Detroit Breakdown....

Motor City Shakedown.

Bankruptcy.  The latest in Democrat run cities to file for protection is my beloved Detroit. 60 plus years of ineptocracy via Democrat rule has left the once great city broke, battered and torn. From Mayor Cavanaugh in 1961 to Mayor Dave Bing today the politicians gave away the perks and lived large.

Detroit, meanwhile, stumbled over a period of decades into irreversible insolvency because its elected officials dithered and dissembled and argued, instead of undertaking tough measures to close fiscal gaps. In truth, the city's financial liabilities were created by the very people who should have been resolving them: One administration after another promised wages, job guarantees, and pensions to city workers that were simply unsustainable.

Such is the legacy of the Democrat leadership model.  Charles Krauthammer looks at the bigger picture and makes a comparison to the country at large.

The question is, writ large, is that the story in the United States which dominated the world economically, created all of these programs, entitlements, Social Security, Medicare, and now added on, Obamacare, living on the glories of the past when we were the most dominant without any rivals in the world, and now having to adapt to a reduced economy, are we going to be able to have commensurate cuts? And when you see all of the resistance to everything of that sort by especially Democrats and liberals, it doesn't give it a lot of hope. In the end, you can have a bankruptcy for a city but not for a country.

et tu Obama?  Recall in October of 2012, a scant 9 months ago, president Zero crowed “We refused to throw in the towel and do nothing. We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt. We bet on American workers and American ingenuity, and three years later, that bet is paying off in a big way,”

Our blowhard president was responding to a purported comment by Mitt Romney that a bankruptcy could bring structure to the situation. Today we learned that last minute pleas to the White House went unanswered...the president took Mitt Romney's advice and let Detroit file. 

So what is in the future?  Many see hope.  The bankruptcy will allow the city to shed it's pension commitments and union contracts.  The unions had refused to deal with the city on debt issues. Kind of like when the Twinkie was lost due to union hubris.  Yet the Twinkie is back. So, Detroit has hope....

Good luck Detroit, be the Twinkie.....

UPDATE: [File Under, Ruh Row]  An Ingham County judge says Thursday's historic Detroit bankruptcy filing violates the Michigan Constitution and state law and must be withdrawn.

I smell a rat.......now, I ain't the smartest attorney in the turnip patch, however, when one files a bankruptcy in FEDERAL court, all legal actions involving the bankrupt person or entity are automatically stayed. Once the STATE judge has notice of the filing, she has no authority to rule. The FEDERAL judge can rule on the constitutionality.....  

UPDATE II:  [File Under, Ruh Row II] So now, a state judge says that the pension mess means Detroit can’t file for bankruptcy due to the pensions it can’t pay. Since the city now is under federal jurisdiction, the state judge’s ruling cannot be enforced, but it could carry weight, perhaps with a federal judge who would agree with her ruling. Snyder (the Gubner) is contesting the judge’s decision, and a hearing is set for next week.

See what they are doing? The odor is rising....