Posted on 07/21/2013 9:22:14 AM PDT by whitedog57
Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina ordered on Friday that Detroits bankruptcy be withdrawn. Aquilina said the 2012 Michigan law that allowed Gov. Rick Snyder to approve the citys 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. Its also not honoring the president, who took [Detroits auto companies] out of bankruptcy.
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I know hes watching this, the Detroit News quotes Aquilina saying, noting that she predicted that Obama would eventually step in and take action.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Friday appealed a state judges declaratory judgment that the bankruptcy petition Detroits emergency manager filed in federal court Thursday should be withdrawn. The appeal of s Friday order was made in the Michigan Court of Appeals on behalf of Governor Rick Snyder, according to a statement from Schuettes office. Additional motions seeking emergency consideration were expected to be filed later on Friday, the statement added.
Detroit is near the statutory limits of its ability to tax. That power has been dragged down by a drop in the citys population, down 60 per cent from almost 2 million at the peak in the 1950s to just under 700,000. The led to a 40 per cent drop in tax revenues since 2000. The city has had to borrow money to meet its operating budget which has been slashed. With the City retiree pool currently outnumbering active employees by an over-2 to 1 margin and growing, the City must address pension and retiree!healthcare liabilities as part of any comprehensive restructuring.
Translation: protect the pensions and municipal workers at all cost and screw the bondholders. Just like the GM bailout. GM stockholders and bondholders were destroyed, but GM and its workforce survived.
Given the political contributions from related groups (like the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), I am not surprised that Judge Rosemarie is waving a warning flag to President Obama. And ActBlue is no slouch on Democrat fundraising either.
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We shall see if the courts allow Governor Snyder and Kevyn Orr to succeed in placing Detroit in bankruptcy. Or if President Obama enters the fracas to protect municipal employee retirees. Or Detroit as a whole.
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Apparently, Judge Rosemary didnt buy Kevyn Orrs opening salvo in the bankruptcy appeal: 154747367-Detroit-Creditor-Proposal
After decades of fiscal mismanagement, plummeting population, employment and revenues, decaying City infrastructure, deteriorating City services and excessive borrowing that provided short term band-aids at the cost of deepening insolvency, the City of Detroit today is a shadow of the thriving metropolis that it once was. The City does not provide basic and essential services to the residents who remain in the City. Crime is endemic. The City is infested with urban blight, which: (a) depresses property values; (b) provides a fertile breeding ground for crime and tinder for fires (with the attendant disproportionate devotion of police and firefighting resources to abandoned lots); and (c) compels the City to devote precious resources to demolition.
Detroit leads the US in population decline, followed by Chicago.
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In percentage terms, St. Louis leads the US in population decline followed by Detroit. And then two Ohio cities, Youngstown and Cleveland. Followed by Gary Indiana.
detroit3
In fairness to the unions and Judge Rosemary, retirees were promised their pensions. And bondholders did realize that Detroit was a ticking fiscal bomb. Still, does it make sense for government to promise massive pension benefits when they cant afford to pay them?
Well, we now know what kind of bomb the municipal pension promises were the exploding kind.
Since when does a state court have any authority over anything in federal bankruptcy court?
Post the great graphics here.
Who wants to live in a place where the majority of residents hate you because of your skin color and feel justified in killing you.
That is a sitting judge? LMAO.
I can’t wait to hear what the bankruptcy court thinks of her order.
Half of the Tiger fans live in TN now.
All the Red Wing fans are here in Dallas, judging by the sea of red when they play the Stars here.
Detroit, St. Louis, and Chicago.
Greatest population loss. How odd.
You going to the river oaks get together?...
Oh this is AV....had to go back to my first name here....good to see your post...
BRA destroys cities...
Bond holders were also promised to be first in line in any bankruptcy
I was thinking of setting up a stand and selling sno-cones without the flavoring.
With a big sign.. “Just Ice For Trayvon!”
Yep.. Last time I checked, bankruptcy was a federal case, and a federal court disharge of all debts, regardless of contract. What exactly is so hard for her to understand? These pensioners had a contract and that contract must be followed?
her ruling will be overturned, in time... after messing around with state courts for the next year or so.
Hey you could instead of throwing rock salt....throw out some KFC original mixed bucket and a baseball bat....
I am in Concord, NC now but a guy in Tellico Village, TN said the place is Heavily marketed in Detroit.
Might be the same for Dallas.
I think federal bankruptcy laws went out the window in 2009 when the feds told the Chrysler and GM bondholders to "jump in the lake, we are giving your security to the UAW".
This judge is advancing hundreds of years of anglo-saxon commercial law. The old precedents are out. The new standard is: "Does it offend Barak Obama?"
How do you like that?
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