70 search results for "Detroit Bankruptcy"

Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy

Are there any other “past practices” that we should be made aware of?

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If there is any doubt whether or not the children are responsible enough to have been handed the keys to Detroit. This piece alone should put ANY doubt to rest.

I’ve commented numerous times in the past regarding how I (or any rational-thinking person for that matter), would not (/should not) buy into the Kool Aid that Gov. Snyder & Co. have been doling out is massive quantities pertaining to the Detroit Bankruptcy and subsequent Michigan State Government forced takeover (and more importantly Michigan Taxpayer paid) “turnaround” of Detroit.

To even suggest that DECADES of ingrained, multi-generational self-destructive personal behavior was going to instantaneously disappear simply because a spreadsheet was balanced (sort of) is just naiveté taken to the Nth degree.

Unemployment is still a major problem within Detroit.

So is the marked lack of a stable family structure.

And let’s not forget the woefully under-reported, long-anticipated collapse of the Detroit Public School System.

A new detail came out yesterday that should make everyone’s BP shoot up through the roof (and give you yet another reason to oppose giving the children running ANY level of Detroit government any more of our hard-earned money).

{More below}

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Fees, Fees, Flint Water Fiasco, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Rent Seeking, Republicans, Taxes

Southeastern Michigan Water Fight

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Last Act of the Detroit Bankruptcy Stumbles Behind a Wall of Secrecy

Water is Money Image 2The final Detroit bankruptcy plan established a 14 June deadline to reach an agreement transferring operating control of the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department’s (DW&SD) assets outside of Detroit to the newly created Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA). The State of Michigan, Detroit, Wayne County, Oakland County and Macomb County all signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) creating the GLWA late last year, subject to a 200-day due diligence period. Under the MoU, the City of Detroit would receive a $ 50 million annual lease payment from the GLWA while retaining full control of DW&SD assets and operations within the city. Erstwhile DW&SD customers outside Detroit were promised a 4% cap on annual water and sewerage increases for a 10 year period, which have been running above 10% per annum, in residential bills, in most Southeastern Michigan communities.

In point of fact, what has actually been occurring are secret negotiations over future tax increases across Southeastern Michigan. Water rates have become a surrogate form of incremental taxation. These negotiations will set tax fee increment rates for decades into the future. For taxpayers ratepayers who haven’t even been born yet. How are these negotiations going?

No one who knows is talking. Why?

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Conservative News, Democrats, Detroit, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy, Republicans, Taxes

A Dead Man Walking: Wayne County

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Your Least Loss is Your First Loss

Bankrupcy WC 2Wayne County Executive Warren Evans told the assembled self very important persons at the Mackinac Policy Conference last Friday that he now believes that his county government can avoid bankruptcy. “He is now comfortable with the options” was the report. Little did he know that, on the very same day, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Lita Popke gave the County 48 hours to pay its retirees $ 49 million dollars to restore their 2010 ’13th check’ retirement benefit. Wayne County told the court flat out that it doesn’t have the money.

The Wayne County Commission voted yesterday to tap most of the last remaining funds in the County’s much abused Delinquent Tax Revolving Fund, however Warren Evan’s subsequent veto threat all but assures that this summer’s county property taxes will increase 1.23 mils to pay this judgement. This property tax increase will not even require a vote of affirmation under the Headlee Amendments to the Michigan Constitution, because it is pursuant to a court order.

’13th checks’ are a devious method of looting pension funds which began in the 1980’s, in Michigan. When some Michigan public pension funds earned more than their targeted rate of return in a year, say 8%, the ‘surplus’ earnings got doled out to retirees in the form of a 13th check.  These 13th checks could amount to far more than the pension fund’s actually surplus.  Retirees never had to give back their prior 13th check payments when the pension funds dialed up a big loss, so the 13th check was an opportunistic form of looting – not an equitable form of risk & gain sharing. This practice has occurred in state pension plans, county pension plans, and city pension plans across Michigan. The particular problem in Wayne County is that Robert Ficano stripped his pension funds of the 13th check payment funds in 2010 to make his books look better. Worst of all, Wayne County’s pension funds are only about 44% funded and their OPEB’s (retiree medical care, etc.) are essentially unfunded.

Wayne County’s accounting is nebulous, to be charitable. A read of their 2014 CAFR (22 MB document, it took a lot of lipstick to make this dead pig look good!) shows that the County is carrying forward an unassigned deficit of $ 82.8 million, and only got it down to this awful level by diverting $ 91.7 million from their dwindling Delinquent Tax Revolving Fund to their General Fund in 2014. Then, depending upon whom in Wayne County government you are talking to, Wayne County is still losing another $ 4 – $ 5 million each month.

This amounts to something over $ 50 million per year.

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Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Elections

Does anyone really think that the children are ready to be handed the keys?

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If anyone can believe it, this has been kind of an important week for Detroit.

Most of us didn’t expect it would come to this point.

Seeing as how they pretty much broke the all rules to get here explains a lot on how that was really accomplished.

But nonetheless, a ceremonial milestone (albeit unofficial one) was passed.

Now for the all important question; Are the children ready to act responsibly and lead?

{More after the fold}

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Michigan Politics

Rand Paul’s Folly – Or Snyder/Paul 2016

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RandThis Is NOT Your Daddy’s ‘Paul’

Some of the ideas are familiar, but limited in ways typically embraced by establishment Republicans.

Rand Paul’s visit to Detroit was precipitated by a conference call being reported by the Detroit News. In it, Senator Paul speaks of enterprise zones, with taxes so low as to “bail yourselves out”. Adding to this an loosened visa incentive for a flow of foreign “entrepreneurs” into the city.

Paul, widely considered a 2016 potential presidential candidate, said he will introduce legislation Monday to create “economic freedom zones” by dramatically lowering taxes in depressed areas and loosen visa rules to encourage foreign entrepreneurs to immigrate to the city.“We hope to create taxes so low you essentially are able to bail yourselves out,” Paul said Thursday in a conference call outlining his plan.


So now instead of “jobs that Americans don’t want to do,” perhaps we will be talking about cities that Americans don’t want to live or work in.

I wonder how that would work?

Maybe something like this?

“Mr Chen, you are welcome to stay, invest, develop, and work in our country. However, you are limited to this particular region. If for some reason you are not satisfied there, I guess you are out of luck.”

Or in other words,

“Welcome to the Hotel Detroit. Love it, or get the hell out of our country..”

Right, somehow I can’t see THAT happening.

Which of course begs the question of what happens to those who emigrate, and decide to move somewhere a little safer than Baghdad of Michigan? When “loosening visa requirements,” it seems that a genie let out is a little hard to stuff back in the lamp. Its hard to imagine ‘restrictive’ movement placed on those who simply seek a better life, and upon finding out that Detroit is no better than the hole they left, it is highly likely that they will indeed “seek” such a place.

And it seems we have heard those words about foreigners feeling welcomed before.

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Michigan

Respect My Authoritah!

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It’s almost becoming sad, almost, not quite but almost, to watch “That woman from Michigan” flounder around like a simpleton throwing strands of spaghetti at a wall trying to make anything stick, I mean like with her demographic pandering COVID Taskforce while not that long ago doing selfies mocking our great President Trump in her pink Black Genocide hat.

But I digress.

What really takes the cake now that Gov. Gretchen “Half” Whitmer has fallen out of VP contention with Joementia Biden stating he would pick Big Mike “in a heartbeat” over our beer-swilling ‘helicopter mom’ schoolmarm that’s become the butt of every joke told in this nation after trashing freedom loving Michiganians wanting their jobs and business owners their Right to Commerce back- is the pleading.

“We have a wonderful tradition in this country of being able to dissent, freedom of speech and being able to demonstrate, but we know that the stay-home orders across the country are working,” Whitmer said during a Monday press conference.

“My request was that at the national level they echo that call to stay home and (Pence) conveyed that that was something that they would do,” Whitmer said.

If that is not the death rattle sound of defeat, nothing is.

OK, exit question

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Democrats, Elections, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Religious Freedom, Republicans, Roads, Taxes

Still going round and round (and not getting anywhere in the process).

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2020 SOTS.

This was more predictable than watching the 2020 DNC Presidential Debates. Just without the part where everyone tries to one-up each other by seeing who can give away the most stuff that doesn’t belong to them.

{Your first Right Michigan breakdown of tonight’s speech below}

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Elections, Liberty, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Republicans, Taxes

Taxupalozza 2020

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Coming when you least expect it!

So, what do you get when you add a ton of special interest groups who feel that they are even more entitled to your money than you are (and their hopes that you’re not paying any attention to them whatsoever)?

You get the makings for a very interesting (series?) of elections in 2020…that’s what!

{More below the fold}

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2018 Michigan Gubernatorial Race, 2018 US Senate Race, All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Government Incompetence, Liberty, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy, Republicans, Taxes

Are they even aware of what they’re selling?

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So in the midst of all of the post-election analysis, we’ve heard the “experts” from other outlets drone on about why the 2018 Election went the way it did.

We’ve heard them tell us that this is the vaunted “Blue Wave” sweeping across America. Despite the rash of ballots “miraculously” showing up in places like Florida (and apparently now here) along with Arizona, democrats still only control the House.

We’ve been told that this is the year of the woman. Yet, I’m waiting to hear why superior candidates like Lang and Epstein didn’t benefit from this?

Finally, the media (or infotainment complex…take your pick), dredges up their favorite rationale for last Tuesday Night’s results: It’s all President Trump’s fault.

If you get past their self-created echo chamber, you might have noticed the marked lack of coverage of the rise in America’s economy that has taken place since the ‘16 election (far higher than any democrat or their sycophants claimed was possible) , unemployment numbers falling ACROSS THE BOARD, and a newfound respect for America around the world since a certain Chicago street hustler was no longer in a position to embarrass our Republic by bowing down to foreign leaders at every opportunity and generally showing no backbone with the same by conceding at every opportunity.

I’m going to bring up a topic that the so-called conservative policy wonks running the multitude of losing campaigns are loath to ask themselves.

{Post continues after the fold}

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You Betcha! (11)Nuh Uh.(2)

Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Republicans, Taxes

Sleight of Hand

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Fast Times At The Detroit Public Schools Community District

Norman Shy, the Detroit Public Schools vendor who stole $ 3 million with the capable assistance of 12 DPS principals and one DPS administrator, has begun paying his court-ordered restitution. The Detroit Free Press reported today that the Detroit Public Schools Community District has received $ 1.5 million from Mr. Shy, out of the total $ 2.7 million in restitution U.S. District Court ordered Mr. Shy to pay in September 2016.

The problem here? Mr. Shy’s scam looted the pre bailout/bankruptcy Detroit Public School District, not the new Detroit Public Schools Community District. The new Detroit Public Schools Community District was created in July 2016, before Mr. Shy’s sentencing but well after his 13 year long scam concluded.

The legacy Detroit Public School District still exists as a ward of the State of Michigan to pay off more than $ 500 million in ‘operating debts’. Debts which, in part, are directly due to Mr. Shy’s scam and dozens of other thieves. Michigan taxpayers at large are paying down those debts of the legacy DPS District, and will be paying until 2025 – if not longer.

Mr. Shy’s restitution payments should be paid to the legacy DPS District, not the new DPSC District. Its not like Michigan taxpayers owe these monies to the new DPSCD. Michigan taxpayers fronted the DPSCD $ 617 million as part of the 2016 bailout/bankruptcy, and the new, ‘debt free’ district is now being financed just as generously as every other school district in Michigan.

$ 1.5 million is real money.  Restitution should be directed to those financially damaged.  In this case, it is the taxpayers of Michigan – not the new Detroit Public Schools Community District – who were looted by Mr. Shy.

Anyone still wonder why Michigan residents are so ill disposed towards Detroit and its very creative government accounting practices?

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