I have often said that not all Reichs are wrong, although Reichs on the right, like the Third Reich and the Republican Reich are certainly almost always wrong. On the other hand, the Reich on the left is almost always right, and Robert Reich is certainly right about how the affluent have learned to take advantage of the economic and cultural benefits and opportunities offered by big cities, like Detroit, while ducking their responsibility to pay for them. They do this by beating feet to the burbs.
Detroit is the largest city ever to seek bankruptcy protection, so its bankruptcy is seen as a potential model for other American cities now teetering on the edge.
But Detroit is really a model for how wealthier and whiter Americans escape the costs of public goods they’d otherwise share with poorer and darker Americans.
Judge Steven W. Rhodes of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan is now weighing Detroit’s plan to shed $7 billion of its debts and restore some $1.5 billion of city services by requiring various groups of creditors to make sacrifices.
Among those being asked to sacrifice are Detroit’s former city employees, now dependent on pensions and healthcare benefits the city years before agreed to pay. Also investors who bought $1.4 billion worth of bonds the city issued in 2005.
Both groups claim the plan unfairly burdens them. Under it, the 2005 investors emerge with little or nothing, and Detroit’s retirees have their pensions cut 4.5 percent, lose some health benefits, and do without cost-of-living increases.
No one knows whether Judge Rhodes will accept or reject the plan. But one thing is for certain. A very large and prosperous group close by won’t sacrifice a cent: They’re the mostly-white citizens of neighboring Oakland County… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Robert Reich>
I’ve just shared the introduction to whet your appetites. Click through for his detailed explanation of how the 1% are reaping the benefits of urban life and saddling the poor and middle classes with all the costs. Republicans help make this possible by stacking the economic deck against you and I.
Every Republican in office is one Republican too many!
VOTE THEM OUT!!
9 Responses to “Beating Feet to the Burbs”
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Thanks TC.
It happens all over the country. Detroit just happens to be the largest city to experience the wealthy's exodus. NYC doesn't have that problem because the wealthy maintain 2 homes – a Manhattan residence and their "burb" estate.
Some municipalities have handled this, at least in the past, by requiring one to be a resident of the city in order to be a city employee, or, say, within the school district in order to teach or administer in the schools. I have seen – I have held – very mixed feelings about such policies, but this makes it very clear. But probably too little and too late for Detroit.
Of course I'm sure that, as with everything else, laws differ from state to state. But I doubt Detroit could annex any area without a vote of the residents. Sure, they could have annexed it when it was vacant, but it's way, way too late for that now. I do see other municipalities doing that now though. I see "City Limit" signs on vacant land way outside the center of town.
All Repuglicans are too many!!
Now, for the baby horses!! May the Church of the Holy Ellipsoid Orb shine on our Grown-Up Wild Horses!! May the Great Peyton rain on their parade!!
Omaha!! Omaha!!
From what I have read, the whole bankruptcy plan was handled by a manager sent in to destroy what was left of the city, and he has succeeded. I lived in a Detroit suburb from 1968 to 1975 and the city was going down hill then. Nothing was done then or later to save it.
A bit of Detroit History Trivia
The 1967 Detroit riot, evolved into one of the deadliest and most destructive riots in United States history.
To help end the disturbance, Governor George W. Romney ordered the Michigan National Guard into Detroit, and President Lyndon B. Johnson sent in Army troops. The result was 43 dead, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. The scale of the riot was surpassed only by the New York City draft riots, during the U.S. Civil War,[1] and the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The riot was prominently featured in the news media, with live television coverage, extensive newspaper reporting, and extensive stories in Time and Life magazines.
Shortly before midnight on Monday, July 24, President Johnson authorized the use of Federal troops in compliance with the Insurrection Act of 1807, which authorizes the President to call in armed forces to fight an insurrection in any state against the government.[22] This gave Detroit the distinction of being the only domestic American city to have been occupied by Federal troops three times.
By the end of the five days of tensions, an estimated 10,000 people participated in the riots, with an estimated 100,000 gathering to watch. Thirty-six hours later, 43 were dead, 33 of whom were black and 10 white. More than 7,200 people were arrested, most of them black. Mayor Jerome Cavanagh lamented upon surveying the damage, "Today we stand amidst the ashes of our hopes. We hoped against hope that what we had been doing was enough to prevent a riot. It was not enough."[28]
I grew up in Detroit and remember seeing military equipment and forces patrolling the streets, usually on the main arteries. i snuck out of the house and went down to observe the going-ons.The sight was a bit terrifying to see as there were Tanks[26] and machine guns[27] used in the effort to keep the peace, and there was a curfew in place at the time.
Even today, with the recent Ferguson, Mo uprising, social conditions have not changed much.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Detroit_riot
Thanks all. We used to deal with this problem through revenue sharing. The federal government returned federal tax money to the states to help pay for schools, infrastructure, etc. But when Republicans got control of congress during the Ray Gun Revolution, they ended most revenue sharing. Republican governors took what was left and started giving it to billionaires instead of spending it on cities. That's how we got to this place and we all need to share the cost of the services cities provide us. The best investment we can make is to move a Republican from office to the unemployment line.
I guess it is true . . . the philosophy . . . "I'm OK. I've got mine!" . . . Is this American liberty? All are equally entitled to their "inalienable rights as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I guess the wealthy forgot about the "ALL" and "equally".
That they did!