Tag Archive for Detroit Public Schools

Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Part Time Legislature, Rent Seeking, Republicans, Taxes

Whoopie Ti Yi Yo, Git Along Little Dogies

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Cattle Roundup Image 1

Whoopee Ti Yi Yo, Git Along Little Dogies

Some boys goes up the trail for pleasure,
But that’s where you get it most awfully wrong;
For you haven’t any idea the trouble they give us
While we go driving them all along.

Whoopee Ti Yi Yo, Git Along Little Dogies

When the night comes on and we hold them on the bedground,
These little dogies that roll on so slow;
Roll up the herd and cut out the strays,
And roll the little dogies that never rolled before.

Whoopee Ti Yi Yo, Git Along Little Dogies

Traditional 19th Century American Cowboy Cattle Drive Song

Rhodes Image 1aMichigan’s tax-and-spend establishment continues to demonstrate world class tactical flexibility as they pursue their dubious ends. Their latest tour de force is the setup for the impending Detroit Public Schools bailout. Michigan’s legislators are being driven like cattle.

The new state appointed emergency transition manager of the Detroit Public Schools, retired U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Steven W. Rhodes, announced that the district would shut down on April 8th due to a lack of funds. This chilling announcement came a week after Governor Snyder appointed him to replace Darnell Early, who resigned at the end of February. Darnell Early, for some reason, failed to inform Michigan of the April 8th drop dead date. Judge Rhodes made his announcement four weeks in advance of the projected shutdown in a full court press to get a bailout from our State Legislature.

Detroit Public Schools LogoThe first problem here is the State Legislature is scheduled to take two weeks off in the four weeks leading up to April 8th. The last week of March and the first week of April. Judge Rhodes certainly knew this, so the dilatory announcement is unquestionably a deliberate effort to stampede the Michigan Legislature into immediately delivering $ 50 – 70 million to DPS, no questions asked. Two weeks is not a reasonable legislative time frame, rather it is herding legislators like cattle on a two week drive. An echo of the tactics used by Judge Rhodes to ram through the bungled Detroit bankruptcy.

Governor Snyder has been floating an inchoate plan to rescue the Detroit Public Schools since the middle of last year; one which originally envisioned the creation of a ‘bad debt’ shell district and a new, debt free district by cellular division. Wasn’t really well received anywhere, even after he added dissolution of the much hated Education Achievement Authority. As his problems in the Flint water fiasco have mounted, Governor Snyder decided to wash his hands of the DPS situation by throwing $ 700 million at them to extinguish their ‘operating’ debt and return control to the next generation of local thieves elected school board members.

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You Betcha! (14)Nuh Uh.(0)

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

Yet Another Government Triumph in Michigan

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Rewarding Incompetence and Corruption With Your Tax Dollars

Snyder Duggan Orr Image aMayor Mike Duggan startled Michigan yesterday by disclosing that Detroit found the actuarial accrued liability (AAL) in their pension plans to be $ 491 million higher than that calculated in their U.S. Bankruptcy Court Plan of Adjustment. The very expensive Detroit bankruptcy consultants used an outdated version of the IRS Static Mortality Table when calculating Detroit’s future pension payments. Detroit’s unfunded actuarial accrued liability (UAAL) was not the $ 731 million stated in the Plan of Adjustment, rather it was $ 1.222 billion. Big money in a city whose total governmental revenues were $ 1.415 billion in FY 2014. Mayor Duggan blames erstwhile Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr for this little oversight, but others were also responsible.

GLWA Detroit Seal ImageNo word yet from the Great Lakes Water Authority whether all those Detroit Water & Sewerage Department employees they absorbed from the City of Detroit have the same AAL calculation error in their pension funding schedules. You can bet they did, and the suburban geniuses politicians who spent a year doing due diligence also missed it. The DW&SD pension funding schedules were determined by the same very expensive bunglers who wrote the Detroit Plan of Adjustment.

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

Oh, if that were only true.

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Jason beat me to the punch on the whole 2016 SOTS speech tonight.

I don’t like to admit it, but I’ll watch it (recorded earlier in the night) just so that I would have something to talk about later in the week whenever the subject came up.

Unlike Pres. B.O.’s SOTU, in which the best description I’ve heard of it so far was 45-minutes of clinical textbook narcissism on public display, Gov. Snyder’s SOTS speeches are a good indication of what tricks the CPA with the MBA has up his sleeve.

Just like Pres. B.O.’s SOTU’s where he references himself so many times, it practically has become a drinking game, Gov. Snyder also has a similar habit as well; and that is to project his guilty conscience on the rest of Michigan over {fill-in-the-blank} cause which inevitably involves the Michigan Taxpayer picking up the tab to assuage this guilt.

This year there will be no shortage of things for him to find for us to pay for: like the Flint Water crisis apocalypse harbinger of the end times situation justifying 15-minutes of relevancy for community agitators like Jesse Jackson, Michael Moore, Sam Riddle, etc.

Wayne County going bankrupt (Oh, where will the Wayne Co. BoC’s next check come from?).

Or maybe, the sudden widespread malady that is causing so many Detroit Public Schools to close due to “sickouts”.

That last one will be interesting because of all of the media exposure over the past several days.

Peeling paint. Falling tiles. Broken plumbing. Dead rodents.

Remind me again on why the City of Detroit stopped doing its job and inspected these buildings in the first place?

IMG_5859

Yep, some plywood, a padlock and a “No Trespassing” sign. Yessiree, this school building is now secure! Feel free to click on the image to better see the building securement. Never mind the missing sheet of plywood over the upper floor window. No one would EVER think about going through there.

Now, if Detroit had just a little bit of money to address this problem all will be well in the world.

I can pretty much guarantee that will be mentioned by Gov Snyder in some form tonight.

If only that were the truth!

{Unfortunate details below the fold}

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You Betcha! (14)Nuh Uh.(0)

All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy, Rent Seeking, Republicans

Hey, wait a minute…why are we doing this again?!?

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If you are gullible enough to buy into Gov. Snyder’s, along with the Michigan GOP’s (working behind the scenes, of course), hype surrounding the “saving” of Detroit through a massive Michigan Taxpayer bailout via the “Grand Bargain“, a little more than a year later you would think things were humming along wonderfully and everything in The D was just swell.

Well, let me be among the first to smash those rose-colored glasses they have been distributing to the masses, knock that cup of Kool Aid in your hands to the ground and show everyone why it all is about to come crashing down…hard…again.

{Continued after the fold}

*** Quick Note: I’ve received a few messages asking me why I referred to EX-Detroit Federation of Teachers President as being “recently reinstated“.

There is an upcoming “hearing” with the American Federation of Teachers next week to consider the matter of his reinstatement. I’ve been told that hearing is nothing really more than a formality at this point, but that he is not currently officially back in his old position.

It should also be noted that the size, scope and frequency of these “sickouts” are next to impossible to orchestrate and coordinate without significant union involvement. So take Steve Conn’s “official” status with the DFT for what you will.***

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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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You Betcha! (7)Nuh Uh.(1)

Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Elections

You have it. We want it. And thanks to the power of government, we’re just going to take it from you anyway.

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“Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce.” – Ayn Rand, “Atlas Shrugged”

 

{Continued below the fold}

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