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Biggest Bankruptcy in US history. Excerpt:Reason Foundation senior analyst Shikha Dalmia says even bankruptcy can’t save Motown.Detroit had been living on borrowed time and borrowed money for about two decades now with accumulated debt of about 18 times its annual budget, so something had to give so the issue only was detroit needed to restructure through bnkruptcy or an emergency manager.

As a native Detroiter, I was saddened by the city’s decision to declare bankruptcy this week. But I was not surprised. The move was inevitable. Everyone in Detroit knew that without enormous, radical change, the city was dying. They have known this since at least the early 1980s. But that radical change never came. The city’s population peaked at almost 2-million in 1950, during the boom times of the post-war era. It then had the highest median income of any city in the United States. These days, it ranks 66th out of the largest 68 cities in the nation. And...

Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina ordered on Friday that Detroit’s bankruptcy be withdrawn. Aquilina said the 2012 Michigan law that allowed Gov. Rick Snyder to approve the city’s bankruptcy filing, the largest municipal bankruptcy filing ever in the United States, violates the Michigan Constitution. Specifically, Article IX Section 24, which holds that pension plans and retirement systems “shall not be diminished or impaired.” Aquilina said that she will ensure that President Barack Obama gets a copy of her order. “It’s also not honoring the president, who took [Detroit’s auto companies] out of bankruptcy.” bilde “I know he’s watching...

We’ve got another one, ya’ll. I thought Melissa Harris-Perry’s utterly illogical talking point about Detroit serving as an example of what “Republicans would impose on us” was bad, but this… Do you think that maybe he actually believes what he’s saying, or that he’s just straight-up lying through his teeth because there is literally no good way to spin Detroit’s fiscal collapse as anything other than the inevitable conclusion of a total progressive utopia without peddling outright falsehoods? Because, according to Mr. Schultz — and stay with him here, because there’s a good chance you might not have realized this...

Detroit, Michigan, may be the nation’s only large city to have sported three distinct pronunciations: the original French, du-TWAH; the 19th century American, deh-TROIT; and the more recent and homegrown DEE-troit. A fourth may soon evolve: DEBT-troit. The City of Detroit owes to creditors $18 billion that it cannot pay back. Most of the debt is owed to those who provided loans to the city by buying its bonds; next in line are the nearly 30,000 retired and still working city employees owed billions collectively in future pension benefits, which are woefully underfunded. Detroit has been ailing for decades, losing...

Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina ordered on Friday that Detroit’s bankruptcy be withdrawn. Aquilina said the 2012 Michigan law that allowed Gov. Rick Snyder to approve the city’s bankruptcy filing, the largest municipal bankruptcy filing ever in the United States, violates the Michigan Constitution. Specifically, Article IX Section 24, which holds that pension plans and retirement systems “shall not be diminished or impaired.” Aquilina said that she will ensure that President Barack Obama gets a copy of her order. “It’s also not honoring the president, who took [Detroit’s auto companies] out of bankruptcy.” bilde “I know he’s watching...

Despite boasting during last Fall’s reelection campaign that he wouldn’t let Detroit go bankrupt, President Obama says he now has no plans to bail out the beleaguered city. After decades of fiscally imprudent spending, the City is unable to pay its bills. “I have to admit that when I first heard about the possibility I thought there was no way I could let that happen,” Obama said. “But as it’s been explained to me, the City can just default on its bonds and that debt will be wiped out. These bonds are mostly owned by rich people who don’t really...

Liberals you should be ashamed of yourselves for the misery and destruction you have forced on Detroit. Because of liberal policies Detroit, an American city that once was the very epitome of the benefits of capitalism, was once able to boast of the highest standard of living of any city in the world is now little more than a garbage heap people want to run from. Today Detroit has roughly 700,000 people. In 1960 Detroit had 1.6 million people. They were auto workers and auto manufacturing executives. They manufactured things and traded an honest day’s work for a decent middle...

Liberals you should be ashamed of yourselves for the misery and destruction you have forced on Detroit. Because of liberal policies Detroit, an American city that once was the very epitome of the benefits of capitalism, was once able to boast of the highest standard of living of any city in the world is now little more than a garbage heap people want to run from. Today Detroit has roughly 700,000 people. In 1960 Detroit had 1.6 million people. They were auto workers and auto manufacturing executives. They manufactured things and traded an honest day’s work for a decent middle...

Detroit’s bankruptcy filing is one depressing read. Poverty, crime, blight – you name the malady and there’s plenty of data to back it up. And unfortunately, Detroit’s not alone. You may be wondering which city hits the wall next. I’m not making predictions, but I’ve looked at one indicator that may offer some clues: population loss.As any good Ponzi Schemer will tell you, your future looks much better when there are more people moving in than moving out. Once the population change turns negative, a vicious circle can take hold, and that’s exactly what we saw in Detroit. In addition...

The Talk Shows July 21st, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Kevyn Orr, Detroit's emergency manager; Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md.; Ben Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon and Washington Times columnist.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Gov. Rick Snyder, R-Mich.; Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio; Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League.FACE THE NATION (CBS): House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio; Gov. Rick Snyder, R-Mich.THIS WEEK (ABC): Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Detroit Mayor Dave Bing.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Reps. Cedric Richmond, D-La., and Xavier Becerra, D-Calif.; Sherrilyn Ifill, president and...

On Friday, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry put forth a theory as to why Detroit inevitably went bankrupt — terminal lack of government. We’ll do our best to explain. While discussing Detroit’s downfall, Harris-Perry and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean agreed that “you’ve got to have a government to run the place.” Harris-Perry noted Detroit’s declining population, and in turn its tax base. The population of the city has declined dramatically over the last 10 years. Mediaite’s Noah Rothman, who calls the MSNBC host’s assessment “delusional,” provides some analysis and facts: Harris-Perry presents this fact as though former Detroit residents left –...

... But while Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has capably overseen Detroit’s march to Chapter 9, neither the state nor the federal government has evinced any inclination to provide meaningful financial assistance. That’s a mistake. No one likes bailouts or the prospect of rewarding Detroit’s historic fiscal mismanagement. But apart from voting in elections, the 700,000 remaining residents of the Motor City are no more responsible for Detroit’s problems than were the victims of Hurricane Sandy for theirs, and eventually Congress decided to help them. America is just as much about aiding those less fortunate as it is about personal responsibility....

The finger-pointing for Detroit’s decades of decline usually starts with the 1967 race riots. High pensions for unionized workers get its share of the blame, as does the global economic trends that upended the auto industry. Meanwhile, racial politics and white flight to the suburbs rightly earn a place as a driver of the city’s blight.

Detroit became the largest US city to ever file for bankruptcy on Thursday, seeking protection from its creditors as it restructures more than $18bn in debt.  Richard Snyder, Michigan’s Republican governor, said in a letter included in the filing. “Detroit simply cannot raise enough revenue to meet its current obligations and that is a situation that is only projected to get worse absent a bankruptcy filing. Kevyn Orr, who Mr Snyder appointed in March to serve as Detroit’s emergency manager, has stirred controversy by putting the claims of holders of general obligation bonds – which are backed by taxes –...

Detroit on Thursday became the largest American city to declare bankruptcy, officially succumbing to job losses in the auto industry, decades of population flight, and the collapse of revenue to cover everything from policing to street lighting. "Let me be blunt: Detroit's broke," Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said as he recited a litany of ills that helped steer the decision and that made Detroit — once a gleaming example of American industry — into an urban wreck with debts of $18 billion. The announcement came four months after Snyder named Washington bankruptcy expert Kevyn Orr — who represented Chrysler during...

Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina ordered on Friday that Detroit’s bankruptcy be withdrawn. Aquilina said the 2012 Michigan law that allowed Gov. Rick Snyder to approve the city’s bankruptcy filing, the largest municipal bankruptcy filing ever in the United States, violates the Michigan Constitution. Specifically, Article IX Section 24, which holds that pension plans and retirement systems “shall not be diminished or impaired.” Aquilina said that she will ensure that President Barack Obama gets a copy of her order. “It’s also not honoring the president, who took [Detroit’s auto companies] out of bankruptcy.” [This seems like someone saying...

Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemary Aquillina ordered on Friday that Detroit’s bankruptcy be withdrawn, citing a concern that government employees’ pensions would be endangered by federal bankruptcy proceedings, The Detroit News reports. “It’s cheating, sir, and it’s cheating good people who work,” the judge told assistant Attorney General Brian Devlin on Friday, adding that she will ensure that President Barack Obama gets a copy of her order. “It’s also not honoring the president, who took [Detroit’s auto companies] out of bankruptcy.” At the same time, Aquillina voiced her confidence that Obama would ensure that pension guarantees were protected and honored....

Where’s the “thou shalt not offend Obama” clause in the Michigan state constitution? I’m unable to find it. …Prior to her ruling on Friday, (Judge Rosemary Aquilina) criticized the Snyder administration and Attorney General’s Office for what appeared to be hasty action to outflank pension board attorneys. “It’s cheating, sir, and it’s cheating good people who work,” the judge told assistant Attorney General Brian Devlin. “It’s also not honoring the (United States) president, who took (Detroit’s auto companies) out of bankruptcy.”Aquilina said she would make sure President Obama got a copy of her order. …

With Detroit filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, everybody knows major root-canal cutbacks are coming. Cutbacks of out-of-control government spending, pensions and health benefits. Major cutbacks. We know that. We also know that the downfall of Detroit is again proof positive that the public-union collective-bargaining model has utterly failed. Unions just loot the benefit lockbox at taxpayer expense. That was the message of Gov. Scott Walker's victorious crusade in Wisconsin. If any good comes out of the Detroit debacle, it will be the spread of that message across the country. But there's another important point here. If Detroit is to truly...