Detroit’s Creditors Are Asked to Accept Pennies on the Dollar

nyt ^ | June 14, 2013 | STEVEN YACCINO

[CurlyDave]

While the individual union members aren’t completely innocent, they are about the least guilty. They didn’t write the contracts or sit in negotiations. They voted for the most that was offered to them. Despite the self righteous outrage of most FReepers, 99% of us would do the same. I’ve never seen anyone, union or non union turn down a raise because it will hurt the bottom line of the company...

What they are guilt of, is that when the union bosses said "vote democrat" they duly lined up and and voted democrat as a block. This gave the unions enormous, undeserved power.

And, they knew all along that this boosted their pay well above what other guys in other unions had, and their pensions were also super-sized.

As far as "pennies on the dollar" I don't know what that is. Could be $0.02 to $0.99 on the dollar. Now, I don't have a government pension. So, I have to provide for myself. DW and I invest in the stock market to let our money try to keep up with inflation. But, there are no guarantees. When we lose 30-40% of our investments in a market downturn, we suck it up and get back in the game.

Every one of these guys who knows how to read knew their game was just as risky as the stock market. But, instead of accepting the challenge of providing for themselves, they just sat back and let the city provide for them. Well, the city didn't do a very good job of providing and I don't see any reason why they should not be on the hook too. At least to the point of a 30-40% reduction in pension. Don't take them down to nothing, but a substantial cut seems to be in order.

Maybe they have to retire in North Carolina instead of Miami Beach, but I bet 60% of their promised pension is still more than most Americans have.

[catnipman]

“I thought they had already filed for bankruptcy.”

They did. This “news” article is dated Jun 2013!