Posted on 02/04/2010 9:45:28 AM PST by blam
It Begins: Cash Strapped Cities Begin To Crumble
John Carney
Feb. 4, 2010, 10:25 AM
Our nascent economic recovery may come too late to save many American cities from bankruptcy, which in turn will deal heavy losses to municipal bond investors and the companies that insure munis.
The latest fright comes from Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. The city is considering seeking bankruptcy protection—as well as tax hikes and asset sales—to address $68 million in debt service payments due this year.
Harrisburg does not stand a chance at making its payments. The $68 million in debt service payments is four times what the city expects to raise through property taxes and $4 million more than the city’s entire operating budget.
Ironically, the debt burden that is trashing Harrisburg was incurred to build a waste incinerator.
Bloomberg reports:
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Typical response: raise taxes. How ‘bout cutting spending, starting with the city managers’ salaries.
I live near Detroit, where it "began" a long time ago. The only difference between Detroit and a third world country is that there are no goats roaming the streets.
CC
Goats might be better than what is roaming the streets.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
Never fear. City fathers have announced a program to put the new ‘incinerators’ to good use —— burning the corpses of non-complaint taxpayers who don’t pony up their ‘fair share’... wealth and goods left over from the estates of malcontents will be applied to the ‘debt’.....
“The only difference between Detroit and a third world country is that there are no goats roaming the streets.”
Well, at least not yet.
Because if gubmint checks stop, thats when the real fun starts.
LOL
Because if gubmint checks stop, thats when the real fun starts.
Please step away from the oscilating device as Barry’s excrement is coming your way.
This is why police/fire protection and emergency medical services are not guarantees you can count on.
The Article started good, but then it just abruptly ends.
Bad journalism
Detroit should be turned into a giant Sporting Clay course. Just put up loads of automatic trap machines everywhere and we could have a lot of fun shooting, “Ooops! Missed again!”
“When the govt checks stop, that’s when the fun starts.” Being done on purpose. The marxists in our govt paid close attention to New Orleans after Katrina. Biden talking about our young president being tested and that we will not like the solution. rahm talking about never letting a crisis to go waste. obama intentionally killing jobs by hijacking the banking industry. Now he proposes a federal budget that is mathmaticaly impossible to sustain. And this is an election year.
I have a gut feeling that this is going to be a very rough year.
Arm up guys.
And the states are not far behind.
But NOT TO WORRY!! The leftist controlled Federales will simply resort to the last mechanism traditionally used by all governments in the final throes of their suicide: THE PRINTING PRESS. They’ve already done that with the TARP and SPENDULOUS thingys. But, when the excrement hits the fans in the states, they’ll have to accelerate the process and we’ll soon be hauling wheelbarrows filled with increasingly worthless FRAUDS (Federal Reserve Accounting Unit Denominators erroneoulsy called “dollars”) to the store for a loaf of bread. Our experience will make the Weimar thing look like a warm-up exercise.
Why do you think Obambi is calling for massive TAX HIKES? IT’S AN EFFORT (DOOMED TO FAILURE BTW) TO SUCK UP THE EXCESS FRAUDS SOON TO BE SLOSHING AROUND IN WHAT REMAINS OF THIS ECONOMY IN A VAIN ATTEMPT TO KEEP THE LESS ALERT — AND WELL ARMED — AMONG US FROM CATCHING ON AND HITTING THE STREETS.
Having said that, the states probably deserve to suffer for their abandonment of their Constitutionally mandated role to guard the integrity of the money of account at Article 1, Section 10. (Read it if you never have.) The language is perfectly clear. It is even clearer if you read the notes of the Constitutional Convention surrounding that important debate. You know — all that “old stuff” North Carolina’s educrats now seek to chuck down the Orwellian memory hole.
Here endth the sermon.
And probably the America in which those of us of a certain age grew up.
How sad for our kids and grandkids.
***The only difference between Detroit and a third world country is that there are no goats roaming the streets.***
how about Saytrs and night owls dancing in the streets?
I don’t understand how debt service on a waste incinerator for a town of 47,000 can be $68 million. How much does a waste incinerator cost? I would have guessed less than $68 million dollars, especially for a moderate-sized town. And that’s principal, not debt service.
That's why I'm not really worried about revolution, secession, Civil War II, etc, etc. Long before that happens, Liberals will 1st turn on each other and turn on each other violently.
I almost feel sorry for the Liberals for the horrors they are going to go through.
Almost.
But they brought it on themselves, and just maybe when they are huddled in their apartments starving and cold and the mob shows up outside, maybe then they will finally get it, and realize what fools they were.
Barry the Socialist Thug has everyone’s number. This downward spiraling ride has just begun, and many know it.
Get ready. Protect your friends and family.
Or, can someone here tell me where the tunnel “with the light at the end of it” is? Exactly...so, we just have 35 months left. What do you think is going to happen?
I ain’t drinking the gubments Kool-Aid.
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