Posted on 07/25/2013 7:59:21 AM PDT by National Review
Selling only 38 pieces from the Detroit Institute of Art could raise $2.5 billion.
By John Fund
Everyone has an idea about how to handle bankrupt Detroit. Public-employee unions want a state or federal bailout. A liberal state-court judge in Lansing wants to block the bankruptcy because it might reduce government pensions with no thought as to where the money to pay for them will come from. Supply-siders want to create innovation zones that would spur growth by reducing taxes and regulations in the inner city, but it would be years before that measure would have an effect.
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I saw pictures of Detroit’s city council ,now that’s work of art
Sell them all. Or have the bondholders seize them like what happened to the Argentinian naval vessel.
The flaw in this idea is that it makes sense. That assures that it will never happen.
The flaw in this idea is that the assets in question are not owned by the entity that owes the money to the bondholders.
What would happen to the regional taxing authority that the voters stupidly approved last November to fund the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA) and other entities, such as the Detroit Zoo? Do the residents of Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland counties not have a stake in the assets of the DIA?
A once great city totally trashed by creeps using government to enrich themselves at the taxpayers’ expense.
CC
You can't fix stupid.
Why stop with the DIA?
We could sell off the original of the Declaration of Independence, to help pay off the National Debt.
Or, how about the the naming rights to the Lincoln Memorial or the White House?
Better yet, renaming the Capital Building to reflect Corporate sponsorship would make de jure what’s now only de facto.
And... the possibilities at the State level are endless: for example Texas is raiding the rainy day find to pay for roads; would it not be better to turn the Alamo into the privately operated theme park to raise cash for freeways?
In the end, we may have to sell Hawaii to China to satisfy our obligations.
OK by me...I'm good throwing in CA too.
Perhaps that is up to the bankruptcy judge to decide.
I’d like to see the unions and assorted other corrupt groups in the municipal government be told they each get one representative and they must sit down and solve this problem with some people from private sector. No payoffs- no backdoor deals- solve this together. In the open. ALL ideas on the table. NOTHING stays as is- not tax structures not unions- nothing. Start from scratch. Sequestered until solved.
Well...it’s just a fantasy!!!
I’m sorry but the works of art at the Institute probably don’t mean much to the Detroit populous that just wants free Obama phones and money from Obama’s stash. The old adage about putting pearls before swine comes to mind. I can hardly imagine there is anyone left in Detroit who would seriously visit these collections let alone anyone foolhardy enough to come to Detroit as a tourist to see these works of art. Sell off the collections at DIA and fund the city’s own bailout. I doubt that there is anyone in Detroit who would miss the art.
That's a bad idea as those in charge of Detroit now will just waste the money. It would be better to lease them out to private citizens or other museums.
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