Easy...there isn't anyone left there. The city is dead.

Americans no longer believe in democracy. It's what happened when conservatives decided to play with zero-sum game theory.

Marcus Aurelius: "This is not a time to be divisive. This is a time to be inclusive," Snyder says

Why do politicians always use this line when they're gone too far?

it's pure projection. this is a divisive Governor.

What he is pulling is basically a fascist coup.

Appointing a representative of private businesses in place of duly elected representatives of the people.

Kicking them to the curb and installing his puppet.

Sorry citizens but your voice in local govt no longer counts.

The only thing that matters is that the governor's friends have their way with your city.

Jesse Jackson looks like a witch.

Between shiat like this and the nationwide efforts at voter suppression bills, it's pretty clear Republicans only see democracy as a means to an end.

Detroit needs an EFM to correct it's huge long-term deficit. All previous mismanagement aside (Coleman, Kwami), someone has to reset the current system. Although I believe Mayor Bing has done well so far, I don't think that he has enough power to make it happen. Perhaps Snyder will appoint him EFM.

Meanwhile, Paul Verhoeven is saying, "fark, I totally thought Robocop was going to happen to Detroit. Not Starship Troopers."

Why is nobody else? Because Jesse Jackson. He hurts causes more than he helps them

Interesting read: Link (new window)

ginger_fretelli: Easy...there isn't anyone left there. The city is dead.

Pretty much. The city of Detroit currently has a population of about 16,000.

The best thing that could happen to it is for the state to start buying the vacant land and turn the whole place into a state park.

Detroit's about to declare bankruptcy. That won't be any better. If an EFM can help Detroit avoid bankruptcy, it's better for everybody.

Like all Republicans, Snyder is only interested in the Constitution as a piece of bum-wipe. When there's a profit to be made, all Republicans would happily open labor camps (see: For-profit prisons) in the name of Jesus so that the brown people learn their place in society.

When Fascism finally comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross, both of which were manufactured in China and bought at WalMart.

AcademGreen: Detroit needs an EFM to correct it's huge long-term deficit. All previous mismanagement aside (Coleman, Kwami), someone has to reset the current system. Although I believe Mayor Bing has done well so far, I don't think that he has enough power to make it happen. Perhaps Snyder will appoint him EFM.

Germany needs an EFM to correct its huge long-term deficit caused by needing to pay war reparations and massive inflation. All previous mismanagement aside (Wilhelm II, Weimar Republic), someone has to reset the current system. Although I believe Chancellor Hitler has done well so far, I don't think that he has enough power to make it happen. Perhaps someone will appoint him EFM.

Hobodeluxe: Appointing a representative of private businesses in place of duly elected representatives of the people.

What was that thing called, where the lord would grant control over areas of his domain to his friends, to administer as they saw fit?

Oh right - feudalism!

NuttierThanEver: Honest answer? Because most of the people outside of the metro areas (mostly white people) believe it could never happen to their towns. The subtle racism underlying it all is that the black folks really cannot be trusted to govern themselves. So much of this has it's roots going back to when Coleman Young was mayor of Detroit. This is not going to be an issue for most Michiganders till it has the potential of happening in a city besides Detroit, Flint, Pontiac or St JosephBenton Harbor.

FTFY

St. Joseph is mostly white and reasonably wealthy and right across the river from Benton Harbor

Put Matt Millen in charge.

Gulper Eel: Waaaah, waaah, race card, race card, waaaah.

Same thing's already happening to usually-Republican Nassau County, NY - which got the way it did same way Detroit did, by overpromising sweet compensation packages to fire and police and other municipal workers, then jacking up taxes to sort-of pay for all that, leaving for a later date the problem of what to do when all the people paying those giant tax bills start a) winning their property-tax grievances and then b) retiring and moving the fark out of Nassau.

And now the later date's here. Sucks to be them.

Well, for starters, the elected officials of Nassau County have not been replaced; they have been ordered to make changes to the budget. There is no "emergency financial manager"; it is a committee set up by the state to work with the elected officials.
Nassau's problem is that they didn't jack up taxes to pay for it all, began borrowing money to pay for the property tax grievances, and have continued cutting taxes and borrowing money under the new Republican county exec.

"In a lengthy text explaining its decision, the authority said that Mr. Mangano's signature tax cut - the repeal of a tax on home-heating fuel - was one of several factors that stretched the county's ability to balance its budget to the "breaking point."

The county first got into deep trouble a decade ago by borrowing to pay those refunds, though they are an operating expense, and by relying on one-shot revenues, rather than raising taxes. It averted disaster only with a $100 million state bailout in June 2000. As a condition of that aid, the state created the oversight board to ensure that Nassau corrected its poor fiscal practices.

Chief among those was borrowing to pay tax refunds, and some progress was made in switching to a pay-as-you-go policy. But Mr. Mangano's financial plan called for borrowing $364 million over the next two years to pay tax refunds - "the very practice that precipitated the 2000 crisis NIFA was created to address," the board said."

GAT_00: AcademGreen: Detroit needs an EFM to correct it's huge long-term deficit. All previous mismanagement aside (Coleman, Kwami), someone has to reset the current system. Although I believe Mayor Bing has done well so far, I don't think that he has enough power to make it happen. Perhaps Snyder will appoint him EFM.

Now, defend the legality of it.

Local governments exist at the pleasure of their state. Unless something in the state or US Constitution gives them autonomy, the state can write laws to manage them as it sees fit.

It's not a perfect, but there is nothing to prevent it from happening sans a change in either state law or the state constitution.

Personally, although I find dissolving local contracts and elections distasteful, I have heard nothing to make it illegal to do so. I have also not heard of any gross abuses of EFMs. What I have seen is Benton Harbor emerge from debt and 250+ ghost employees removed from the payrolls of Detroit public schools under an EFM.

Why isn't anyone else fighting?

Answer:

Sock Ruh Tease: AcademGreen: Detroit needs an EFM to correct it's huge long-term deficit. All previous mismanagement aside (Coleman, Kwami), someone has to reset the current system. Although I believe Mayor Bing has done well so far, I don't think that he has enough power to make it happen. Perhaps Snyder will appoint him EFM.

Germany needs an EFM to correct its huge long-term deficit caused by needing to pay war reparations and massive inflation. All previous mismanagement aside (Wilhelm II, Weimar Republic), someone has to reset the current system. Although I believe Chancellor Hitler has done well so far, I don't think that he has enough power to make it happen. Perhaps someone will appoint him EFM.

/godwin'd

We don't care because we're sick and tired of watching the people of Detroit elect officials who took the crown jewel of the American Experiment and in less than 50 years literally ground it into dust. Unlike the citizens of Detroit, when you become an adult, you realize that if constantly act like an asshole, eventually no one will feel sorry for you or comes to your aid when bad things happen to you.

Plus, you're only guaranteed state and national representation in the Constitution.

If you don't like it, move, or amend the US Constitution.

NuttierThanEver: Because most of the people outside of the metro areas (mostly white people) believe it could never happen to their towns. The subtle racism underlying it all is that the black folks really cannot be trusted to govern themselves.

In general, that's racism. But to be fair, this specific group of people (current Detroit City Council) are collectively dumber than a barrel of hair, and their stupidity is only outstripped by their greed and self-importance. Unfortunately, they've played right into the racists' hands with their idiotic infighting, massive overpaid staffs and nepotistic hiring practices. There are no good guys in this particular fight.

Conyers complaining about how Detroit might be run is pretty rich.

Hey, ass hole, maybe if your wife hadn't been so busy taking farking bribes, getting her felon brother a cushy city job, or supporting a mayor who went down for corruption and bribery, you could've had some better input into improving the place.

And the fact that Detroit reelected him says a lot about the collective intelligence of the place.

Michigan is a strange state where we were SO scared about getting a "business-hating Dem-o-rat" in power last election cycle and didn't get Granholm to magically pull us out of a recession while the auto industry went bankrupt the voters went FULL ON REPUBLICAN.

Now, people are having second thoughts. Great job, Michigan. We get what we deserve.

It makes me think of the time when Steve Martin did a guest voice over for the Simpsons. He was an elected official and got voted out of office. When things got screwed up, Springfield wanted him back. Without spoiling the scene for you, you should search it out and watch the most amazing minute that every politician wish they could say to a stupid electorate who made a horrible mistake.

Spade: Conyers complaining about how Detroit might be run is pretty rich.

Hey, ass hole, maybe if your wife hadn't been so busy taking farking bribes, getting her felon brother a cushy city job, or supporting a mayor who went down for corruption and bribery, you could've had some better input into improving the place.

And the fact that Detroit reelected him says a lot about the collective intelligence of the place.

/ta-da

Interesting that there was absolutely no uproar when Governor Granholm, a Democrat, sent financial managers into a couple cities, Flint being one of them. Now, Snyder sends a manager into Flint again, and everyone's panties are in a wad about it.

Hobodeluxe: Marcus Aurelius: "This is not a time to be divisive. This is a time to be inclusive," Snyder says

Why do politicians always use this line when they're gone too far?

it's pure projection. this is a divisive Governor.

What he is pulling is basically a fascist coup.

Appointing a representative of private businesses in place of duly elected representatives of the people.

Kicking them to the curb and installing his puppet.

Sorry citizens but your voice in local govt no longer counts.

The only thing that matters is that the governor's friends have their way with your city.

NuttierThanEver Smartest
Funniest
2011-12-27 09:59:05 AM


Gulper Eel: Waaaah, waaah, race card, race card, waaaah.

Same thing's already happening to usually-Republican Nassau County, NY - which got the way it did same way Detroit did, by overpromising sweet compensation packages to fire and police and other municipal workers, then jacking up taxes to sort-of pay for all that, leaving for a later date the problem of what to do when all the people paying those giant tax bills start a) winning their property-tax grievances and then b) retiring and moving the fark out of Nassau.

And now the later date's here. Sucks to be them.

I was speaking only of Michigan, if that's not the case in NY good for them. Having lived in both urban and rural Michigan at various points in my life I've seen both sides of the coin. If you think race does not play a major role in the interaction between the two in Michigan you haven't been paying attention.

This is unpossible as I have been told many times on Fark that racism only happens in the South.

Perhaps the president should suggest replacing failed governors with whomever he decides could do a better budgeting job.

Oh, the glorious howling that would result!

NuttierThanEver: The subtle racism underlying it all is that the black folks really cannot be trusted to govern themselves

Show me a primarily black city, with mostly black officials that is thriving

Coleman Young, Kwami Kilpatrick?

Like democracy has ever done anything for shiathole, USA Detroit.

How about, uhm, oh, I don't know, stop electing people who scare off all possible business because...get whitey.

Detroit should burn down their city. That'll show whitey.