Forum: Internet Links Topic: Detroit defaults on debt started by: TheCatt Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 14 2013,19:03
< Practically bankrupt. >
Posted by thibodeaux on Jun. 15 2013,04:36
"What a surprise," said noone.
Posted by Malcolm on Jun. 15 2013,09:10
QUOTE He said further meetings are planned with the unions representing city employees. I'm sure they'll be productive. Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 19 2013,10:38
(Malcolm @ Jun. 15 2013,11:10) QUOTE QUOTE He said further meetings are planned with the unions representing city employees. I'm sure they'll be productive. < Officially bankrupt >. Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 19 2013,12:31
< Judge > says bankruptcy is illegal to declare. Fucking wow. QUOTE The order also includes many hand-written notes through them, including a final note on one order from the judge, which states that the order will “…be transmitted to President Obama.” They bailed out the incompetent auto industry, why not the incompetent city that's their HQ?
Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 22 2013,10:48
Still < fighting > over how much money they don't have.
Posted by GORDON on Jul. 23 2013,03:34
I am fairly near the city center at the moment. Not the SCARIEST place I have ever been, but in the top 5. Detroit has 2 spots in the top 5, though.There are some gorgeous old houses around here, abandoned and falling apart. Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 24 2013,12:32
< Bankrupcy ok again >.
Posted by GORDON on Jul. 24 2013,17:17
This guy says Detroit's decline started after the 1967 (black people) riots.< http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Article....x#page1 > Whites started taking their money and leaving. Posted by Leisher on Aug. 02 2013,06:25
< Obamacare to the rescue? >Wait until California declares bankruptcy and we have to pay for them too. Posted by Malcolm on Aug. 02 2013,08:43
QUOTE Professor Jost said that even with subsidies, insurance policies bought through an exchange could be more expensive for retirees than public sector health plans. Most exchange customers are expected to choose plans that cover 60 percent to 70 percent of medical costs for the average person, compared with public sector plans that have sometimes covered much more. “These are people who stayed in the public sector all their lives because the benefits were more generous,” he said. Some city plans, like those in Detroit, cover 80 percent to 100 percent of costs, officials said. “The truth is, my health care is very good, with only $20 for prescriptions and $10 co-pays to see a doctor,” said Thomas Berry, 60, a Detroit Police Department retiree. “That was part of the promise that was made, and I don’t want to lose it.” Goddamn. 80 - 100%? My health plan covers jackshit outside traumatic ER visits and low-cost prescription copays. Posted by TheCatt on Aug. 02 2013,09:52
QUOTE “The truth is, my health care is very good, with only $20 for prescriptions and $10 co-pays to see a doctor,” said Thomas Berry, 60, a Detroit Police Department retiree. “That was part of the promise that was made, and I don’t want to lose it.” Wow, that's what I had 13 years ago. And I don't see being a retiree at 60 as a probability... So yeah, sympathy low. Posted by GORDON on Aug. 02 2013,19:20
< "Detroit failed because right wingers wanted to set up a black government to fail." >Also, ![]() Posted by Malcolm on Aug. 12 2013,10:27
< One doctor = tens of millions of dollars in scams >.QUOTE A Detroit-area doctor has been charged with bilking the government of tens of millions of dollars by deliberately misdiagnosing patients with cancer and illegally billing Medicare for the treatment. Dayum. But surely someone was there double-checking this all, right? QUOTE In one case, according to the site, a patient fell and hit his head at Fata's clinic but was told he needed chemotherapy before he could be taken to a hospital, according to the FBI. The man later died from the head injury. His name was not disclosed. Nope. Posted by Malcolm on Aug. 19 2013,11:36
< The beat goes on >.QUOTE Now it seems that all legal challenges to the bankruptcy must flow through the federal bankruptcy judge himself, Steven Rhodes. ![]() But seriously... QUOTE The Detroit Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) filed one such objection right before the deadline, spokesperson Bruce Babiarz told MSNBC. For this objection, they are using much the same legal reasoning accepted by the Ingham County Court: Because Article 9, Section 24 of the Michigan state constitution calls pension benefits “a contractual obligation … which shall not be diminished or impaired,” PFRS argues any bankruptcy is unconstitutional which does not adequately protected those benefits against cuts. Guess they'll just have to go into the emergency money tree farm they keep out back and pay everyone. Posted by TheCatt on Aug. 19 2013,11:44
Yeah, I really don't understand the logic. You can't be bankrupt, that's illegal!But, we have no money. But you can't go bankrupt, that's illegal! But, we have no money Really, their ploy is to minimize damages to pensions, but still... Posted by Malcolm on Aug. 19 2013,12:02
They should pay them in string and shiny bits of glass.
Posted by Leisher on Aug. 19 2013,12:36
How about individually wrapped and pre-cut stringettes?
Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 29 2013,10:12
QUOTE They bailed out the incompetent auto industry, why not the incompetent city that's their HQ? < $300M > in "stimulus" (totally not a bailout) ... QUOTE “It’s not big enough to be called a bailout. What they are trying to do is enable key investments that are needed to help the city once it emerges from all of these immediate [financial] challenges,” he says. ... "he" being, and I shit you not, economics professor Skidmore. QUOTE Mark Skidmore, an economist at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.
Posted by GORDON on Sep. 29 2013,11:49
And with Detroit's corrupt government and unions, $300 million will change a light bulb in one traffic light, more or less.
Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 29 2013,15:48
This is like throwing a single buffalo wing into a starving herd of coyotes.
Posted by Paul on Sep. 29 2013,17:09
![]() Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 10 2013,14:36
< Former Detroit mayor > sentenced to 28 years for stealing $5M.
Posted by Malcolm on Nov. 06 2013,12:28
< Detroit don't give a fuck >.QUOTE The church off Gratiot, six miles from downtown, is home to Precinct 109, which Stephens has staffed since she was 16. It has only two registered voters. And by 7 p.m., neither had showed. Awesome. Posted by GORDON on Nov. 06 2013,14:35
(Malcolm @ Nov. 06 2013,15:28) QUOTE < Detroit don't give a fuck >. QUOTE The church off Gratiot, six miles from downtown, is home to Precinct 109, which Stephens has staffed since she was 16. It has only two registered voters. And by 7 p.m., neither had showed. Awesome. More like "The church off Gratiot, six miles from downtown, is home to Precinct 109, which Stephens has staffed since she was 16. It has only two registered voters. And by 7 p.m., neither had showed. 57 votes were received for Obama." Posted by Malcolm on Nov. 06 2013,16:55
< Detroit 2012 election results by precinct >.There are multiple precincts with 0 voters. I don't know which one 109 is, though. Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 04 2013,10:13
< Wow >.QUOTE News leaking out this week from the Motor City tells how the enormous gap between the pensions workers earned and the money set aside to pay for them will be closed. By stealing from the workers. ... This is nothing short of theft, as pensions are simply deferred wages, that is, money that workers could have taken as cash in their regular paychecks had they not opted to set it aside. Those particular pensions were nothing short of theft from the taxpayers, you ignorant fuckhole. Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 04 2013,10:57
Perhaps, but nonetheless this is compensation earned but not being paid. And if it becomes legal precedent it could potentially apply to everyone's retirement funds someday, not just some public sector retirees in Detroit.Also, it completely ignores the state constitution. This is a judge making shit up as he goes along instead of enforcing the law. I suspect this will be overturned on appeal somewhere down the line. Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 04 2013,11:09
How do you see them getting paid when the city has no cash?
Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 04 2013,11:30
Oh, I'm not sure they'll ever get paid, but this particular ruling will be overturned for certain. Pensions will get pushed up to be the #1 creditors in line to take whatever is left of the city during the bankruptcy. But that still doesn't guarantee payment, just increases the odds.Although I wouldn't be surprised if a subsequent ruling even goes so far as to determine that after the city comes out of bankruptcy they will still owe the pensions, that the pensions are bankruptcy-proof. That would be in line with state law. I'm thinking at this point that the city should just be completely dissolved, and the land returned to unincorporated county status. Then make new smaller cities out of the bits where people still live. Posted by Malcolm on May 21 2014,13:14
< It goes on >.
Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 23 2014,11:13
< Water occasionally shutting off >. Kind of like brownouts, except in liquid form.
Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 29 2014,11:29
(Malcolm @ Sep. 23 2014,13:13) QUOTE < Water occasionally shutting off >. Kind of like brownouts, except in liquid form. < Judge sides with drought >. Posted by Leisher on Sep. 29 2014,12:55
Greatest. City. Ever.
Posted by GORDON on Sep. 29 2014,13:55
(Malcolm @ Sep. 29 2014,14:29) QUOTE (Malcolm @ Sep. 23 2014,13:13) QUOTE < Water occasionally shutting off >. Kind of like brownouts, except in liquid form. < Judge sides with drought >. QUOTE Rhodes's order served as a stinging rejection of arguments made by thousands of protesters who staged rallies last summer fighting shutoffs and argued that there is a fundamental right to water service. "There is no such right or law," Rhodes said. Yet somehow there is a right to health care. Posted by Malcolm on Mar. 29 2016,15:40
< Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha >.QUOTE In Detroit’s crumbling schools, where the threat of insolvency means that basic repairs, supplies and even teachers are in short supply, 13 principals conspired with a vendor to defraud the system, siphoning away millions of dollars, federal agents and prosecutors charged on Tuesday. Let's give them some more bailout money. |