Free Republic

A bipartisan 10-bill package has been introduced in the Michigan House related to a proposed Detroit bailout. A link to the concise, objective, plain-English MichiganVotes.org descriptions of all 10 bills is here. It’s worth noting that the grant (or bailout) bills do not require passage of the reform bills to become law. Also, nothing would prohibit a future Legislature from repealing the reform measures, although in practical terms this could get complicated given that a potential federal court bankruptcy settlement may be all wrapped together with the grant and reforms — if they are approved. The state money is intended...

With the instructive Detroit precedent, shrunken populations, and underfunded municipal pensions common, we can conclude that no city, not even Chicago, should be thought of as too big to fail. About the bonds of Detroit, Barron’s said: “A lot of investors bought this debt because they assumed that the state of Michigan wouldn’t let its largest city default.”1 In other words, they assumed Detroit was “too big to fail.” Nonetheless, Detroit did default and became the largest municipal bankruptcy in history. This bankruptcy, with unfunded municipal employee pensions among the competing creditors, is a hugely important precedent. Is any city...

DETROIT (WWJ) – Detroit’s police chief is interviewed in the most recent issue of “America’s First Freedom” — an NRA magazine — voicing his support for the right to bear arms. The article titled, “A Show of Courage In Detroit,” comes following at least five fatal shootings in two months involving homeowners protecting themselves from intruders. The sub-headline reads, “Motor City Police Chief James Craig Encourages Citizens to Arm Themselves.” Craig, whose photo appears on the cover, says being featured in the magazine does not mean he advocates violence; he just strongly believes in the right to protect one’s self....

State legislators are discussing which strings to attach to a $194 million partial Detroit bailout. One of those strings — a requirement that the city close its pension systems to new members — is being met with opposition over alleged "transition costs" from the move. But these costs are completely optional and easily avoidable, as other governments that have reformed their pension systems show. Transition costs allegedly are mandatory increased up-front cash requirements to catch up on underfunded pensions. Detroit does not have enough money saved in its pension system to pay for the benefits that members have earned. According...

Just off of the James C. Lodge Freeway in Detroit is Eight Mile Road. The stretch near the freeway is just east of the famed area that provided the basis for the Eminem film of the same name. To its north lie predominantly white suburbs -- over 77 percent of those who live in Oakland County are white -- with median family income in excess of $65,000. Married couples comprise approximately half of households, with fewer than 15 percent of households led by a single female. Since 1990, the population of Oakland County has jumped from 1.083 million to...

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Americans for Prosperity, the conservative advocacy group supported by the Koch brothers, has launched an effort to torpedo a proposed settlement in the Detroit bankruptcy case, potentially complicating chances for completing the deal just as its prospects seemed to be improving. The organization, formed to fight big government and spending, is contacting 90,000 conservatives in Michigan and encouraging them to rally against a plan to provide $195 million in state money to help settle Detroit pension holders' claims in the case, a key element of the deal. The group has threatened to run ads against members...

The conversion of Alex Jones is a powerful story and a book from Ignatius Press!  I came across the video and was reminded of the story. You can read more below. The following comes from the Deacons Bench Blog:One of the more celebrated Catholic converts -- and a recently ordained deacon, by the way -- is former evangelical Alex Jones. He now spends much of his time traveling the country, talking about his journey back to the Church. And a paper in Fort Wayne, Indiana profiles him this weekend: Ten years ago, Alex Jones was the charismatic preacher of...

Longtime Michigan Congressman John Conyers joined a federal lawsuit Thursday taking aim at the requirement that petition collectors be registered voters, as part of a larger challenge to an order removing his name from the primary ballot in August. Conyers, who was first elected to the House in 1964 and represents a district including Detroit and several suburbs, joined the suit two days after Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett determined he didn’t have enough signatures to appear on the Aug. 5 Democratic primary ballot. She found Conyers was more than 400 signatures short of 1,000 needed. The suit was filed...

General Motors added five recalls to its growing list Thursday, pushing its total number of recalled vehicles to more than 11 million this year. GM's recalls alone have the U.S. auto industry on pace to break the record of 30.8 million recalled vehicles set in 2004.

As described in a recent post, one of the challenges surrounding a partial bailout of Detroit using $350 million in state money spread over 20 years is that the current Legislature cannot guarantee that a future Legislature will follow through on the commitment. The latest suggestion for squaring this circle is to just give the city a somewhat smaller amount up front. Specifically, $195 million, which if all handed over this year would be roughly equivalent in value to giving Detroit $350 million over 20 years. The proposal at least has the virtue of clarifying the issue before legislators: To...

DETROIT (WWJ) – The leaders of a large-scale drug ring fled Monday, according to federal authorities, before they were found guilty of drug charges in Detroit federal court. **SNIP** Watson said all three should be considered armed and dangerous and anyone who has information on their whereabouts should call the U.S. Marshals Service at 313-234-5656. A fourth defendant, 54-year-old Kenneth Daniels — a former State Representative for Detroit Fifth’s District — was convicted of structuring financial transactions for the drug ring leader, Carlos Powell. Daniels did appear for the jury’s verdict.

Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr visited Lansing last week trying to persuade hesitant state lawmakers to ante up $350 million toward a partial bailout for the city. It’s a tough sell for reasons Orr himself expressed with regard to a group that is getting no love from current policymakers — those who lent money to the city and would like to get repaid. Here is how he characterized the actions of some of these lenders: If you lent money to an insolvent city that has been going insolvent as openly and notoriously [emphasis added] as possible since 2000, and you...

As state lawmakers consider another bailout of Detroit, it is worth suggesting that the city and state might be better off if Detroit bailed itself out. The current restructuring plan calls for $350 million from the state over 20 years — or $17.5 million per year. With better reforms, Detroit can find additional dollars and many more besides. A bailout of Detroit by the state is not going to provide the long-term fix desperately needed for Detroit’s problems. Detroit should be turned into a contract city by selling assets and shedding extraneous services, and then competitively contracting for the services...

Longtime Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) didn’t submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot this year, Wayne County, Michigan, officials said in a report released on Friday. Conyers, who has represented Detroit in the House for 49 years, came up more than 400 signatures shy of qualifying for the ballot because his signature-gatherers were not registered voters, according to the Detroit News. A final report is due next Tuesday. Conyers’ legal team is expected to appeal the ruling later this week.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the liberal icon and 49-year, 25-term congressman representing bankrupt Detroit, has failed to gather enough valid voter signatures to earn a spot on the Democratic Party Primary ballot in this very Democratic Party-dominated (and nearly-destroyed) district. How many signatures was Conyers’s campaign required to obtain? Well, Michiganders wishing to put an issue on the statewide ballot must gather 258,087 voter signatures — or 322,609 for an initiative constitutional amendment. With 14 congressional districts, one might do the math and suppose that a congressional candidate would need, say 18,000 signatures. But no, Michigan congressional candidates must...

A pair of Detroit thugs obviously had no idea who they were messing with when they targeted Paris Ainsworth, a 51-year-old grandma who carries a .45 caliber handgun. There’s a reason her siblings now jokingly refer to her as “Rambo.”Ainsworth had just arrived home after working a grueling double shift on Saturday night when she noticed two men moving closer to her as she was preparing to exit her car. Sensing possible danger, she pulled out her .45 caliber handgun and put it in her pocket. She got her concealed carry permit about two years ago. As it turned out,...

Via Bob Owens at Bearing Arms, in a “better world” without concealed carry, they would have robbed her blind and maybe shot her in the face for good measure. Alas, in the fallen world in which we live, she took the chief’s advice and sent them to the hospital.Would they have fired at her if they hadn’t seen her go for her gun first, though? Yep, she says. No doubt: “Don’t pull it,” one of the men warned, she told WDIV.He shot, putting four bullets in the 51-year-old woman, three of them lodging in her side and the other in...

Notwithstanding some mixed poll results, outside of Detroit most Michigan voters probably regard a proposed partial state bailout for the city as unfair, given they played no role in the fiscal malpractice that landed the city in federal bankruptcy court. Also, other local officials may be nervous that details in the proposal potentially giving a bigger financial "haircut" to the city's lenders will mean higher borrowing costs for their own communities' infrastructure needs in the future. Reflecting these concerns, it is likely most out-state legislators — especially Republicans — are less than eager to cast a roll call vote on...

An extremely violent physical confrontation broke out between two boys at an inner-city Detroit high school, but it was their teacher who received the harshest punishment: She was fired — and could face child abuse charges — for attempting to break up the fight. The teacher, an unnamed female, was an employee of Pershing High School. The fight, which lasted about 30 seconds, broke out in her classroom. The two unleashed a tornado of fury against each other, crashing into desks and pummeling each other with terrifying ferocity. The teacher, fearing that someone could suffer a serious injury, pleaded with...

The Michigan Legislature is currently debating whether or not to send extra state money to Detroit. There have been three polls taken on this issue with fairly different results. Lambert, Edwards & Associates/Denno found very high support, depending on how the money will be spent. I cannot find the exact language of how the question was asked, but this was in the press release: Sixty-one percent of the 600 likely voters polled statewide said they backed Snyder’s proposal to offer the funds so that Detroit pension cuts wouldn’t exceed 34 percent. A quarter of those polled opposed the move, while...