It Begins: Cash Strapped Cities Begin To Crumble

The Business Insider ^ | 2-4-2010 | John Carney

[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]

[misterrob]

Bankruptcy might allow them to get out from under the burden of union benefits and pensions.

[wbarmy]

What makes you think they actually “know” what they are up to? I can believe in the incredible stupidity of our leadership. I watched all of those Obama speeches when he didn’t use a telepromptor and I think he is just clueless.

Who else would slam trucks in the USA?

[Soothesayer9]

"Now he proposes a federal budget that is mathmaticaly impossible to sustain. And this is an election year.

Maybe a miracle will happen and we will get a Congess full of conservatives who will actually impeach his worthless ass. Maybe. I would settle for used-car-salesman Biden at this point rather than a scheming, manipulative outright Communist.

[Texas resident]

I hadn’t heard that but it is believable. After hurricane Andrew hit south Florida, the then governer Chiles (D) waited 5 days before granting then President Bush permission to send in federal aid. And the media dutifully reported on how Bush didn’t care about he people in South Florida. What they didn’t report was that the law requires that the President get permission from the state governer to send in feds. Chiles knew this full well and milked it for all it was worth. Kind of a shame that when this same crap happened in NOLA, that Bush didn’t learn from his father.

[combat_boots]

Yes. Posse comitatus. Bush had asked for evacuation ahead. He asked Blanco to let in NG troops.

Then, she talked to the DNC.

And she refused assistance.

[junta]

They still got your IRAs and 401ks

[Terpfen]

It’s amazing how so many of these gubmints, whether they’re local, state, or federal, absolutely refuse to cut spending or otherwise legally cannot. It’s insane.

Thanks, gubmint unions.

[happygrl]

I worked in a public agency in California during the 1990s when there was a sharp, but brief recession there, and housing values dropped 30%.

Out of 185 employees in my department, only 37 survived the cut.

I was one of them.

By 2011, we will either see layoffs at that scale everywhere, at all levels of government, or the US itself will go bankrupt.

[norraad]

Sneakyman Inc., where I've work in my life (and also from taggin' along w/Dad unique employment he had) I've seen some behind the scene shenanigans that made it all so clear.

No, I have no details of Sneakyman Inc. latest plans or "what they allow to happen", but if you were able to 'get away with so easy' in the past , would you stop?

[Travis McGee]

Argentina with nukes, that’s us. Or worse.

[RJL]

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.

Who cares, it might produce a couple "green" jobs, it's all good!
/S

[Wyatt's Torch]

Typical response: raise taxes. How ‘bout cutting spending, starting with the city managers’ salaries.

Yep. Every organization in the US has cut spending and laid off people in the past year to make up the difference due to falling revenue... except government...

[Panzerlied]

“The only difference between Detroit and a third world country is that there are no goats roaming the streets.”

But with all the abandoned houses they’ve torn down, there’s enough open land to do some decent farming!

[Texas resident]

Amazing that the DNC has that much power over dimrat politicians. And that they are willing to literally let people die to score political points.

[Niuhuru]

And Third World countries don’t have generous welfare systems set up.

[Niuhuru]

“we will get a Congess full of conservatives who will actually impeach his worthless ass”

That is very likely to happen. After all, it’s not like anyone really wants him there.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***But with all the abandoned houses they’ve torn down, there’s enough open land to do some decent farming!***

Might want to take a soil sample to see how much lead paint is in the ground.

[combat_boots]

All those end of week broadcasts showing the soldiers dying in Nam.

All that quiet about what happened at Daley plaza, really.

Setting up Korea as a stand off and demoralizing MacArthur & the troops there.

Smiling and smiling and doing business with Stalin when he simply took over many of the Nazi death camps under new management.

Oh, it was hip for Pelosi, H3ll and the whole lot of boomers with their causes to be anti-__________ when a young person.

Now, it’s just plain cowardice and corrupt profligacy. Krauthammer’s right. It’s unctuous.

[exnavy]

These are "feral" dogs.

Any animal that used to be domestic pets or livestock that have returned to the wild and are seeking their own food sources are considered "feral".

Feral animals are extremely wary of humans and at times hostile to the point of being dangerous to be near unless one has some means of protecting oneself.

This danger facter is especially true in two species, canine and pigs.

[MileHi]

Has there been a dominate political party in Harrisburg over time?