Free Republic

Thousands of retired and current Detroit workers face pension cuts as deep as 34%, and some say they aren't sure how they'll make ends meet if the plan announced Friday is approved. "They have worried me from the day they started this mess. You sit on pins and needles all the time," said 69-year-old Donald Smith, who retired in 2005 after decades of work as a civilian detention officer and other general city jobs. For Smith, the cuts could mean a loss of around $300 a month from his $889 in monthly pension benefits, even as he already struggles to...

The road back for Detroit seems to be getting longer. More than three months after its historic bankruptcy filing, city officials Friday offered up their proposed plan to pay bondholders, pensioners and other creditors holding its $18 billion debt substantially less then they're owed. "We think the plan is reasonable," emergency manager Kevyn Orr told reporters. "We really don't have time for a lot of acrimony and litigation." But even before Orr had a chance to formally unveil it, the plan was under heavy attack from investors, unions representing city workers and other creditors.

Video at link.

**SNIP** Reporting the figure, WDIV-TV says some of the overdue fines are more than 10 years old and can't be collected. Some individuals owe the city more than $10,000. The city is trying to get payments for some of what's owed. James Canty of Detroit's parking division says the city is putting holds on driver's licenses when they come up for renewal, taking motorists who owe money to court and reporting them to credit agencies.

Detroit's police chief is sticking to his guns after being criticized for supporting citizens to arm themselves. Police Chief James Craig responded Thursday to a Detroit resident who challenged his pro-gun stance. Mr. Craig made national news earlier this month after he said armed citizens could serve as a deterrent to criminals, The Detroit News reported. “Coming from California, where it takes an act of Congress to get a concealed weapon permit, I got to Maine, where they give out lots of CCWs (carrying concealed weapon permits), and I had a stack of CCW permits I was denying; that was...

<p>Four people have been charged in connection with the deaths of three males found in a Detroit house fire last week.</p> <p>Tenisha Jackson, 19; Larry Johnson, 20; Rashawn Johnson, 19; and Keeshon Lake, 19, have all been charged with three counts of first-degree murder; three counts felony murder; two counts armed robbery; and one count of arson. Larry Johnson was also charged for Felony Firearm and Possession of Heroin.</p>

Bigfoot Living Among the Ruins of Detroit! DETROIT (Cryptozoology News) — A family claim they saw a strange ape-like creature Thursday afternoon coming out of the window of an abandoned house on the outskirts of the desolate city. C. Brown, his wife, and their two children said they were “driving around, looking to buy a new house”, when they allegedly witnessed the unidentified beast. “The economy has been devastating here man,” Brown explained. “One day, you are living in this beautiful city with over a million and a half working people, next day all you know is all is gone…crime...

This is the dramatic moment a mother-of-two opened fire with an assault rifle on intruders who tried to smash their way into her home. The woman took action after three hooded individuals kicked down the door of her Detroit home on Monday night where she lives with her two young children. She fired off rounds in a bid to deter the would-be burglars, later saying she 'didn't have time to get scared'. The unnamed mother told WXYZ Detroit: 'I let them know I had a gun once they were in the house and they challenged me and said "no you...

Have a look!

Detroit isn’t a monster — it’s just ahead of the curve. Or it is a monster, in the classical sense of that word: a warning of things to come. We should all be paying attention, but those Americans who should be paying the closest attention are those who are unfortunately least inclined to do so: the happy inhabitants of the gilded communities of Northern California. I have written a great deal about Detroit as the inevitable endgame of progressive politics and economics, and those who are disinclined to be persuaded by such analysis as I have to offer respond as...

The race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan is still rated "Democratic Favored" by some Washington prognosticators, but the contest is starting to look like a toss-up.

The people of Detroit, including its retirees and bondholders, are justifiably nervous about how the city's bankruptcy will disturb their bottom lines. Kevyn Orr, Detroit's emergency manager, has taken sound steps to fix Detroit's financial fundamentals through spending cuts, management fixes and asset sales, but bolder action is required to protect citizens and improve public services. To do so, Detroit should look to the city of Pontiac, whose revolutionized government has recovered decades of lost fiscal ground through sound economic reform. Detroit presents unique challenges and implementing all of Pontiac’s reforms may not be possible, but it is worth exploring....

Tax And Spend: Puerto Rico's debt has been cut to junk by two credit rating agencies, prompting an outcry from officials of the recession-hit island that, after all, they've hiked taxes. Well, that's the problem right there. It's hard to not feel some sympathy for Puerto Rico's new governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, who upon entering office last year inherited a hog-wallow of $70 billion in debt, according to a long piece in the weekend's New York Times. The governor cut spending by 2%, balanced his budget a year ahead of schedule, reformed public pensions and reduced the territory's deficit by...

In 1805, a calamitous fire destroyed the young city of Detroit, giving rise to the city’s motto, “Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus” — “We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes.” Today Detroit struggles to recover from a different kind of disaster: Bankruptcy. Detroit's modern downfall came not from natural events, but from adopting financially ruinous policies, continual mismanagement, and failing to change course, even in the presence of clear signals foretelling a future fiscal collapse. But one way to move Detroit forward during and after bankruptcy is by unloading municipal assets, especially the assets that have been...

On Tuesday, credit ratings agency Standard & PoorÂ’s downgraded Puerto RicoÂ’s general-obligation bonds to BB+, a level that is considered junk status. Similar action by rating agencies MoodyÂ’s and Fitch appears virtually certain, as the island territory copes with a staggering $70 billion of debt, all of which needs to be repaid with interest. Unfortunately, Puerto Rico has been in what amounts to a continuous recession since 2006, and its economy is currently shrinking at a 6 percent pace. The official unemployment rate is 14.7 percent, and its debt-to-GDP ratio is 93 percent.Furthermore, the island is experiencing the largest population...

A huge battle between pensioners and bondholders is on. Last week, a Bond rating agency blasted Governor Rick Snyder’s $350-million Detroit pension rescue plan as being too favorable to creditors at the expense of bondholders. Today, the New York Times reports Detroit Turns Bankruptcy Into Challenge of Banks. Amy Laskey,a managing director at Fitch Ratings, said in a recent report that she sensed an “us versus them” orientation toward debt repayment. And in the view of bondholders, bond insurers and other financial institutions, it only grew worse last week after the city circulated its plan to emerge from bankruptcy and...

Gov. Rick Snyder insists that his proposal to pledge away $350 million of state revenue over 20 years and drop it into the Detroit bankruptcy pot is not a taxpayer bailout. Call it what you will, but statewide taxpayers will foot the bill and Detroit will get the money. If paid in equal increments it comes to $17.5 million annually for 20 years. The other "d" word — debt — hasn't been uttered, but if the money is borrowed at current rates the debt service would be around $24 million annually for 20 years. Either way, that's millions of dollars...

There are many horrific stories to be told about the implosion of Detroit, once the nation’s most prosperous city, today its poorest. There is the story of its corrupt public institutions, its feckless leaders, its poisonous racial politics, its practically nonexistent economy, the riots that have led to its thrice being occupied by federal troops. The most horrific story may be that of the death of its children.Detroit has the highest child-mortality rate of any American city, exceeding that of many parts of what we used to call the Third World........ .....Detroit represents nothing less than progressivism in its final...

Detroit was one of America’s great jewels. A center for industry, innovation, ingenuity, and the American can-do spirt. A shining example of the capitalist tide lifting all boats. Today, Detroit rests in shadow. It is a husk, a decaying testament to what can go wrong when government and bad policy intersect with bad business. What happened? Bankrupt is the new documentary that will lead you through the brambles and reveal what went wrong. What’s more, it answers the question of what there is to learn from the story of the rise and fall of America’s auto empire, and what it...

As those in power continues to hang onto the 19th century model of education or accept Common Core indoctrination for their students, parents are moving toward becoming the “deciders” as they chose charter and private schools, homeschooling, and online programs, it is leaving thousands of empty school buildings all across America. According to a recent study among the cities with vacant school buildings are