US Cities That Could Face Bankruptcy In 2011

[Vic Vega]

They're not in states heavily subsidized by the Feds?

Must be why none of the metro areas in Texas are listed?

 

[dmcowen674]

I honestly think that this concept of retiring and living out the golden years is gone for a long time.

I'm 28 and I have no illusions about retiring.

I'm saving just in case, but I expect to be working at 70.

You've been lucky.

Once you hit 45 your tune will change.

 

[Pulsar]

Republicans you said? From the same story of yahoo news = http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Alaba...on-nytimes-93215960.html?x=0#mwpphu-container



Yup, Republicans did ALL that...way back from 1970's, put the guns into people heads and made them midle classers move to the surbs against their will . Population went down 40%...less people = less taxes = less money for pension.

For those that really want to know more about the story. Sort the comments section below the article by "Highest Rated" and read the comment from Ep and others below him. Look like Prichard is another Detroit in the South.

I must have missed where Detroit stopped sending pension checks. Idiot.

Detroit made the hard changes. They took stock of their budget and made the cuts required. Yet people like the poster way above this claim they're screwed because they did it. I guess he'd rather close his eyes until the penultimate moment when there isn't a dollar to spare, ala Pritchard, San Diego, and others. It's stupidity exactly like this that got us where we are. The politicians know they're screwed if they make the cuts and balance the budgets because of a bunch of whining entitlement crybabies that will put up a rallying cry and make sure they aren't re-elected. So they don't. Thank god we've got a businessman in charge who came in not really caring about the money and power he gathers, but more about the city.

Detroit is going in the right direction, even if folks do want to whine about it.

You can liken it to Ford Motor Company. The made HUGE cuts over the last three years, and of course the media played the crying card over every single one. Interviewing the workers all saying it was unfair, whining about lower pay rates, etc. Yet now they're a shining star because they ignored all the idiots and did what needed to be done.

 

[dmcowen674]

Detroit is going in the right direction, even if folks do want to whine about it.

You can liken it to Ford Motor Company. The made HUGE cuts over the last three years, and of course the media played the crying card over every single one. Interviewing the workers all saying it was unfair, whining about lower pay rates, etc.

Yet now they're a shining star because they ignored all the idiots and did what needed to be done.

I said from the beginning ten years ago that we had to lower ourselves to China's wages to compete.

Are you working for 25 cents an hour and not whining about it?

 

[Svnla]

I must have missed where Detroit stopped sending pension checks. Idiot.....<snip>.

Ahhh, name calling, first rule of P&N.

Let see, the similarities between Pritchard and Detroit.

Both cities used to be nice places to live with booming population in the 50's...blah blah blah...fast forward to the present...whites flight, businesses and tax paying citizens moved to the surbs..... population shrunk = less people = less taxes = less revenue....and the cities are broke.

Take a look at the stats for the cities for yourself.

Pritchard = http://www.city-data.com/city/Prichard-Alabama.html
Detroit = http://www.city-data.com/city/Detroit-Michigan.html


From Wiki:

The city <Detroit> population dropped from its peak in 1950 with a population of 1,849,568 to 910,920 in 2009

In 1960, Prichard recorded a population of 47,371. In 1970, the population had decreased to 41,000 and by 1990 it had decreased to approximately 34,000.... <and down to 27.5K in 2009>.

See the pattern that was going on for years? That is WHY I say what I said in my previous post to debunk the poster that tried to blame everything on Republicans (full disclosure, I am neither Dem or Rep). Not about Detroit not paying its pensioners.

 

[Fingolfin269]

You've been lucky.

Once you hit 45 your tune will change.

When he's 45 his tune probably will change. He'll realize he actually needs to work until he's 80.

 

[Engineer]

Lazy pieces of shit. Official federal retirement age is 65. That one bastard is only 58 and he's retired. 59? 61? Are these people just profoundly retarded or something? Hey look at how smart I am; I'm going to retire early even though I haven't saved a fucking penny my whole life! W00t I R SO SMRT.

There are very few valid reasons to stop working. 1 - you are physically not capable of working due to illness/cancer/other. 2 - you saved a lot of money and can afford to retire. These people definitely do not fit criterion 2 and I doubt they fit 1 either.

They are lazy because they had enough money WITH their pensions to retire and because they are getting fucked out of them, they are now in trouble? Those pensions, whether high, low or in the middle, were promised and as such, they should be paid (or should have been turned over to the government (Federal) pension guarantee system to pay them). You have no basis to call these people lazy based on whether they retired at an early age or not. Just another snot nosed, smart ass kid on the internet that doesn't know how to buy a clue.

 

[pcgeek11]

They're filled with lazy, spoiled, liberal Americans?

Concur. 100%

 

[Wordplay]

I didn't know the capital was so bad off.

 

[boomerang]

Some copying and pasting from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_Detroit

Note that not all have pictures. Seven mayors in total from 1962 on and all have a common denominator. All are Democrats.

Jerome CavanaghJanuary 2, 1962 – January 5, 1970Democratic

Roman GribbsJanuary 6, 1970 – January 1, 1974Democratic[5]


Coleman YoungJanuary 1, 1974 – January 3, 1994Democratic[5]

Dennis ArcherJanuary 3, 1994 – December 31, 2001Democratic[100]

Kwame KilpatrickJanuary 1, 2002 – September 18, 2008Democratic[102

Kenneth Cockrel, Jr.September 18, 2008 – May 11, 2009Democratic.[105

Dave BingMay 11, 2009 – presentDemocratic[105]

So what is to be gleaned from this regarding the City of Detroit?

For the slow and mentally troubled among us who blame the Republicans, my only advice would be to get help or up your meds.

Democrats have ruled the City of Detroit for nearly 50 years. Their policies are the greatest contributors to the decline of what was once a prosperous and safe city in which to live.

50 years and some choose to blame it on others? You'd be wise to accept the blame, learn from it and move on. You'd have to be wise though.

 

[Engineer]

I know. There all in the country that sent its jobs to China.

What do I win?

Sadly, you are more right than you know. Watch for more and more "old industrial" sections of the country to follow suit.

 

[Chaotic42]

You've been lucky.

Once you hit 45 your tune will change.

I expect it will be work or starve.

 

[MovingTarget]

I expect it will be work or starve.

If so, then things are looking increasingly bleak for our generation. With traditional pensions going the way of the dodo, retirement as an institution becomes that much more elusive. If a dynamic of "work or starve" becomes the norm amongst old age again, then I suspect that the outrage will produce the required reforms. Nobody will want a return to the literal 'poor house' that used to be commonplace prior to SS, even if taxes go dramatically up.

 

[Chaotic42]

If so, then things are looking increasingly bleak for our generation. With traditional pensions going the way of the dodo, retirement as an institution becomes that much more elusive. If a dynamic of "work or starve" becomes the norm amongst old age again, then I suspect that the outrage will produce the required reforms. Nobody will want a return to the literal 'poor house' that used to be commonplace prior to SS, even if taxes go dramatically up.

It's not sustainable. Social Security only works if the population keeps expanding and there is work for that population to do. I just can't imagine the 50s-90s happening again. Maybe I'm pessimistic. We just seem destined for a sluggish economy and stagnation. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[Slew Foot]

They are lazy because they had enough money WITH their pensions to retire and because they are getting fucked out of them, they are now in trouble? Those pensions, whether high, low or in the middle, were promised and as such, they should be paid (or should have been turned over to the government (Federal) pension guarantee system to pay them). You have no basis to call these people lazy based on whether they retired at an early age or not. Just another snot nosed, smart ass kid on the internet that doesn't know how to buy a clue.

Because the federal government has loads of money to spend paying off everyones pensions.

 

[Engineer]

Because the federal government has loads of money to spend paying off everyones pensions.

There is a guarantee division of the government for that but like the pensions themselves, it was (is) underfunded. Regardless, as far as I'm concerned, the cities should cut services to the bone and fulfill their promises of the pensions. People here bitch and moan about people and self responsibility for their actions....the same goes for governments and companies. If you say it, you should damn well back it up with actions instead of just bullshit.

Click me...

 

[Darwin333]

Mexicans do it all the time. Get on a 2 story house with a steep roof and no guard rail or harness of any kind. A little trip could mean rolling off the roof and ending up in the hospital, but they still do it for less than minimum wage.

Detroit's unemployment rate is like 20% or something, but I think you could bring that down to 10% if there were mass executions. Every person caught breaking certain laws (ie stealing, robbery, selling drugs) would be executed immediately after being found guilty.

And you could bring it down to 0% if you executed every married couple that violates the sodomy and "crimes against nature" laws (if they have them) or any number of other laws on the books that don't really hurt anyone other than those who choose to participate.

 

[Pulsar]

Some copying and pasting from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_Detroit

Note that not all have pictures. Seven mayors in total from 1962 on and all have a common denominator. All are Democrats.

Jerome CavanaghJanuary 2, 1962 – January 5, 1970Democratic

Roman GribbsJanuary 6, 1970 – January 1, 1974Democratic[5]


Coleman YoungJanuary 1, 1974 – January 3, 1994Democratic[5]

Dennis ArcherJanuary 3, 1994 – December 31, 2001Democratic[100]

Kwame KilpatrickJanuary 1, 2002 – September 18, 2008Democratic[102

Kenneth Cockrel, Jr.September 18, 2008 – May 11, 2009Democratic.[105

Dave BingMay 11, 2009 – presentDemocratic[105]

So what is to be gleaned from this regarding the City of Detroit?

For the slow and mentally troubled among us who blame the Republicans, my only advice would be to get help or up your meds.

Democrats have ruled the City of Detroit for nearly 50 years. Their policies are the greatest contributors to the decline of what was once a prosperous and safe city in which to live.

50 years and some choose to blame it on others? You'd be wise to accept the blame, learn from it and move on. You'd have to be wise though.

I dislike most Democrat / Liberal policies generally speaking, and tend to lean slightly right. However, your over-generalizations regarding what Democrats have done to Detroit is very wrong. I don't care who the mayors were, R or D, NO ONE could have successfully dealt with the unemployment and decay caused by losing the vast majority of your jobs-producing systems. I.e., the manufacturing sector and the big 3. That had nothing to do with Democrats and everything to do with global competition.

Now, had they cut harder, earlier, and spent less faster, we wouldn't be quite where we are now, but I have no doubt we'd still be in a similar situation.

 

[boomerang]

I dislike most Democrat / Liberal policies generally speaking, and tend to lean slightly right. However, your over-generalizations regarding what Democrats have done to Detroit is very wrong. I don't care who the mayors were, R or D, NO ONE could have successfully dealt with the unemployment and decay caused by losing the vast majority of your jobs-producing systems. I.e., the manufacturing sector and the big 3. That had nothing to do with Democrats and everything to do with global competition.

Now, had they cut harder, earlier, and spent less faster, we wouldn't be quite where we are now, but I have no doubt we'd still be in a similar situation.

You talk like the downfall occured in the last 5 or 10 years. My family moved out of the city in 1963 because the handwriting was on the wall. Detroit has got it's fourth generation of people living in it that think "work" means having babies and getting a welfare check.

I'm sure all these Democratic mayors (whether dead, alive or in prison) do appreciate you coming to their defense though.

http://www.friendsofkwame.com/index.asp

 

[IBMer]

You talk like the downfall occured in the last 5 or 10 years. My family moved out of the city in 1963 because the handwriting was on the wall. Detroit has got it's fourth generation of people living in it that think "work" means having babies and getting a welfare check.

I'm sure all these Democratic mayors (whether dead, alive or in prison) do appreciate you coming to their defense though.

Maybe they should have just executed all the welfare recipients like the republicans would have?

 

[Zargon]

All detroit needs to do is execute criminals and break down all city employee unions. This would then slash the wage for cops/fire/garbage to minimum wage and the city would actually be able to pay bills for once

true.

but....anyone willing ot be a cop in detroit should get atleast 6 figures.....:ninja:

 

[TXHokie]

Most city's are going to run up against this in the coming years, yet none seem willing to even admit it's a problem. I think this is going to be the next "bubble" to burst.

The city next to mine has a 2-1 match up to 7% for their retirement plan. That's some crazy match.

 

[Red Dawn]

Mexicans do it all the time.

So the idea is to get undocumented Mexicans to police Detriot. Brilliiant!!!!

 

[ShawnD1]

So the idea is to get undocumented Mexicans to police Detriot. Brilliiant!!!!

Illegal immigrants generally do a good job. Right now Detroit police are doing a shit job. It's worth trying at least once.
It would also help to give them vague instruction of how to manage criminals. They would magically disappear

 

[Red Dawn]

Illegal immigrants generally do a good job. Right now Detroit police are doing a shit job. It's worth trying at least once.
It would also help to give them vague instruction of how to manage criminals. They would magically disappear

Put down the Eggnog:biggrin: