It's About Liberty: A Conservative Forum
Topics => Economy => Topic started by: Predator Don on July 18, 2013, 07:05:37 PM
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Wow, here is a surprise.....(sarc)
http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130718/US-Detroit-Bankruptcy/ (http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130718/US-Detroit-Bankruptcy/)
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When can we expect the Federal bailouts? You know, so the rest of the country can pick up the tab for the asinine policies that come from decades of uninterrupted rule by Democrats?
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Wow, here is a surprise.....(sarc)
http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130718/US-Detroit-Bankruptcy/ (http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130718/US-Detroit-Bankruptcy/)
Soon to be followed by several states, starting with California.
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So there is going to be no bailout? I couldn't be more surprised or more pleased. If it turns out to be true. Time will tell.
It does seem unlikely that the Democrats will not push a bailout through with a midterm coming up in a little over a year.
I mean...these are the people who bailed out GM/Chrysler. And it's not like it's their money, after all. I just don't see the downside for them. They could say that they are doing it for the children. That seems to work for everything else.
It sure doesn't look like they are going to be able to prosecute Zimmerman for civil rights violations or anything else so letting Detroit (and, more importantly, the public union pensions) go down the toilet is just throwing more fuel on the fire that is a pissed off lefty base.
I just can't figure it out. Doesn't make a bit of sense to me. There must be a Democrat "strategy" here but I don't see it.
Nevertheless, I do sincerely hope that Detroit is allowed to go bankrupt. It will be nice to see the fallout.
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...I do sincerely hope that Detroit is allowed to go bankrupt. It will be nice to see the fallout.
Yes.
It would be a handy lesson to have in mind as the rest come down too.
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I say just cede it to Canada. Or might that be considered an act of war?
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Detroit goes bankrupt -- union members hardest hit. And rightly so. If Detroit can lead the way, via bankruptcy, to get rid of all the sweetheart pension obligations and the very expensive current work contracts, it can set a righteous trend.
But I expect Owebama to demand a bailout for Detroit because . . . RACIST! The eGOPs will be afraid of losing in 2014 so they'll vote for it, as not only the fiscally conservative thing to so, but the moral thing to do as well. More legislation without representation.
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From 2009.
Detroit in RUINS! (Crowder goes Ghetto) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hhJ_49leBw#ws)
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(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p98/IronDioPriest/image_zps6b845d4e.jpg)
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(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p98/IronDioPriest/image_zps6b845d4e.jpg)
I think it's spelled C H I C A G O
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If they attempt to bail them out we should get as many taxpayers as possible to join a class action suit challenging it...no way can they print money or digitize enough wealth to avoid not raising our taxes and eroding our monetary base...
Screw 'em.
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Listening to the radio today, talking on the bankruptcy..... 58 minutes for police to respond. 9% of crimes solved.( or 91% unsolved, I can't decide which sounds worse) 40% of streetlights do not work. Half the ambulances broken down. No money to demolish all the uninhabited buildings. Highest per capita income before dem control. It was a long list.
Dem rule since 1961. Republicans didn't lose California until the mid 1980's, so maybe they can cripple along for a few more years, but I think the new amnesty plan will doom them sooner than later.
I can't imagine the unions not getting some sort of deal and any bondholders will get screwed again.
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Oh this just keeps on getting better. A Michigan judge has quashed Detroit's bankruptcy and said it would be unconstitutional, and that it's "also not honoring the president".
This judge seems to be asserting that any pension plan by the state or political sub-entity is a taxpayer obligation, in other words that the irresponsible voters of Detroit have the right to lay a claim on the rest of Michigan's taxpayers and put them on the hook for pension agreements they had no say in, negotiated by a city they were not citizens of.
The civil war that's coming is going to blow up on any number of different flashpoints. I can think of at least a dozen issues that could spark one all by their lonesome, let alone in combination.
http://minx.cc/?post=341790 (http://minx.cc/?post=341790)
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Not "honoring the president"? You GOT to be sh*ttin' me. I have no idea where I live. None.
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...I have no idea where I live. None.
That's the short-term goal.
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Don - I must have been listening to the same guy today. Yes, Detroit was quite healthy up 'til 1960. It had one of the highest per capita incomes in the country. Then they elected Coleman Young and the slide began. Actually, maybe I should have said "looting".
Glock - That county judge was told he had no role to play in a federal issue. We'll see.
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sooooooooooo if you stop the bankruptcy proceeding Detroit will be able to keep making pay
outs offs???
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Not "honoring the president"? You GOT to be sh*ttin' me. I have no idea where I live. None.
Oh yeah, and she's going to "make sure he gets a copy" of her ruling too, because she "knows he's watching this". Ace has it right in his commentary at that link. They have this childlike concept of Obama, like he's Santa Claus and can just make things happen with pure f**kin' magic.
(http://ace.mu.nu/archives/judgebilde.jpg)
Looks to me like another Wise Latina angling for a Federal judgeship appointment.
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Keeping it on artificial respiration and running up the tab is an appropriate way to honor the pResident ;)
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I also heard some jibbering idiots on a political news show trying to lay the blame for Detroit's woes at the feet of the New South. Why, it's all those damned Southern states paying lower wages and drawing capital and industry away from Detroit.
It never ceases to amaze me just how fixed the Liberal's mind is, for all their ostentatious puffery about being forward thinking and dynamic. If American industry was in the Rust Belt, then it must always be in the Rust Belt. If the climate is this way during the tiny window of time that we've recorded it, then it must always be that way. This is why all their social and political prescriptions are guaranteed to be tyrannical. They go against the dynamism of the human condition, and so they employ coercive tactics to keep things static.
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It never ceases to amaze me just how fixed the Liberal's mind is, for all their ostentatious puffery about being forward thinking and dynamic.
1) Thinking is hard;
2) The group herd mentality is a warm cocoon;
3) Being 'cool' with the 'cool' crowd by buying into the latest scientific consensus BS;
4) Hating personal responsibility;
5) Intellectual laziness;
6) Mommy/Daddy issues;
7) A generation of kids growing up who think work is beneath them, the poor hothouse wallflowers;
8) History began when they were born.
We have a highly technical society with all the latest technological gadgets, but nobody can tell you how they actually work (I push this button, see?). Forget asking any of them to explain what exactly the internet is, other than an app on an iPhone.
We have a Nation of children who are growing up in a politically correct, forget survival instinct, society; just the idea of such a thought crime scares the bejeesus out of them. It's the 'sweet spot' of social engineering, creating the perfect sheep ripe for the shearing instead of free and independent thinkers with distrust of government and it powers.
Have you ever noticed how on sites like KOS or DU, the comments run one or two short sentences, at most? The 140 character tweet society of intellectual nihilism. Is it any wonder that complex ideas expressed in things like The Federalist Papers are beyond the ken of students to understand? Too many words, dude.
Teaching today's lib'rul to think for themselves is more difficult than teaching a pig to whistle. And without the added benefits of bacon.
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It never ceases to amaze me just how fixed the Liberal's mind is, for all their ostentatious puffery about being forward thinking and dynamic.
1) Thinking is hard;
2) The group herd mentality is a warm cocoon;
3) Being 'cool' with the 'cool' crowd by buying into the latest scientific consensus BS;
4) Hating personal responsibility;
5) Intellectual laziness;
6) Mommy/Daddy issues;
7) A generation of kids growing up who think work is beneath them, the poor hothouse wallflowers;
8) History began when they were born.
We have a highly technical society with all the latest technological gadgets, but nobody can tell you how they actually work (I push this button, see?). Forget asking any of them to explain what exactly the internet is, other than an app on an iPhone.
We have a Nation of children who are growing up in a politically correct, forget survival instinct, society; just the idea of such a thought crime scares the bejeesus out of them. It's the 'sweet spot' of social engineering, creating the perfect sheep ripe for the shearing instead of free and independent thinkers with distrust of government and it powers.
Have you ever noticed how on sites like KOS or DU, the comments run one or two short sentences, at most? The 140 character tweet society of intellectual nihilism. Is it any wonder that complex ideas expressed in things like The Federalist Papers are beyond the ken of students to understand? Too many words, dude.
Teaching today's lib'rul to think for themselves is more difficult than teaching a pig to whistle. And without the added benefits of bacon.
(http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4832492131320257&pid=1.7&w=250&h=177&c=7&rs=1&url=http%3a%2f%2fapp.cheezburger.com%2fView%2f5354535168)
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(http://americandigest.org/hiroshima-detroit.jpg)
H/T American Digest
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http://www.nbcnews.com/business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-detroit-enough-was-enough-6C10699397#business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-center-detroit-bankruptcy-6C10699397?ocid=msnhp&pos=1 (http://www.nbcnews.com/business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-detroit-enough-was-enough-6C10699397#business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-center-detroit-bankruptcy-6C10699397?ocid=msnhp&pos=1)
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http://www.nbcnews.com/business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-detroit-enough-was-enough-6C10699397#business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-center-detroit-bankruptcy-6C10699397?ocid=msnhp&pos=1 (http://www.nbcnews.com/business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-detroit-enough-was-enough-6C10699397#business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-center-detroit-bankruptcy-6C10699397?ocid=msnhp&pos=1)
Well......When a city is so far in the gutter that restoring basic services would be considered a huge victory....
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http://www.nbcnews.com/business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-detroit-enough-was-enough-6C10699397#business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-center-detroit-bankruptcy-6C10699397?ocid=msnhp&pos=1 (http://www.nbcnews.com/business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-detroit-enough-was-enough-6C10699397#business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-center-detroit-bankruptcy-6C10699397?ocid=msnhp&pos=1)
Well......When a city is so far in the gutter that restoring basic services would be considered a huge victory....
Going to be just like before. Did you hear him say, many weren't paying the water bill. WHo's going to pay for that basic water and sewage? You, me Mich taxpayer, that's who. Section 8 housing still funded by fed govt programs. Food stamps.
If a meteor smashed it all, that would be a favor killing the remaining residence that cannot afford to be alive in that city. Must have been great never wanting to prosecute crime until finally, the tax base couldn't handle inaction any longer so they did what was in their best interest, survival, they left as fast as they could. If the current crop of losers still remain while your figuring it all out, you still have the problem of morons voting for the irresponsible DemonRat party that refused to place law and order at the top of the list. Corruption wasn't just something that was an anomaly, it was the way of life for the politicians that ran the city. Like Chicago, pay to play was the rule of thumb but Detroit didn't have the commodities markets to keep them afloat. Should be interesting to see what becomes of it.
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http://www.nbcnews.com/business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-detroit-enough-was-enough-6C10699397#business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-center-detroit-bankruptcy-6C10699397?ocid=msnhp&pos=1 (http://www.nbcnews.com/business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-detroit-enough-was-enough-6C10699397#business/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-center-detroit-bankruptcy-6C10699397?ocid=msnhp&pos=1)
Well......When a city is so far in the gutter that restoring basic services would be considered a huge victory....
Going to be just like before. Did you hear him say, many weren't paying the water bill. WHo's going to pay for that basic water and sewage? You, me Mich taxpayer, that's who. Section 8 housing still funded by fed govt programs. Food stamps.
If a meteor smashed it all, that would be a favor killing the remaining residence that cannot afford to be alive in that city. Must have been great never wanting to prosecute crime until finally, the tax base couldn't handle inaction any longer so they did what was in their best interest, survival, they left as fast as they could. If the current crop of losers still remain while your figuring it all out, you still have the problem of morons voting for the irresponsible DemonRat party that refused to place law and order at the top of the list. Corruption wasn't just something that was an anomaly, it was the way of life for the politicians that ran the city. Like Chicago, pay to play was the rule of thumb but Detroit didn't have the commodities markets to keep them afloat. Should be interesting to see what becomes of it.
All things being equal...the best case scenario is for repeating the cycle. Better to end it not mend it.
ETA - Nice list here...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-21/25-facts-about-fall-detroit-will-leave-you-shaking-your-head (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-21/25-facts-about-fall-detroit-will-leave-you-shaking-your-head)
I'm glad a poster added #26 - If Obama had a city, it would look like Detroit.
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http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/ (http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/)
“We’ve got to eat. We want to. We want money. We want to get fresh, we want fresh J’s almost every day. We want all that,” another young man said.
But where do they get the money they need? The young man answered bluntly.
“Rob, steal and kill. That’s the only way. We didn’t grow up in Beverly Hills. We don’t get it handed to us,” he said.
Surprise, dipsh!t. I wasn't born into a wealthy family, either, but worked my ass of to achieve something.
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http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/ (http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/)
“We’ve got to eat. We want to. We want money. We want to get fresh, we want fresh J’s almost every day. We want all that,” another young man said.
But where do they get the money they need? The young man answered bluntly.
“Rob, steal and kill. That’s the only way. We didn’t grow up in Beverly Hills. We don’t get it handed to us,” he said.
Surprise, dipsh!t. I wasn't born into a wealthy family, either, but worked my ass of to achieve something.
Yeah, not all whitey's are equal...and does this banger not have people in his gang taking free shyt from us via Obama et al? His theft is being supplemented by state-sponsored theft...
They all should be shot on sight.
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I have got to get around to reading "Atlas Shrugged." Had never heard of Starnesville until now. (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100227375/obamanomics-is-turning-america-into-detroit-ayn-rands-starnesville-come-to-life/#disqus_thread)
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Forgot the name of the town, but yeah, I recal that passage. IIRC isn't the fictional Starnesville in WI? Either way, apt description of how Leftist Looters can ravage an area like mindless locusts...
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http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/ (http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/)
“We’ve got to eat. We want to. We want money. We want to get fresh, we want fresh J’s almost every day. We want all that,” another young man said.
But where do they get the money they need? The young man answered bluntly.
“Rob, steal and kill. That’s the only way. We didn’t grow up in Beverly Hills. We don’t get it handed to us,” he said.
Surprise, dipsh!t. I wasn't born into a wealthy family, either, but worked my ass of to achieve something.
Lots of shyte in the current and coming scenarios. This is the current free-shyte army. Tomorrow's free-shyte army will be coming directly for OUR shyte.
So, of two possibles, which is more likely:
1. The free-shyte stops coming and the cities are temporarily inundated because where else? The gummint's there, the "services" used to be there, there might be food there, and help.
2. The cities are immediately abandoned and the countryside is inundated by locusts?
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I think they'll devastate the cities before moving out, and in the process many of the locusts will be killed...the stronger and more virulent locusts will prey upon the countryside...and get further whitled down by rural folk who ain't having any of it...
My Federally devalued 2 cents...FWIW.
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http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/ (http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/)
“We’ve got to eat. We want to. We want money. We want to get fresh, we want fresh J’s almost every day. We want all that,” another young man said.
But where do they get the money they need? The young man answered bluntly.
“Rob, steal and kill. That’s the only way. We didn’t grow up in Beverly Hills. We don’t get it handed to us,” he said.
Surprise, dipsh!t. I wasn't born into a wealthy family, either, but worked my ass of to achieve something.
See Alan, you screwed up. You too could have done the same thing and used the same identical excuse. Oh sh*t, hold that thought, you aren't white are you cause if you are, it won't fly as in you go right to f**king jail. If yous be a brotha, well, you are hereby given dat licenz to kilz, robbin and steelz whatz you be aneed'in.
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http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/ (http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/)
“We’ve got to eat. We want to. We want money. We want to get fresh, we want fresh J’s almost every day. We want all that,” another young man said.
But where do they get the money they need? The young man answered bluntly.
“Rob, steal and kill. That’s the only way. We didn’t grow up in Beverly Hills. We don’t get it handed to us,” he said.
Surprise, dipsh!t. I wasn't born into a wealthy family, either, but worked my ass of to achieve something.
Lots of shyte in the current and coming scenarios. This is the current free-shyte army. Tomorrow's free-shyte army will be coming directly for OUR shyte.
So, of two possibles, which is more likely:
1. The free-shyte stops coming and the cities are temporarily inundated because where else? The gummint's there, the "services" used to be there, there might be food there, and help.
2. The cities are immediately abandoned and the countryside is inundated by locusts?
Should be fun listening to the reports of progressive liberals being helplessly butchered by the freeshyt gang. Nobody should think they didn't have it coming to them. ::rockets::
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http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/ (http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/killing-is-the-solution-gang-member-tells-walter-jacobson/)
“We’ve got to eat. We want to. We want money. We want to get fresh, we want fresh J’s almost every day. We want all that,” another young man said.
But where do they get the money they need? The young man answered bluntly.
“Rob, steal and kill. That’s the only way. We didn’t grow up in Beverly Hills. We don’t get it handed to us,” he said.
Surprise, dipsh!t. I wasn't born into a wealthy family, either, but worked my ass of to achieve something.
Lots of shyte in the current and coming scenarios. This is the current free-shyte army. Tomorrow's free-shyte army will be coming directly for OUR shyte.
So, of two possibles, which is more likely:
1. The free-shyte stops coming and the cities are temporarily inundated because where else? The gummint's there, the "services" used to be there, there might be food there, and help.
2. The cities are immediately abandoned and the countryside is inundated by locusts?
During the Civil War the south saw the collapse of the Particular Institution. Whether it was the Emancipation Proclamation and the advance of yankee intervention, slaves seizing the opportunity and running away, or just the lack of whites to keep the slaves corralled, long before the end of the war the slaves fled in droves. And found themselves at the tents of the union army.
The north hadn't fully thought through just what they would do with all the newly freed blacks, which were referred to as "contraband", and scrambled to assemble what were in essence refuge camps. They fed them and clothed them and put them to work. In some cases they provided what amounted to employment services - setting them up with jobs.
The blacks were free to come and go as they pleased but really had few choices and stayed - for a time. Eventually many returned to the only "homes" they ever knew, some found new homes, and some migrated north in the hopes of jobs.
Right now in Detroit they have a golden opportunity. They have a massive mess to clean up. they have a ready-made workforce. They could have an incentive - if any of them have the brass to do it. Just organize relief camps. Set up staff to help assign work details. And turn off the welfare. Tell them that there is no such thing as free lunch, that there are no strings, but if they want to eat they will need to work for it.
They are welcome to stay or go, but staying means contributing.
And tell the neighboring communities no new applications for welfare from recent arrivals - instead point them in the direction of the Detroit relief camps - or create a camp of their own!
This could really catch on!
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So, of two possibles, which is more likely:
1. The free-shyte stops coming and the cities are temporarily inundated because where else? The gummint's there, the "services" used to be there, there might be food there, and help.
2. The cities are immediately abandoned and the countryside is inundated by locusts?
Where do riots happen? They never get on the train to go uptown to riot do they? No they will burn their own houses and kill each other first, and only when the pickings are thin will they bother with raiding parties. But when they do come, it will be organized, as one gang will control the area, and a competent leader (of thugs) will inevitably arise. That is when the rich white liberals finally get theirs in their walled communities of McMansions, rent-a-cops, and security systems. Because if you are going to have to drive to get to the target, you aren't driving to a declining lower/middle class suburb full of armed and pissed off working people. No they will target the flash and bling, and you know rich white liberals- its all flash and bling and blind faith in the magical unicorn power of the the police to protect.
And after the chalk lines are drawn and there are no rich people to deliver services to, and the highways are being blockaded by thugs looking to stop fuel and food, the trucks and fuel will stop coming, then and only then will they move further out. The Free Shyte army was bred for stupidity and laziness. The will never walk farther or put more effort in than they have to. If they see a big stone house, a 8 foor wall wall, barred windows and security system, they will probably see enough loot to make it worth the effort. But a modest house with an older car, cracked driveway and peeling paint and a thorny hedge will be enough to deter them.
I told my few conservative friends in the city - its time to get out. You don't want to be anywhere considered Urban in the next 2 years. If there is a civil war, these City-States become easy, unhardened targets full of enemy forces - as patriots work to create accidents that cut off water, electricity, and fuel. Given some of the "accidents" we have seen lately I have to wonder if it hasn't already started - each one demonstrating more than the last how little the government can or will do to "help." If no civil war occurs, then we watch as every major city in the US turns into Detroit in the next 5-10 years. Even when they get their free Shyte, they still rip things down, and Obama is doing his best to embolden them. Not a tear will I shed over a single drop of liberal blood. They did indeed bring it upon themselves. Reap what you have sown, tyrants.
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Wait until they get their wish and usher in genuine capital-C communism. The Soviets had a motto: He who does not work does not eat.
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Wait until they get their wish and usher in genuine capital-C communism. The Soviets had a motto: He who does not work does not eat.
Holy sh*t. The commies went Biblical by the backdoor! Heh.
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The Soviets were commies, but the underlying Russian culture is big on machismo and such. There was no touchy-feely sentimentality in the manner of their useful idiot apologists in the West. The effete urban leftists we have in the West are exactly who the real commies identify as decadent and bourgeois, i.e. the first ones to be eliminated once their usefulness has expired. Yuri Bezmenov mentions this in detail in his interview. He was instructed by his KGB superiors "never bother with leftists" because they considered them overly idealistic liabilities. He said 75% of the leftists he worked with on his assignments in India were already marked for elimination if the country went full communist.
As I like to put it, it's an incredibly rapid transformation from Useful Idiot to Useless Eater.
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During the Civil War the south saw the collapse of the Particular Institution.
Yeah, I know...I'm being a dick here...but it was the "peculiar institution" that was used by southern slave holders to describe slavery.
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Also known as "the greatest mistake in American history".
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The recent bankruptcy filing in Detroit is raising red flags about other major U.S. cities also dealing with billions in under-funded retiree benefits, prompting the question -- who might be next?
Just last week, Chicago’s credit rating was downgraded as a result of its $19 billion in under-funded pension liabilities.
Moody's Investors Service called the liabilities “very large and growing" and warned that Chicago, the country’s third-largest city, faces a “tremendous strain’’ in trying to meet future funding requirements and public safety demands.
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Other cities now on the radar include Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Portland, Ore., and Santa Fe, N.M. -- following Moody’s saying in April that they and 11 other municipalities were being reviewed for a possible credit downgrade, the result of a new analysis system that further considers pension liabilities.
LINK (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/22/detroit-bankruptcy-raises-concerns-about-other-us-cites-under-huge-retiree-debt/)
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Right now in Detroit they have a golden opportunity. They have a massive mess to clean up. they have a ready-made workforce. They could have an incentive - if any of them have the brass to do it. Just organize relief camps. Set up staff to help assign work details. And turn off the welfare. Tell them that there is no such thing as free lunch, that there are no strings, but if they want to eat they will need to work for it.
They are welcome to stay or go, but staying means contributing.
And tell the neighboring communities no new applications for welfare from recent arrivals - instead point them in the direction of the Detroit relief camps - or create a camp of their own!
This could really catch on!
Shiiiiiiit, Negro! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paw_2EJBzFs#ws)
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The recent bankruptcy filing in Detroit is raising red flags about other major U.S. cities also dealing with billions in under-funded retiree benefits, prompting the question -- who might be next?
Just last week, Chicago’s credit rating was downgraded as a result of its $19 billion in under-funded pension liabilities.
Moody's Investors Service called the liabilities “very large and growing" and warned that Chicago, the country’s third-largest city, faces a “tremendous strain’’ in trying to meet future funding requirements and public safety demands.
....
Other cities now on the radar include Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Portland, Ore., and Santa Fe, N.M. -- following Moody’s saying in April that they and 11 other municipalities were being reviewed for a possible credit downgrade, the result of a new analysis system that further considers pension liabilities.
...as it should be...has been run by one leftist asshat after another for...my entire life...and then some.
To Hell with them all.
LINK (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/22/detroit-bankruptcy-raises-concerns-about-other-us-cites-under-huge-retiree-debt/)
Minneapolis in that short list
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The stupidity will continue (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323829104578623422748612116.html)
Since Detroit declared bankruptcy on July 18, the city's crippling problems with corruption, unfunded benefits and pension liabilities have gotten the bulk of airtime. But equally at fault for its fiscal demise are the city's management structure and union and civil-service rules that hamstring efforts to make municipal services more efficient. I would know: I had a front-row seat for this dysfunction.
Last year, I served as chief operating officer of the Detroit Department of Transportation. I was hired as a contractor for the position, and in my eight months on the job I got a vivid sense of the city's dysfunction. Almost every day, a problem would arise, a solution would be found—but implementing the fix would prove impossible.
We began staff meetings each morning by learning which vendors had cut us off for lack of payment, including suppliers of essential items like motor oil or brake pads. Bus engines that the transportation department had sent out to be overhauled were sidelined for months when vendors refused to ship them back because the city hadn't paid for the repair. There were days when 20% of our scheduled runs did not go out because of a lack of road-ready buses.
The obvious solution for a cash-tight operation is to triage vendor payments to ensure that absolutely essential items are always there. But in Detroit, no one inside the transportation department could direct payments to the most important vendors. A bureaucrat working miles away in City Hall, not responsible to the transportation department (and, frankly, not responsible to anyone we could identify), decided who got paid and who didn't. That meant vendors supplying noncritical items were often paid even as public buses were sidelined.
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A major expense for Detroit is the cost of lawsuits filed against the city for various alleged injuries on municipal property. At the transportation department, there were hundreds of claims arising from bus accidents alone. How many of those claims were fraudulent? How many were settled (with the cost of settlement and legal fees posted against DDOT's budget) at unnecessarily high cost?
It was impossible to know, since the city's law department handled all litigation and settled cases without consulting the DDOT staff. It was the law department's policy to settle virtually all claims—which meant that the transportation department became easy prey for personal-injury lawyers bringing cases with little or no merit, costing the city millions.
In the DDOT we tried to hire our own lawyers to fight these claims. But we were blocked by city charter provisions prohibiting any city department from hiring outside counsel without the approval of the Detroit City Council. When we inquired with the mayor's office we were told that the union representing the law department—in Detroit, even the lawyers are unionized—would block any such approval.
Disability and workers' comp claims were routinely paid with no investigation into their validity. More than 80% of the transportation department's 1,400 employees were certified for family medical-leave absences—meaning they could call in for a day off without prior notice, often leaving buses without drivers or mechanics. Management's only recourse to get the work done was to pay the remaining employees overtime, at time-and-a-half rates. DDOT's overtime costs were running over $20 million a year.
Then there was the obstructionism of the City Council. While I was at the DDOT, roughly 10% of bus-fare collection boxes were broken. In another city, getting a contract to buy spare parts to repair these boxes would be routine. The City Council publicly expressed outrage that we didn't fix the fare boxes, since the city was losing an estimated $5 million a year in uncollected fares.
But the reason we couldn't fix the fare boxes was that the contract for the necessary spare parts had been sitting, untouched, in the City Council's offices for nine months. Due to past corruption, virtually every contract had to be approved by the council, resulting in months-long delays. Micromanagement by the council was endemic; I once sat for five hours waiting to discuss a minor transportation matter while City Council members debated whether to authorize the demolition of individual vacant and vandalized houses, one by one. There are over 40,000 vacant houses in Detroit.
Union and civil-service rules made it virtually impossible to fire anyone. A six-step disciplinary process provided job protection to anyone with a pulse, regardless of poor performance or bad behavior. Even the time-honored management technique of moving someone up or sideways where he would do less harm didn't work in Detroit: Job descriptions and qualification requirements were so strict it was impossible for management to rearrange the organization chart. I was a manager with virtually no authority over personnel.
When the federal government got involved, it only made things worse. A federal lawsuit charging that the DDOT did not fully comply with the law in accommodating disabled riders had dragged on for years because of idealistic but painfully naïve Justice Department attorneys seeking regulatory perfection. I felt like a guy in the boiler room of the Titanic, desperately bailing to keep the ship afloat for a few more hours while the DOJ attorneys complained from their first-class cabin that their champagne wasn't properly chilled.
Detroit's other municipal departments had similar challenges. I would often compare notes with managers trying to run the city's street lights, recreation programs, police departments and smaller offices. All of us faced similar gridlock.
The last thing Detroit needs is a bailout. What it needs is to sweep away a city charter that protects only bureaucrats, civil-service rules that straightjacket municipal departments, and obsolete union contracts. A bailout would just keep the dysfunction in place. Time to start over.
Mr. Nojay, a Republican, is a member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 133rd District in upstate New York.
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And that's pretty much how it is in any city run by Democrats for decades. The only real difference is that some of the other places still have vestigial industries or historical, cultural aspects that keep them barely afloat in spite of themselves. That's not going to last forever. Sooner or later they're all heading to Detroit's fate.
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Yes...and Obama & Co are the leading champions of the Detroitification of Amerika.
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It might be more merciful to drop a Mk-41 25mt and let the pieces fall where they will.
Seems to me, the city of Detroit hired only those that were willing to be the most corrupt bureaucrats looking for the "it's my turn to get a piece of the pie" upstanding residents.
In a world full of corruption it's sad to say the only solution would be to have them all swept out of their corrupt positions voluntarily but since none would submit to this and you obviously refused to then dispatch them with extreme prejudice. Blood sucking vampires they all are and the host is dead but nobody wants to kill the parasite. DemonRats, hate'm.
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And we can expect the libiots running the rest of the big urban centers into the ground to join Detroit soon.
Free Shyt Army voters, Free Shyt Army pimps...and King Free Shyt Obama on the big throne...
The Detroitification Process has been kicked into overdrive.