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After Detroit, who's next? [Oakland, Philly..]
Yahoo Finance (WSJ) ^ | July 22, 2013 | WSJ

Posted on 07/23/2013 6:59:54 PM PDT by kevcol

Take Oakland, which is Detroit's doppelganger on the West Coast. The run-down Bay Area city, which has the highest crime rate in California, recently laid off more than 100 police to fund retirement benefits and pension-obligation bonds.

Murders and robberies shot up by nearly 25% last year. To avert steeper cuts, the city borrowed an additional $210 million to finance pensions.
.
.
Philadelphia is spending about 20% of its budget on pensions to make up for years of short-changing the system.

(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; US: California; US: Michigan; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: bluezones; california; chapter9; detroit; fraud; govtabuse; michigan; next; pennsylvania; rosemaryaquillina; taxandspend; taxpayers; urban
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Maybe all the Oakland residents (after they burn their city down) will just up and move to SF to get their freebies?
1 posted on 07/23/2013 6:59:55 PM PDT by kevcol
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To: kevcol

Start looking for some states to go belly up. Never mind cities. California may be first.


2 posted on 07/23/2013 7:01:23 PM PDT by Wiggins
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To: kevcol

In no particular order:

Chicago

Philadelphia

Oakland

Vallejo

Sacramento

Las Vegas


3 posted on 07/23/2013 7:01:32 PM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: kevcol

New Jersey has a whole crapload - Trenton, Camden, Atlantic City, Newark, Patterson, etc.


4 posted on 07/23/2013 7:01:51 PM PDT by ZULU ((See: http://gatesofvienna.net/) Obama, do you hear me?)
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To: kevcol

Oakland California, aka the west side of Detroit.


5 posted on 07/23/2013 7:03:06 PM PDT by barmag25
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To: Wiggins

As I understand it Illinois stands a good chance of beating California to the bottom.

Despite Detroit Michigan is actually in fairly decent shape.


6 posted on 07/23/2013 7:10:14 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: kevcol

Throw a dart at any large city (New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport, or Waterbury) on the CT map. The economic death spiral has commenced.


7 posted on 07/23/2013 7:16:19 PM PDT by BlueStateRightist
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To: kevcol

Well, it won’t be Toadsuck, Arkansas. Toadsuck is flush with cash after another huge Gooseberry crop! They’ve just opened up the new polar bear exhibit at the zoo. The world renowned Toadsuck Ballet Company is dancing their way into the hearts of millions at the new Grand Theater.


8 posted on 07/23/2013 7:19:22 PM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: kevcol

Columbus, Oh.....used to be a clean, great city. It is now almost all ghetto and a murder a day. One entire section of the city has been carved out for the LGBT community. OSU campus is enter at your own risk. Michael Coleman and his drug/alcohol addled wife have transformed the city beyond Obamas wildest expectations.


9 posted on 07/23/2013 7:24:56 PM PDT by Toespi
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To: kevcol

Isn’t it interesting that all of the politicians who caused these problems are long gone from the public scene while the people remain to be affected?


10 posted on 07/23/2013 7:25:41 PM PDT by eeriegeno (<p>)
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To: kevcol

Just spend more money. I heard the pResident say that’s the way to prosperity. Surely it has to be true.


11 posted on 07/23/2013 7:28:30 PM PDT by WKUHilltopper (And yet...we continue to tolerate this crap...)
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To: Toespi
Columbus, Oh.....used to be a clean, great city. It is now almost all ghetto and a murder a day.

And that doesn't even take into account the OSU football team.

12 posted on 07/23/2013 7:28:40 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: eeriegeno
Isn’t it interesting that all of the politicians who caused these problems are long gone from the public scene while the people remain to be affected?

Just a coincidence. They were all well intended representatives of the Democratic [sic] party. Intentions trump results, you know.

In full seriousness: the more city and state bankruptcies, the easier time Congress will have passing "temporary' "emergency" tax increases.

13 posted on 07/23/2013 7:31:35 PM PDT by Standing Wolf
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To: kevcol

For better or worse, Oakland is nothing like Detroit. Heck, Oakland is nothing like San Bernardino or Stockton, California cities that have already gone bankrupt. What Oakland has that they don’t is many beautiful neighborhoods full of lots of liberal rich people who can (and in most cases will willingly) be taxed to the gills if needed to keep the city solvent.


14 posted on 07/23/2013 7:37:41 PM PDT by only1percent
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To: only1percent
Also, Oakland has the very active Port of Oakland, which is a major port for container ships from eastern Asia (only Long Beach and Tacoma just south of Seattle has more container ship traffic).
15 posted on 07/23/2013 7:44:28 PM PDT by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's economic cure)
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To: kevcol

Please, oh please...


16 posted on 07/23/2013 7:49:01 PM PDT by x1stcav ("The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.")
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To: blueunicorn6

I remember the t-shirts: Where the heck is Toadsuck?

And I remember the catfish and shrimp.


17 posted on 07/23/2013 7:59:27 PM PDT by VerySadAmerican (If you vote for evil because you can't see evil, you ARE evil!)
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To: Wiggins

Chapter 9 only applies to municipalities - creatures of the state (cities, counties, some state boards and special agencies.)

States, as sovereigns, have no way to declare bankruptcy under the current code.


18 posted on 07/23/2013 8:47:51 PM PDT by Wally_Kalbacken
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To: Wally_Kalbacken

Could states do a form of defacto bankruptcy and stall payments on pension obligations and retiree benefits, due to higher priority budget obligations?


19 posted on 07/23/2013 8:54:48 PM PDT by tbw2
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To: only1percent

“Oakland is nothing like Detroit.”

You are absolutely correct! Even West Oakland has experienced a renaissance in the aftermath of the Loma Prieta earthquake that brought down the Cypress Freeway structure coupled with the closure of the Oakland Army Terminal. Oakland’s big problem areas are North and East Oakland. You don’t want to even drive through East Oakland at high noon if you are white! The places where blacks found employment are gone ( the GM plant, the canneries, the Army Terminal, NAS Alameda) but the blacks are still there with not much to do. But the weather is mild so they don’t fry or freeze like they do in Detroit.


20 posted on 07/23/2013 9:00:42 PM PDT by vette6387
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