Detroit's worse than I thought

[ALBin517]

State (MI) did away w/ pensions in the mid-90's, its all 401 'junk' now. Detroit could have done same, but opted not to.

That is a lot of it - there were lots of good / unpopular moves that the Detroit city council could have made over the years. But they didn't have the plums to make them. So here we are...

 

[Capt Worley PE]

It's interesting that the signs say "The Banks Owe Us" and "Make the Banks Pay". That boogeyman must have played better than saying, "Taxpayers owe us." I'm at a loss for exactly what the banks could possibly owe them.

I think the OWS crowd is heavily involved in the Detroit protests. As par the course for that group, they have no idea what's going on. All they can process is 'banks are eevil' apparently.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

This bankruptcy situation is being watched closely by lots of cash-strapped cities. Many municipal leaders have looked short-term and avoided employee raises while agreeing to absurd pensions.

I don't think it'll be too long before state start declaring bankruptcy to rid themselves of pensions.

That's an interesting thought...

From a bidness standpoint, that's really the only way out. Look at what the liabilities will be fifteen years down the road. You just can't pay that many people not to work. Not on the revenues collected through taxes.

The cold, hard truth is we live waaay to long for traditional retirement/pensions as we know them.