Free Republic

Kevyn Orr has agreed to step down as Detroit’s emergency manager, saying in a letter released Tuesday that the city will no longer be in a financial emergency once it exits bankruptcy. Orr also told Gov. Rick Snyder in his letter, dated Monday, that he has implemented the city’s two-year budget that reflects the elimination of about $7 billion in debt through the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. […] Orr—a turnaround expert who helped steer Chrysler through the automaker’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy—had been the official face of Detroit government since he was appointed in March 2013 by Snyder. …

Sears is shutting down hundreds of stores. The chain announced today that it is accelerating store closings to 235 this year, 100 more than previously planned. Sears' total net loss for the quarter was $296 million. Sears' and K-Mart's collapse is "inevitable" and could happen by the year 2016, retail analyst and author Robin Lewis writes on his blog. "These two retail brands are dead men walking," Lewis writes. "As a retailer they're at the point of no return," David Tawil, cofounder of Maglan Capital and an expert in distressed retail companies, told Business Insider earlier this year. "The real...

Today, America's national debt hit the staggering total combined amount of $18 trillion. Since President Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated into office a little less than six years ago, he, the democrats, and a few spineless republican "leaders" in congress have increased the total combined national debt by nearly $7.4 trillion: Date                 Debt Held by the Public         Intragovernmental Holdings   Total Public Debt Outstanding 01/20/2009       6,307,310,739,681.66           4,319,566,309,231.42              10,626,877,048,913.08 11/28/2014       12,922,681,725,432.94         5,082,867,603,128.51         ...

Dendreon Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after sales of the world's first cancer vaccine fell short of expectations and left the company deep in debt. More than two-thirds of the company's market value was wiped out in early trading on Monday. Seattle-based Dendreon said it had agreed terms of a financial restructuring with certain bond holders that may involve a standalone recapitalization or the sale of the company or its assets. After its approval by U.S. regulators in 2010, hopes were high that Provenge, Dendreon's only drug on the market, would become a blockbuster. But adoption of the...

The move caught the market flat-footed, and, after the announcement, shares of the company were down 90%. The drop in shares of GT on Monday has taken the company's market cap from roughly $1.5 billion Friday to about $175 million.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein is having his Andy Warhol moment. Were it not for ISIS and the Ebola virus, all we would be hearing about on these pages and on FoxNews is Judge Klein's ruling in Stockton, California. In a case likely to be heard before the Supreme Court of the United States, if Judge Klein's ruling is confirmed and employee pensions are not sacrosanct in City and State bankruptcies, many cities in California that are insolvent today because of long term bad decision making will bite the bullet and declare bankruptcy. When these cities exit bankruptcy, they will...

GT Advanced Technologies is filing for bankruptcy. In an announcement on Monday, GT Advanced, which makes sapphire displays that many investors hoped would be in Apple's newest iPhone, said it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Ahead of the announcement, shares of GT Advanced were halted for trade. After re-opening on Monday, shares of GT Advanced were down more than 90% to $1.06. Ahead of the announcement, GT Advanced had a market cap of about $1.5 billion, and after the collapse in the share price on Monday this had fallen to about $175 million. In early September, shares of GT...

In what will be a devastating blow to California public employee unions, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein ruled in the Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy of the City of Stockton that pensions managed by the California Public Employee Retirement System, known as CalPERS, can be cut in bankruptcy “like any other garden variety” unsecured debt. He rejected the unions’ argument that the world’s largest pension fund is an “arm of the state” and that public employee pensions are protected by federal and state laws. Stockton city employees and city council members, who are all CalPERS pension beneficiaries, received retirement benefit enhancements...

PORTLAND – The Christian owners of a bakery in Oregon state that they will be forced into bankruptcy if the government stands by its imposition of a fine in excess of $150,000 after the couple declined to make a “wedding” cake for a lesbian because they viewed it as a form of personal participation in the event. As previously reported, Aaron and Melissa Klein operate Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, which is now operated from the couple’s home after the Kleins’ shut their doors due to harassment. In January 2013, Aaron was approached by a mother and her daughter...

Today’s students are being crushed with John Bunyan’s proverbial burden on their backs – student loan debt. Until relatively recently this debt could have been discharged in bankruptcy. Then all that changed when Sallie Mae, the Student Loan Marketing Association, was privatized in 2004. Albert Lord, the new CEO, and his lobbyists went to work to change the laws so that student loans could not be discharged in bankruptcy. Today the cumulative student loan debt is more than $1 trillion. While a generation ago a high school diploma was considered sufficient for a decent middle class entry level job, today...

The Detroit City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a plan to return oversight of daily operations to elected officials while retaining the city’s state-appointed emergency manager to oversee bankruptcy matters until they are resolved. Kevyn Orr, who was appointed by the state in March 2013 to manage Detroit’s troubled finances and who took the city into the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, said Thursday that Detroit is “more than ready for the change.” …

Trump Entertainment Resorts filed for bankruptcy Tuesday and threatened to shut down the Taj Mahal Casino Resort, which would make it the fifth Atlantic City casino to close this year. The company owns Trump Plaza, which is closing in a week, and the Taj Mahal, which has been experiencing cash-flow problems and had been trying to stave off a default with its lenders. The company said the Taj Mahal could close Nov. 13 if it doesn't win salary concessions from union workers.

Lawyers for Detroit will attempt to convince a federal judge at the city’s bankruptcy trial that its plans to wipe out billions of dollars in debt should be approved. After some delays, the start of the trial Tuesday in U.S. District Court comes just over 13 months after Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy. Detroit expects to cut $12 billion in unsecured debt to about $5 billion, which is “more manageable,” according to Bill Nowling, a spokesman for emergency manager Kevyn Orr. …

Nearly 10,000 students across the country are facing an uncertain future following the sudden collapse of another for-profit college system this week. After a summer which saw the dramatic collapse of Corinthian Colleges, fellow for-profit education company Anthem Education is rapidly closing its doors after the company filed for bankruptcy this week. Prior to filing for bankruptcy, Anthem Education had no fewer than 34 different campuses around the country. That number is in rapid free fall, with nine campuses shutting down Friday after the Department of Education failed to approve a deal that would temporarily keep them open. Anthem’s collapse...

It is no longer a question of how much government Americans want. The only question is how much government Americanscan afford. And the former Republican vice presidential candidate, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the answer is becoming clear. “I talk about this in the book,” Ryan told Watchdog Radio Monday. “About very progressive policies. About the outcomes they produce, and how they bankrupt governments.” Ryan writes in his new book, “The Way Forward: Renewing the American Idea”, that the federal government has expanded entitlement programs, Medicare, Social Security and now Obamacare, to the point where they cost far more...

The winning streak has run cold for Atlantic City, N.J. Earlier this week, the upscale Revel Casino Hotel announced it will close, bringing the total number of casinos in the city expected to close by the end of the year to four. Thousands of workers are confronting unemployment. The state has long guaranteed Atlantic City a monopoly on gambling within New Jersey's borders, but gambling revenues there have been declining due to increased competition from new casinos in neighboring states and the lingering effects of the financial crisis. The monthly report from the state Division of Gaming Enforcement issued Wednesday...

There are many ways to look at the United States government debt, obligations, and assets. Liabilities include Treasury debt held by the public or more broadly total Treasury debt outstanding. ThereÂ’s unfunded liabilities like Medicare and Social Security. And then the assets of all the real estate, all the equities, all the bonds, all the depositsÂ…all at todayÂ’s valuations. But letÂ’s cut straight to the bottom line and add it all upÂ…$89.5 trillion in liabilities and $82 trillion in assets. There. ItÂ’s not a secret anymoreÂ…and although these are all government numbers, for some strange reason the government never adds...

Bloomberg is reporting on the increase in coal company bankruptcies in recent years, due to the switch by power companies to natural gas and fracking, which has flooded the market with cheap gas. Driving this conversion is the prospect of new, draconian rules to be issued by the EPA on emissions from coal plants. Exports are failing to save U.S. miners. Slowing Chinese growth and rising competition from overseas, including increased Australian output, have sent the price of metallurgical coal, used in steelmaking, to a six-year low. Central Appalachian thermal coal, used in power plants to produce electricity, fell on...

Ever since the obstreperous Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011, Americans have been getting an earful about the alleged crisis of student loan debt. Sensing a chance to appear both compassionate and pro-education, many lawmakers want to do something to ease the plight of indebted students. Senator Elizabeth Warren, for example, is pushing her populist plan of allowing students to refinance their loans at absurdly low interest rates. President Obama recently expanded the touchy-feely repayment system so that students would never have to pay more than ten percent of their discretionary income for 20 years before the rest of the...

A year after filing for bankruptcy, Detroit is building momentum to get out, especially after workers and retirees voted in favor of major pension changes just a few weeks before a judge holds a crucial trial that could end the largest public filing in U.S. history. Pension cuts were approved in a landslide, according to results filed shortly before midnight Monday. The tally from 60 days of voting gives the city a boost as Judge Steven Rhodes determines whether Detroit’s overall strategy to eliminate or reduce $18 billion in long-term debt is fair and feasible to all creditors. Trial starts...