What have the rest of you got to say about what to do to help the people of Detroit?

Its not like Detroit was suddenly flushed down the toilet overnight. That city has been in a downward sprial for decades, And the elected officials chose not to make the hard decisions to correct the problem. So now they have to lie in that bed.
Im betting that city government was bloated with all sorts of relatives of all the elected bigwigs. How many tax exempt proerties were allowed? How many payments in liue of taxes were allowed for mall develepors? Probally the biggest hurt that city has is a pension plan that pays all retirees health benefits.

I dont feel sorry for Detroit at all. They knew they had big problems but chose to pretend it would go away or the state would bail them out.
I can also say that you will see more cities bite the bullet. When your tax base shrinks as good paying jobs leave the country or state. Said city officials need to tighten the fiscal belt.

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[/quote]

Old James

I was born and raised in Detroit. Back then the city thrived.
I still have some relatives, who live in the suburbs.

I went thru the Windsor tunnel more times than one can count,
to go parochial school in Canada.

I'm very grateful to Canada, for helping the suffering people of Detroit. :(


With all the lost opportunities over decades, with Detroit’s debt mounting, with the housing crash and Great Recession just over the horizon, 2005 turned out to be the watershed year.

Although no one could see it at the time, Detroit’s insolvency was guaranteed.

Thank you, Canada!

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To most people your posts make you out to be a chauvinistic and racist extremist that bounces from extreme left to extreme right constantly.

That is what a "Young Outsider" does. I voted for Obama the first time; fool me once shame on him, fool me twice shame on me.

People should not be exploited but they can't live off the public teat. In Newark NJ people have to work if they are able in order to get welfare. Every other street corner has a guy in an orange vest selling the Star Ledger. They cots $1, I always give $2.

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The sudden attempt to recoup the money is because the city is in bankruptcy court and the city is no longer in charge of it finances, the bankruptcy trustee is in charge. His job is to be a ruthless bastard and milk every dime out possible and while not spending another.

You really should be asking how a city like Detroit ends up in bankruptcy court. I know there is a different King's English term for bankrupt and the court proceedings, insolvent? The trustee is doing a partial liquidation of the city.

The thing is, they are doing it like Detroit is a big corporation that went bankrupt, rather than an actual city where hundreds of thousands of human beings live and work. Its downright immoral to try to milk the place of every last dime over the backs of people, just so some people get their money back.

And who's brilliant idea was it anyway to let Detroit go bankrupt like this. Its a fricking city, they are not supposed to go bankrupt.

The sudden attempt to recoup the money is because the city is in bankruptcy court and the city is no longer in charge of it finances, the bankruptcy trustee is in charge. His job is to be a ruthless bastard and milk every dime out possible and while not spending another.

You really should be asking how a city like Detroit ends up in bankruptcy court. I know there is a different King's English term for bankrupt and the court proceedings, insolvent? The trustee is doing a partial liquidation of the city.

The thing is, they are doing it like Detroit is a big corporation that went bankrupt, rather than an actual city where hundreds of thousands of human beings live and work. Its downright immoral to try to milk the place of every last dime over the backs of people, just so some people get their money back.

And who's brilliant idea was it anyway to let Detroit go bankrupt like this. Its a fricking city, they are not supposed to go bankrupt.

Because the idiot politicians wanted to give more than they took in. The bubble has to break sometime. Just waite till the US goes bankrupt. Even you in the EU will pay for that one.

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[/quote]

Old James

Because the idiot politicians wanted to give more than they took in. The bubble has to break sometime. Just waite till the US goes bankrupt. Even you in the EU will pay for that one.

The whole world will pay for that one I'm afraid. Which is probably why no one wants that to happen which gives the US a lot of leeway when it comes to its national debt.

Don't the problems with Detroit go back into the 70's?

In 1973 there was the "oil crisis", which in Europe and in other parts of the World triggered the motor industry into producing smaller economical cars. But this was rejected by the Detroit manufacturers and the American public, and probably fought by the unions.

By the time the American public and Detroit had got the message, the market was awash with European and Japanese models that were much more economical and better built. So that the main industry of Motor City virtually imploded, and we can all see the mess that has been left behind.

And any foreign maker that wants to build a factory in the US is welcomed with open arms in virtually every part except Detroit. And whats left has been taken over by outside companies, FIAT now own GM 100%.

......FIAT now own GM 100%

It's Chrysler that FIAT owns, not GM. ;-)

Cheers.

......FIAT now own GM 100%

It's Chrysler that FIAT owns, not GM. ;-)

Cheers.

You're correct again, I shouldn't rely on old fading memory ;-)

The sudden attempt to recoup the money is because the city is in bankruptcy court and the city is no longer in charge of it finances, the bankruptcy trustee is in charge. His job is to be a ruthless bastard and milk every dime out possible and while not spending another.

You really should be asking how a city like Detroit ends up in bankruptcy court. I know there is a different King's English term for bankrupt and the court proceedings, insolvent? The trustee is doing a partial liquidation of the city.

The thing is, they are doing it like Detroit is a big corporation that went bankrupt, rather than an actual city where hundreds of thousands of human beings live and work. Its downright immoral to try to milk the place of every last dime over the backs of people, just so some people get their money back.

Then it was downright immoral for the city to sell "Revenue Anticipation Bonds" and "Municipal Water Bonds" ... Oh, might ask who bought the bonds. CALPERS maybe?

And who's brilliant idea was it anyway to let Detroit go bankrupt like this.

The party in charge, mayor, city council.

Its a fricking city, they are not supposed to go bankrupt.

That's right. They are supposed to be fiscally conservative enough to keep cash in the bank. But when you are so corrupt to use entitlements as a bribe to be elected ...

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I have always held the UAW responsible for some of Detroit's imminent downfall. They lived high on the hog for so long and demanded higher and higher wages and benefits for years while they could get away with it.

And when the gas crunch and the imports came along, they were unwilling to give back much, if anything. They went out on strike instead. And so, drove their employers under.
This had a domino/landslide effect on Detroit which I don't think was ever recovered from.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I have always held the UAW responsible for some of Detroit's imminent downfall.

You are notorious for your eccentric posting style that gets you banned every month. Why does your "inner kitty" make you post nonsense?

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I have always held the UAW responsible for some of Detroit's imminent downfall.

You are notorious for your eccentric posting style that gets you banned every month. Why does your "inner kitty" make you post nonsense?

So sorry if you don't agree, but that has been a long standing opinion of mine.
I don't consider it nonsense, and I am not trying to yank anybody's chain here.
If you don't consider that the excesses of the UAW contributed to Detroit's downfall, just say so.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

And I am not the only one in the world with that opinion....
Empire of rust: How the UAW killed Detroit.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

And I am not the only one in the world with that opinion....]

OMG another link to a self serving blog. Those unions killed AT&T too didn't they.

When America was great private sector union membership was 36% it is now 6%; your "inner kitty" is not being honest with you.

Hamilton Ontario is the Detroit of Canada. Why do those people pay their water bills?

Let's cut the crap. Something stinks about this. How can one person run up a $6,000 water bill when the average bill was $45 a month? This is obviously orchestrated by those with an agenda.

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Let's cut the crap. Something stinks about this. How can one person run up a $6,000 water bill when the average bill was $45 a month? This is obviously orchestrated by those with an agenda.

It's not crap. Until the full story of how she ran that debt up, you can't say there is an agenda.

As recently as two years ago, I was in that situation. Having to give up my job to care for a disabled partner. On the renewal of her disability benefits, we got screwed by bureaucrats who failed in their jobs. That resulted in no income asides from her part time job.

That income only covered gas, electric & food, everything else was left unpaid. That continued in that vein for 43 months & with our water bill being £40 per month & based on the exchange rates in force at that time, came to $3,200.

As for the attack on Mark over unions, sorry but he is right. Unions in today's societies are nothing but parasites & here's the proof...

One million public sector workers to strike on 17/7/2014

"He said the National Union of Teachers (NUT) was striking on the basis of a ballot held nearly two years ago and it showed a "great lack of self-confidence" that a new ballot was not being held."

One has to agree that pay & conditions are required to make everything work smoothly, however, with the current economic crisis worldwide, one would think that these public sector workers knowing that the public themselves have to make do with what they have, they would do the same until better times arrive for all...

...but no, they couldn't care less about the public & don't care that they are feasting off the public purse...

...some restraint should be shown in these times but as Detroit is showing, those in public service just don't give a shyte, they want more!

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It's not crap. Until the full story of how she ran that debt up, you can't say there is an agenda.

This is obviously orchestrated; it has the smell of community activism allover it. I will suffer the Reverend Al's orchestration of events but when foreigners get involved it becomes a matter of national security and those involved must be neutralized.

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You been smoking the funny stuff again?

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That women was warned that she is using WAY too much water some time ago. She must have kept all faucets open 24/7. Then of all the people shut off she becomes the poster child for "capitalist greed".

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That women was warned that she is using WAY too much water some time ago. She must have kept all faucets open 24/7. Then of all the people shut off she becomes the poster child for "capitalist greed".

& the link that shows that warning?

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