As most of us already know, Detroit is on the road to Chapter 11. While some beloved personages here would love to put the blame on a Republican Governor the truth of the matter is the Governor is simply the mortician putting the corpse into the casket. Detroit quite simply no longer has the revenue stream to support itself. Forty years of mismanagement, greed and corrupt leaders have all wielded the hammer to drive the nails into the coffin.
The first hint was 35 or so years ago when Detroit became black and Democratically controlled. This is when I first heard the term "White Flight" as the working people (both black and white but mostly white) decided to vote with their feet and left the city for the suburbs. At that time there was no indication by the powers in charge that maybe they should address the issue of people moving out of the city. The very people that worked and paid Detroit the taxes it needed to operate. Like politicians everywhere, Detroit leadership ignored the slowly dwindling revenue stream and let someone else further down the road handle it.
The other coffin nail was in true Democratic fashion, Detroit forged bonds with unions and in return for votes, the City promised their workers pensions that paid really well. The problem of course was the pensions were not funded into a stand alone trust but were paid by city tax revenues. Over the years this unfunded liability rose to be billions of dollars. So what we have today is a city that is choking on debt with no revenue to pay for it. So what does a good bunch of Democrats do? Why they look for handouts elsewhere. Unfortunately for them Jennifer Granholm, elite Democtratic ex-Governor, is no longer in charge, Republican Rick Snyder is.
Snyder, when asked for money, told Detroit if you want this money you are going to have to show me you can cut waste and bring your costs in line with your revenues. So for a year or so Detroit tried to do so but their biggest payment issues were with the unions. I don't think I have to explain how that all turned out. So when Detroit could not fix it's problem, Snyder appointed a emergency manager. He to tried to negotiate to get Detroits costs in line with revenues. When the neckbeards still wouldn't cut their costs then the only option left was Chapter 11. And thus we are where we are at today.
A state judge (democrat) has blocked the proceedings but I suspect it will be a temporary thing until a higher court over rules her.
So why is Detroit a canary in the coal mine? Well other cities are faced with the same dilemma. Chicago being a prime example. Catering to unions when a city is losing money is never a good scenario for a balanced budget. Our country is in the same boat but there is hope that the squandering of our fiscal health will be dealt with. Feel free to comment as you please
