look ready to go back to being rural.

Kind of liberal, like having a town moved from a river after a major flood, but I can see the Federal government spending money to move the remaining citizens somewhere else and just leveling the whole thing. Better than reminding everyone of what once was.

[mastoidbone]

LA is facing a pension tsunami---in next 10 years pensions will start to also consume close to half of operating budget---gotta pay those govt workers 6 figures in ca......

[G8trGr8t]

Almost every city has neighborhoods that were once full and vibrant and have now decayed. But Detroit has taken that to a whole new level. Vast areas not just decayed, but fully abandoned.
Truly awful.

Why do you think that happened? Think that maybe union wages and ridiculous work rules combined with notoriusly corrupt democratic political machine had something to do with it

[RealDeal]

when kwame kilpatrick gets out of prison, maybe they can bring back him and his entourage to run detroit! he's got ideas and he's connected in DC.

[HudsonGator]

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/nu15vmtumbu3cu498pp.jpg
Looking for a mansion? Look no further.

I'll bet that was a hell of a house back in the day.

[geauxgator1]

Why do you think that happened? Think that maybe union wages and ridiculous work rules combined with notoriusly corrupt democratic political machine had something to do with it

Yeah...

[theorangebluewinagain]

But wait, GM is alive and Osama is dead.

[gregthegator]

Almost every city has neighborhoods that were once full and vibrant and have now decayed. But Detroit has taken that to a whole new level. Vast areas not just decayed, but fully abandoned.
Truly awful.

Yet you ABSOLUTELY still blindly follow/vote THE democrat's mantra that MADE it so....:zombie:

WHY :huh:

And where's Fred...:whoa:....nowhere to be seen...

[mdgator05]

Yet you ABSOLUTELY still blindly follow/vote THE democrat's mantra that MADE it so....:zombie:

WHY :huh:

And where's Fred...:whoa:....nowhere to be seen...

Economic realities made it so. Not really many Republicans hanging around in San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Boston, or Honolulu. And yet every one of those cities have great economies.

The difference is that those places attract knowledge economy workers, while Detroit was an epicenter for semi-skilled and unskilled labor, which is not nearly as economically viable in the US as a whole. Even within the US, firms certainly prefer locations with lower safety regulations, lower employment costs, and lower taxes.

We are developing two different economies: high education, high income, high skilled economies in many coastal areas and places like Denver and Chicago and lower education, low income, semi-skilled labor in more rural and lower cost locations like Texas. Unfortunately for Detroit, there is no place for unskilled labor or medium cost semi-skilled labor. So the economy is destroyed.

Pittsburgh reacted better to this change, and has now become an epicenter for services, education, and financial firms, positioning itself into the knowledge economy instead of desperately clinging to an economic past that seems unlikely to return, even if people are willing to work for less and less money.

[brainstorm]

We should have traded Detroit to Italy in the Fiat-Chrysler deal. Maybe we could have received some nice aged prosciutto out of the deal.

[JerseyGator01]

How much would we have to pay Canada for them to take Detroit? The only reason this hasn't been done is because MI would then be a red state.

[CalSFGator]

How much would we have to pay Canada for them to take Detroit? The only reason this hasn't been done is because MI would then be a red state.

Yes, because selling off cities would definitely otherwise happen.

It's sad about Detroit. It might even be sadder to see how much glee it gives rightwingers to see a once proud American city so down.

[geauxgator1]

Yes, because selling off cities would definitely otherwise happen.

It's sad about Detroit. It might even be sadder to see how much glee it gives rightwingers to see a once proud American city so down.

I don't know about "glee"...but maybe a sense of vindication. You and every other rational person knows that the liberal/socialist system that has been in place in Detroit, and other left wing governmental agencies, Chicago, California, etal, can't work. As the minister Wright likes to say, "the chickens are coming home to roost"

[Gatorrick22]

Yes, because selling off cities would definitely otherwise happen.

It's sad about Detroit. It might even be sadder to see how much glee it gives rightwingers to see a once proud American city so down.

The city of Detroit is proof that the Leftists' way and their unions thugs can't seem to understand what a budget really means........... Just like the geniuses in Washington.

We warned the Dems about these things to come, but the Leftists chose uncontrolled spending with no limits.

[PIMking]

As much as I would love to pile on, there are plenty of houses in any large city that look like that. Detroit is not different

[96Gatorcise]

As much as I would love to pile on, there are plenty of houses in any large city that look like that. Detroit is not different

This. Detroit is just another casualty on a long list of cities and even countries that could not or would not change with the times.

[busigator96]

I blame the lack of diversification of the local tax base. Auto was kind and it pulled everything g down with it.

[geauxgator1]

As much as I would love to pile on, there are plenty of houses in any large city that look like that. Detroit is not different

But this is the rule, not the exception!

[CalSFGator]

The city of Detroit is proof that the Leftists' way and their unions thugs can't seem to understand what a budget really means........... Just like the geniuses in Washington.

We warned the Dems about these things to come, but the Leftists chose uncontrolled spending with no limits.

It's sad that you hope so desparately for it to be true. You don't care about America or Americans, you just want people to think you were right. You will ignore the San Franciscos, New Yorks, Santa Monicas, Tokyos, Stockholms, Sydneys, Zurichs, etc. of the world, as well as the horrid chitholes that litter the red states, that doesn't fit your political paradigm, because at the end of the day, your politics is a game, not an attempt to find solutions.

[MichiGator2002]

It's sad that you hope so desparately for it to be true. You don't care about America or Americans, you just want people to think you were right. You will ignore the San Franciscos, New Yorks, Santa Monicas, Tokyos, Stockholms, Sydneys, Zurichs, etc. of the world, as well as the horrid chitholes that litter the red states, that doesn't fit your political paradigm, because at the end of the day, your politics is a game, not an attempt to find solutions.

Caring about Americans means pointing at Detroit, saying "see what happens, Larry?"

The most caring thing you can do for America and Americans is to show them what Detroit is, how it was self-inflicted, such that they might learn to not be Detroit. It is uncaring, it is cruel, to just continually paper over Detroit's entirely self-inflicted wounds and assure those with similar habits that it will all be okay.

[David Shepherd]

Forbes list of 20 most miserable cities in America
1. Detroit
2. Flint
3. Rockford ILL
4. Chicago ILL
5. Modesto, CA
6. Vallejo, CA
7. Warren MI
8. Stocton, CA
9. Lake County, IL
10. NY, NY
11. Toledo
12. St. Louis
13. Camden, NJ
14. Milwaukee
15. Atlantic City
16. Atlanta
17. Cleveland
18. Poughkeepsie, NY
19. Gary, IN
20. Youngstown, OH

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45lmhg/20-youngstown-oh/

[HudsonGator]

It's sad that you hope so desparately for it to be true. You don't care about America or Americans, you just want people to think you were right. You will ignore the San Franciscos, New Yorks, Santa Monicas, Tokyos, Stockholms, Sydneys, Zurichs, etc. of the world, as well as the horrid chitholes that litter the red states, that doesn't fit your political paradigm, because at the end of the day, your politics is a game, not an attempt to find solutions.


Well said.

[T3goalie]

Bush's fault.

[gator421]

Kind of liberal, like having a town moved from a river after a major flood, but I can see the Federal government spending money to move the remaining citizens somewhere else and just leveling the whole thing. Better than reminding everyone of what once was.

Think of the business opportunities that would create.

[T3goalie]

Caring about Americans means pointing at Detroit, saying "see what happens, Larry?"

The most caring thing you can do for America and Americans is to show them what Detroit is, how it was self-inflicted, such that they might learn to not be Detroit. It is uncaring, it is cruel, to just continually paper over Detroit's entirely self-inflicted wounds and assure those with similar habits that it will all be okay.

You must be a cold heated Bastard. Don't you realize it is more important to some people to feel bad and emote for others plights than to do anything to solve the problem or prevent a similar situation in the future? Your misconception Mich is that you actually want to solve a problem and you understand that to solve a problem you must identify the cause. How dare you state that 1+1= 2! people who are in denial don't want to know such facts. They want you to feel for their plight and be empathetic. Years ago I learned a valuable lesson form an Italian immigrant. I told him i had a problem and explained how it occurred. He listened and simply said, "what are you going to do to solve it?" This simple lesson is lost on most today.:zombie:

[CalSFGator]

Caring about Americans means pointing at Detroit, saying "see what happens, Larry?"

The most caring thing you can do for America and Americans is to show them what Detroit is, how it was self-inflicted, such that they might learn to not be Detroit. It is uncaring, it is cruel, to just continually paper over Detroit's entirely self-inflicted wounds and assure those with similar habits that it will all be okay.

The problem isn't pointing to it, of course, it's your failure to point to the other cities I mentioned and view those under the same light, and its the glee in which you revel in their misery. I could point to all the trailer parks and shanty towns in conservative districts in the country, but what would be the point. The dynamics go much deeper than whether they are dem or rep. Detroit is emblematic of a lot of towns in the factory/rust belt that have relied on largely dying industries for the last 30 years or more.

[JerseyGator01]

Don't know of too many government-funded trailer parks.

[wargunfan]

Forbes list of 20 most miserable cities in America
1. Detroit
2. Flint
3. Rockford ILL
4. Chicago ILL
5. Modesto, CA
6. Vallejo, CA
7. Warren MI
8. Stocton, CA
9. Lake County, IL
10. NY, NY
11. Toledo
12. St. Louis
13. Camden, NJ
14. Milwaukee
15. Atlantic City
16. Atlanta
17. Cleveland
18. Poughkeepsie, NY
19. Gary, IN
20. Youngstown, OH

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45lmhg/20-youngstown-oh/

Blue state hall of shame. Atlanta shouldn't be on that list IMO.

[Gatorrick22]

It's sad that you hope so desparately for it to be true. You don't care about America or Americans, you just want people to think you were right. You will ignore the San Franciscos, New Yorks, Santa Monicas, Tokyos, Stockholms, Sydneys, Zurichs, etc. of the world, as well as the horrid chitholes that litter the red states, that doesn't fit your political paradigm, because at the end of the day, your politics is a game, not an attempt to find solutions.

Reading is fundamental: I said we warned the Leftists, that is not what you stated I said.



And.... what do you call a person that changes the facts around in a debate just so they can argue with themselves about what they wrote in the first place? This is your affliction my friend.

[G8trGr8t]

The problem isn't pointing to it, of course, it's your failure to point to the other cities I mentioned and view those under the same light, and its the glee in which you revel in their misery. I could point to all the trailer parks and shanty towns in conservative districts in the country, but what would be the point. The dynamics go much deeper than whether they are dem or rep. Detroit is emblematic of a lot of towns in the factory/rust belt that have relied on largely dying industries for the last 30 years or more.

those industries didn't die though, they relocated to areas where they could be profitable. that distinction seems to be lost on you.

the wounds were self-inflicted and the point is that either we learn from somebody else's mistakes or we make the same mistakes.

too many people seem to be in denial that the issues that caused the demise of Detroit were self inflicted and the same philospohy that generated the problems there are being promoted on a national level.

[JerseyGator01]

Trenton (NJ) as well as several other Jersey cities could have made this list. Trenton probably didn't because it is not far from Princeton and no one outside of the legions of government bureaucrats commutes to Trenton anymore - making for an efficient commute.

[MichiGator2002]

The problem isn't pointing to it, of course, it's your failure to point to the other cities I mentioned and view those under the same light, and its the glee in which you revel in their misery. I could point to all the trailer parks and shanty towns in conservative districts in the country, but what would be the point. The dynamics go much deeper than whether they are dem or rep. Detroit is emblematic of a lot of towns in the factory/rust belt that have relied on largely dying industries for the last 30 years or more.

I was born in the Detroit metro, have lived a decade or more of child and adult life in Washtenaw County. I don't care in the slightest what you think of me commenting on the ever expanding blackhole of stupid expanding out from the city of dreams in which I would go cheer for Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell.

The simple fact, though, is that Detroit is singled out because Detroit is exceptional. 50% adult illiteracy rate, actual attempts to reagriculturalize urban sprawl because of the implosion of real estate value in its delapidated neighborhoods. Who can lay a finger on that? You can point to a lot of crappy cities, but likening them to Detroit is an insult to them, and even, in a manner of speaking, to Detroit -- not properly recognizing their distinction.

To borrow some cheap town heat from an old wrestler -- if you needed to give America an enema, Detroit is where you would put the hose.

And nobody did it to them, they did it to themselves. Right now, it would be immoral if Snyder didn't take a wrecking ball to Detroit's institutionalized failures.

[rpmGator]

My town has doubled in population in the last few years.

Spending on our town the local TeaFools said was our ruin, made us richer. We never had to cut services, gave our workers raises, built parks and bought land, and all of that brought in more people which increased our tax base. Our taxes went down during this time...

It worked too damn well imo. Now we have too many people for my liking.

Yet the same thing that made us grow, is the same thing many want to cut. Thinking is the solution and spending on the right things. Cutting isn't always the way to go, towns near us that had to raise taxes wish they had done it our way, when the only solution they could come up with, let them down.

If all you have for Detroit is a funeral, that is what you will get. Happy Now.