Free Republic

DETROIT, MI -- Wayne State administrators are using Detroit's financial calamity to teach. A new course, "Detroit: Metropolis in Transition," will be offered by the the Department of Urban Studies and Planning beginning this summer. **SNIP** The lecture will cover Detroit's history up to present day and "issues such as the city's frustrated attempts at regionalism and its persistence as the largest metro are in the United States without a comprehensive, rail-based public transit system."

“What the hell is this, a joke?” Speaker of the House John Boehner said in reaction to news this week that yet another “deadline” in the Affordable Care Act had been unilaterally delayed by the Obama administration. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is yes, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that the joke is on the American taxpayer. Late Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services – which has taken to bragging about “enrollment” numbers that fall millions short of their original goals – announced that the March 31st deadline for open enrollment had become more of a guideline....

Detroit's looming bankruptcy is making news again, this time focusing on current restructuring plans aimed to wipe out $18 billion in debt by axing pension checks of city retirees, including police and fire. Massive long-term retirement and healthcare promises were by no means solely responsible for the city's fall, but these massive pensions coupled with a tax base weakened by high unemployment and housing vacancies caused the budget to bleed out quicker. The Michigan city may be the most recent victim of bankruptcy, but many of the 61 largest U.S. cities have adopted the same retirement legacy leading to $118...

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has posted a request to purchase “assorted small arms ammunition,” reports political analyst Michael Lotfi. The solicitation by the USPS was posted on FBO.gov, the federal government’s federal business opportunities website. The process is now underway to arrange for the purchase of guns and ammo for some undisclosed use by the post office. As Lotfi points out, it is curious that the postal service can afford to arm itself given their precarious financial position: The USPS has been posting $1-5 billion quarterly losses for years. In fiscal year (FY) 2012 alone the USPS lost a...

Federal spending and debt are out of control If America does not change course, the future will be dramatically worse. Now more than ever, it is crucial that Americans understand what our nation's spending, taxes, and debt mean for them and their families. The Heritage Foundation's Federal Budget in Pictures offers a unique tool to learn about the federal budget in a clear and compelling way.

Republicans in the Senate are struggling to come up with the five votes they'd need to ensure passage on Wednesday of a House bill raising the debt ceiling. The measure is likely to win support from the upper chamber's 53 Democrats and the two Independents that caucus with Democrats. But only one Republican, Sen. Mark Kirk (Ill.), has so far said he would back the bill. The measure needs 60 votes because Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is filibustering the bill over the lack of spending reforms attached to it. Kirk told The Hill the vote would be close. “I think...

This is a developing news story. An earlier version of the article follows: House GOP leaders announced Tuesday they will advance this week an increase in the government's borrowing cap that's free of any add-ons. A vote is scheduled for Tuesday night because of the threat of a winter storm. House Speaker John Boehner announced the plan after a poll of the Republican rank and file failed to show enough support for a plan to tie the hike in the debt limit to a plan to reverse a recently passed cut to military pensions. The Ohio Republican said he expected...

(Reuters) - Residents of bankrupt San Bernardino, California on Tuesday voted to complete a rout of the city's pro-union old guard, electing business-friendly pragmatists who have pledged to try to reduce pension costs and take on vested interests. As San Bernardino enters into a fourth month of mediation with its creditors, the biggest of which is Calpers, California's giant retirement system, voters on Tuesday elected Carey Davis as the crisis-hit city's new mayor. Davis, a businessman and political novice, ran in part on a campaign to reduce the city's pension obligations. In an interview in November, when he became one...

First, the Obama administration showed during the course of the GM and Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings, that when it comes to Most Preferred Voter classes, some unsecured creditors - namely labor unions, and the millions of votes they bring - are more equal than other unsecured creditors - namely bondholders, and the zero votes they bring. Five years later we are about to get a stark reminder that under the superpriority rule of a community organizer for whom "fairness" trumps contract law any day, it is now Detroit's turn to make a mockery of the recovery waterfall. As it turns out,...

You are going to go bankrupt. There is talk that Obama may bail you out. Why would he do that when the whole point of Obamacare is to eliminate the competition for all those Health Care Dollars? Please, start gathering plans for after your demise. If we are ever able to get control again, we will need you to be ready to offer GOOD Health Care plans at reasonable prices. Please start writing new plans and streamline them. We don't want to have to pay to cover maternity care or pediatric dental care if we are over 60. We need...

Facing a $78 million budget shortfall, California’s ObamaCare exchange has spent $1.37 million to fund an outreach video featuring exercise guru Richard Simmons gyrating on the floor and hugging a contortionist who is kneeling with his buttocks in the air. The “Tell a Friend — Get Covered” campaign by Covered California features other celebrities Olivia Wilde, comic Billy Eirchner, Fran Drescher and Tatyana Ali. The centerpiece of the effort was an eight-hour live web stream that ran on Jan. 16. None of the celebrities were paid for their work, Covered California said.

Calling the Chicago pension crisis the worst in the nation is saying something - like, how bad can it get? The city's underfunded pension system for teachers, firefighters, police, and transit workers threatens to punch a hole in the city budget that would devastate city services. The teachers' alone are $1 billion short of funds, while the city as a whole is looking at a whopping $27 billion shortfall. The state of Illinois is even worse off with more than $100 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. Where is the money going to come from to fix the problem? Financial Times:...

Dec 11 (Reuters) - Canada's postal service will phase out urban home delivery within five years and hike the cost of postage stamps to try to stem soaring losses, the post office said on Wednesday. Canada Post, like the U.S. Postal Service, is suffering as customers switch to digital communications. In August it said it was on track to run short of cash by the middle of 2014 unless major changes were made. The government-owned corporation - which has a mandate to be self-financing - last month reported a third-quarter loss of C$109 million ($103 million) before tax and said...

Dave Bing delivered his final official speech as Detroit’s mayor on Wednesday, proclaiming that the city is much stronger now than it was four years ago despite going through the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. During the luncheon speech to the Detroit Economic Club, the former NBA basketball player lamented that his efforts to fix the city’s beleaguered finances were slowed by rules governing contracts with workers and an often adversarial City Council. […] Detroit has been under state oversight since March when Gov. Rick Snyder appointed turnaround specialist Kevyn Orr as emergency manager. Under state law, Orr has...

Until they pull it, here you go. QUIT CLAIM DEED TO THE CITY OF DETROIT

The Department of Energy withheld troubling cost and performance data on a major stimulus award from a federal watchdog before the company servicing the award went bankrupt, according to a report released on Tuesday. The report focuses on the department’s handling of a pair of federal awards worth about $126 million for ECOtality, a San Francisco-based green energy company that declared bankruptcy in September. DOE’s inspector general, which authored Tuesday’s report, released an audit in July that expressed concerns about the department’s management of ECOtality’s $100 million stimulus award for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations. The report revealed...

Stan Druckenmiller makes an unlikely class warrior. He's a member of the 1%—make that the 0.001%—one of the most successful money managers of all time, and 60 years old to boot. But lately he has been touring college campuses promoting a message of income redistribution you don't hear out of Washington. It's how federal entitlements like Medicare and Social Security are letting Mr. Druckenmiller's generation rip off all those doting Barack Obama voters in Generation X, Y and Z. "I have been shocked at the reception. I had planned to only visit Bowdoin, " his alma mater in Maine, he...

On the House floor on Monday, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) argued that President Barack Obama’s activities during the government shutdown over Obamacare are a sign to him that Obama would act nefariously to attack the full faith and credit of the United States of America by taking the country into a default in a debt ceiling crisis if the president does not get everything he wants in negotiations. “Given the ruthless and vindictive way the shutdown has been handled, I now believe that this president would willfully act to destroy the full faith and credit of the United States unless...

The company that owns Penthouse magazine and a host of online dating and adult websites filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday. FriendFinder Networks Inc.'s move comes as many in the adult entertainment industry struggle because of an increase in free online options. The Boca Raton, Fla., company said bankruptcy was "the most efficient and cost effective way for the company … to continue to operate our business."

Below is an outline of the GOP’s debt-ceiling bill obtained by National Review Online. The document originated from the House Appropriations Committee staff and is dated yesterday. A GOP-leadership aide says there are some differences between this and their latest summary, so take that for what it’s worth. As always with the House Republicans, it is subject to discussion from members, many of whom are quite vocal in providing their input on such plans.House leadership is planning to pass the bill as early as Saturday. The bill itself is expected to be released imminently. The outline is not a...