"The most significant threat to our national security is our debt," Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, August 27, 2010


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Detroit, R.I.P (July 24, 1701 – July 18, 2013)

It is not a metaphor that America’s Arsenal of Democracy is bankrupt.  A very different Detroit turned its manufacturing supremacy into a 24/7 war machine production monster in the 1940’s and earned a reputation unparalleled in our nation’s history.  Today, under the promiscuous administration of a man dedicated to a fleeting ideology of “distribution” and “share the wealth” which requires no discipline – no sharing of responsibility – the city lay in ruins – symbolically devastated just as its war machine 70 years ago devastated our enemies in a time of great discipline and sacrifice.  Quite the story – but, alas, one that neither Obama nor Bernanke, NBS/Comcast nor PBS will tell.  Not a one of them will ever repeat this fundamental:
Deficits = Debt = Destruction
There are two familiar routes available to a bankrupt entity – be it a person, a company or a municipal organization.
#1 – Cash in (liquidate), distribute the assets and shut down, or
#2 – Restructure and take another swipe at survival.
Here is a brief list (gallows humor intended) of those who lay claim to Detroit’s few remaining assets – the ones seeking distribution in the liquidation alternative above.  It could be that only in Federal Bankruptcy Court, Chapter IX filings, can those responsible for the subjects death show up in the courtroom to pick over the few morsels of flesh left on the bones of their victim:
■ American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees
■ Amalgamated Transit Union, Division 26
■ Assistant Supv. of Street Maintenance & Construction Association
■ Association of City of Detroit Supervisors
■ Association of Detroit Engineers
■ Association of Municipal Engineers
■ Association of Municipal Inspectors

Association of Professional Construction Inspectors
■ Association of Professional & Technical Employees
■ Building & Construction Trades Council
■ Detroit Fire Fighters Association
■ Detroit Income Tax Investigators Association
■ Detroit License Investigators Association
■ Detroit Police Command Officers Association
■ Detroit Police Lieut. & Sergeants Association
■ Detroit Police Officers Association
■ Dept. of Transportation Foremens  Association of America
■ EMS Officers Association
■ Field Engineers Association
■ I.U.O.E. Local 324 (Detroit Principal Clerks)
■ I.U.O.E. Local 324 (Operating Engineers)
■ I.U.O.E. Local 324 (Park Management)
■ Police Officers Labor Council
■ Police Officers Association of Michigan
■ Police Officers Labor Council (Health)
■ Retired Detroit Police & Fire Fighters Association
Sanitary, Chemists & Technicians Association
■ Senior Accountants, Analysts & Appraisers Association
■ Senior Water Systems Chemist Association
■ SEIU Supervisory & Non Supervisory
■ SEIU Professional & Technical
Teamsters
■ UAW-PAA
■ UAW-WWTP Supervisors
■ UAW-Legal Assistants
■ UAW-Civilian Police Investigators
■ Utility Workers Union of America
■ Utility Workers Union of America
■ Utility Workers Union of America
■ Utility Workers Union of America
PENSIONS
■ Police Fire Retirement System
■ General Retirement System

Source:  Detroit Bankruptcy Filing

And, of course, the bond holders, other financial entities, insurers and attorneys.

TheFundamentals makes this suggestion – if anyone cares to take a crack at alternative #2 above, the one involving restructure/survival – we would suggest two things be constitutionally prohibited, forever:
1.    Prohibit any arrangement, contract, conversation or meeting with any of the above outfits or their successors or replacements, ever, under any circumstance, and
2.    Prohibit any borrowing, even one cent, ever, from anyone
 
In other words, use taxpayer funds to secure the goods and services for which they are collected, not for salaries and benefits for municipal employees.  And, live within your means.  This basic discipline will not guarantee success – but it will provide an opportunity for success.  There are a few other modifications to our current rules and governance arrangements that are also needed but the two above would be a good start and relatively easy to implement, if anyone is so inclined.

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