Poor Detroit

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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby Laodicean » Tue May 28, 2013 10:06 am



Behold, the Hackney brothers. Detroit 1975 protopunk. :trippin:

[00:00] 01. Keep on Knocking
[02:50] 02. Rock-N-Roll Victim
[05:33] 03. Let the World Turn
[11:30] 04. You're a Prisoner
[14:10] 05. Freakin Out
[16:45] 06. Where Do We Go from Here???
[20:35] 07. Politicians in My Eyes

David Hackney (guitars)
Bobby Hackney (bass, vocals)
Dannis Hackney (drums)
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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby Joe Hillshoist » Tue May 28, 2013 10:17 am

Laodicean » 29 May 2013 00:06 wrote:

Behold, the Hackney brothers. Detroit 1975 protopunk. :trippin:

[00:00] 01. Keep on Knocking
[02:50] 02. Rock-N-Roll Victim
[05:33] 03. Let the World Turn
[11:30] 04. You're a Prisoner
[14:10] 05. Freakin Out
[16:45] 06. Where Do We Go from Here???
[20:35] 07. Politicians in My Eyes

David Hackney (guitars)
Bobby Hackney (bass, vocals)
Dannis Hackney (drums)


Yeah thanks for that - saw then heard it in the lounge and its fucking awesome.
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a band called Death

Postby IanEye » Tue May 28, 2013 10:38 am

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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby Laodicean » Tue May 28, 2013 11:29 am

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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby MinM » Wed May 29, 2013 9:13 am

May 29, 2013 at 1:00 am
Detroit's X Games bid impresses ESPN
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Mix Master Mike of the Beastie Boys performs at the X Games party at Campus Martius in Detroit on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. The event was to make the case for ESPN to bring the X Games to Detroit.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2013 ... z2UgbRy4yQ
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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby seemslikeadream » Wed Jun 05, 2013 10:47 am

Detroit’s embarrassing new get-out-of-debt scheme
To the horror of pols and art lovers alike, the city's emergency manager is debating selling off its art collection
BY JILLIAN STEINHAUER

The inscription on the facade of the Detroit Institute of Arts reads, “Dedicated by the people of Detroit to the knowledge and enjoyment of art,” which at this point is starting to sound cruelly ironic. (image via Flickr/glennia)
This article originally appeared on Hyperallergic.


On May 24 the news broke that Detroit’s emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, was considering whether the city could or should sell off the art collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts(DIA) to help pay back its debts. In the roughly week and a half since then, loud reactions have been heard from many corners of the art world, as well as writers in various media outlets and Michigan politicians themselves. The reactions pretty much range from “this is a bad idea” to “this is a terrible idea.”

For his part — and not surprisingly — DIA Director Graham Beal told the New York Times that he didn’t think the museum’s collection really could be sold, since it’s held in the public trust:

“As far as we’re concerned,” Mr. Beal said, “as objects held in the public trust, they actually don’t have a value. I know people find that odd.”

This, of course, was nicely counterbalanced in the article by a statement from Orr’s spokesperson, Bill Nowling, who said:

We have to look at everything on the table. As much as it would pain us to do it — and it does; I’m a great lover of art and so is Kevyn — we’ve got a responsibility to rationalize all the assets of the city and find out what the worth is and what the city holds.

In other words, it may require something more than rational argument to stop a potential sale. So Michigan Republican Senator Randy Richardville has introduced a bill that would attempt to do exactly that, according to USA Today. Senate Bill 401 would add to an existing state law a provision that says, ”An art institute shall adhere to the code of ethics for museums published by the American Alliance of Museums or a successor organization.” American Alliance of Museums guidelines restrict the sale of an institution’s artwork as a means only to raise money to buy more artwork; collection pieces cannot be sold off to pay bills.


The question, however, is whether a state law can override federal bankruptcy law. If the answer is “no,” then the bill, even if it passes, will turn out to be symbolic more than anything else. That said, it’s refreshing to see this kind of rallying in support of the arts from a Republican politician. Richardville gave USA Today this wonderful statement:

We’re going to be in there like David and Goliath. David won, by the way. We’re going to articulate our position.

Thomas Campbell, the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, also showed his support by releasing a statement of his own on the matter, which included these lines:

Even in the darkest days of New York City’s fiscal crisis of 1975, and the national economic meltdown of 2008, the cultural treasures closely identified with our own city were never on the table — never considered an asset that might be cashed in during a crunch to bridge a negative balance sheet.



Close-up on one of the Diego Rivera murals at the DIA (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

And the College Art Association sent an open letter to Orr, condemning the possibility of a liquidation sale. Written “on behalf of the College Art Association that represents over 14,000 art historians, artists, curators, art educators and art conservators” and signed by President Anne Collins Goodyear and Executive Director Linda Downs, it reads, in part:

The Detroit Institute of Arts is one of the greatest art museums in the country that represents the finest creative achievements throughout the history of the world. The DIA is not only a great treasure but one of the very few places in Detroit where all people can enjoy, contemplate and study art and its many related concepts. The DIA has developed itself as a public educational institution and has been a leader in the profession at engaging with all segments of the community. …

We appeal to your higher judgment in assessing the true value of the DIA and its critical role for the public good of the city, state and the country in deliberating on the future of this great collection.

But the harshest, smartest, and most biting words on the situation have come from opinion columns, namely Mark Binelli writing at the New York Times and Nicholas Wapshott at Reuters. In his piece, Binelli swiftly eviscerates the financial-political cabal that has exploited the ailing city rather than help it, and he offers abundant evidence of corruption, from Governor Rick Snyder’s forceful imposition of an emergency manager on Detroit even after voters repealed the law that sanctions the use of emergency managers, to Orr’s hiring of his own law firm to help restructure the city’s debt despite the fact that said law firm represents some of the banks that hold the debt. One of Binelli’s shining moments is this scathing and satirical paragraph (but you should click through and read the entire thing):

Why stop there? Perhaps as part of a settlement, Mr. Orr can negotiate with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to play at creditors’ annual shareholder luncheons, or work out a deal wherein laid-off autoworkers perform free annual tuneups on the limousines of bank executives. Better yet, he could tear a page from the Chrysler turnaround — which, of course, ended with the company’s being purchased by Fiat. See where I’m going with this? Italians love art, they love cars, and they know how to monetize old ruins!

At Reuters, Wapshott also does an excellent job of calling out Orr and the short-sightedness of the idea, writing:

The man charged with balancing the books says it is premature to talk of selling the art, but claims city creditors, who will be asked to take cents on the dollar in lieu of what is owed them, are bound to demand that all the city’s assets, including the DIA collection, are sold before they will agree terms. Phooey! To send in the appraisers is to invite creditors to demand the sale.



The ceiling inside the DIA’s Beaux-Arts building (click to enlarge) (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

He goes on to point out the problems with a possible sale, including donor stipulations and flooding the market, and mounts the case that even if the liquidation of the collection earns the city some money in the short term, it’s a terrible long-term investment:

Imagine if Greece, with all its financial difficulties, sold off the Acropolis. Or if the Madrid government auctioned the treasures of the Prado. Or Italy pillaged its classical and Renaissance inheritance to fix a temporary lack of funds. It would destroy overnight the tourist trade that provides such a sure source of revenue and would destroy the politicians who dare sign off on such a cheap, shortsighted deal. Even repo woman Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has not yet suggested plundering the Mediterranean countries’ cultural monuments to gain her pound of flesh.

And that really gets to the heart of it. Selling off an art collection to raise some money (which won’t come near meeting all of the city’s debts) completely misses the point. Discussions of whether or not creative classes and hubs can revitalize entire cities (probably not) miss the point, too. It’s nice to have an economic argument for the arts, but the arts are the arts precisely because they’re not just about economics. Some critics and art-worlders have begun decrying the new art investors as businesspeople who don’t care or think much about the work they’re buying, but maybe the bigger problem we’ve been overlooking is that these are also the people who control our financial institutions, and so increasingly our governments. Wapshott criticizes economists “who too often appear to know the price of everything and the value of nothing”; I’d add to that group assorted businesspeople, financiers, and politicians.

The people of Detroit have been through a hell of a lot. Does we really need to take away their Beaux-Arts museum, their room full of Diego Rivera murals, their Center for African American Art, their Van Eyck and Velazquez and Van Goghs, too?
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby MinM » Tue Jun 11, 2013 1:29 pm


Death, of 'A Band Called Death' movie fame, comes home to Detroit for Orion Festival warm welcome
Image
DETROIT, MI - Back in the 70s, a group of black punk rockers from Detroit with a band named called Death were a tough sell in the music business.

The guys still got the name and don't appear to be struggling to get recognition anymore, based on the support they received Sunday at the Orion Music + More Festival on Belle Isle.

No endorsement appeared stronger than the one from Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, who was spotted on the stage rockin' a Death shirt just about an hour before Metallica was scheduled to close out the festival on the main stage.

"We used to ride our Sting-Ray bikes around Belle Isle!," said Bobby Hackney, the band's bass player and lead vocalist, as they played on the festival's Vans Damage Inc. Stage. "We used to hang out at the band shell!"

Hackney founded the band in 1971 with his brothers Dannis and David Hackney. They struggled to earn recognition for their music until 2009 when work started on a documentary about Death's reemergence in the rock world.

That documentary, called "A Band Called Death," will start screening nationwide June 28 and will be shown locally at the Uptown Theatres in Birmingham.

The movie is currently available via Video On Demand and other services.

It's already earned glowing reviews around the world, but David Hackney is unable to embrace all the notoriety because he passed away form lung cancer in 2000.

David Hackney came up with the name Death during rehearsals with his brothers at their home on the city's east side and still has a heavy influence on the music this group produces today.

Banners with pictures of David Hackney were displayed prominently on the stage at the festival when Death performed in front of Trujillo and hundreds of others.

The band is now composed of the Hackney brothers Bobby and Dannis, and Bobby Duncan,a Harlem, NY native and guitarist.

"We dedicate this show to our brother David," Bobby Hackney said. "He was the visionary for the band called Death, and like we used to say in Detroit in 1975 - 'Death!'"

Bobby Hackney told the Orion Festival crowd their support created an emotional evening for the group as they prepare for a publicity tour for the movie and new album.

Detroit native Jack White, the former White Stripes frontman, recently teamed up with the band to re-release some of its early recordings.

The two songs released are "People Save The World" written by Bobby Hackney and the instrumental "RockFire Funk Express" written by David Hackney. Both can be purchased on White's Third Man Records website.

"Our music wasn't heard for almost four decades, you know," Bobby Hackney told the festival crowd. "And we really thought we would never see the day when people would just enjoy our music.

"Thank you so much; you brought us back!"

Two of Death's albums have been re-released and are available on iTunes: "For the Whole World to See" and "Spiritual / Mental / Physical."

A new song called "Relief" is expected to be a part of a new album the band plans to release soon. Bobby Hackney told the crowd the band just finished recording the album.

"A lot of people have been asking now 'What do guys got planned? and "What are you guys going to do" and 'Are you going to continue?," Hackney said. "Of course, Death will continue on."

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detr ... h_com.html

MLB might transform Tiger Stadium site into youth baseball facility
Image
Detroit — Major League Baseball is considering the old Tiger Stadium as a site to build a state-of-the-art facility to provide baseball activities to youths.

But one high-level Detroit official says the “offer is a scam” that doesn’t have the money to make it happen.

The Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy is an initiative overseen by MLB Executive Vice President of Baseball Development and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson. Darrell Miller, MLB vice president of youth and facility development, has been in Detroit to talk about the potential project.

“We would be love to be in Detroit. We know what it has gone through, and we know it’s on the rebound. We want to be part of that,” Miller said.

The now vacant Tiger Stadium site is among Detroit properties being considered, Miller said. He would not name the other sites.

There are three MLB Urban Youth Academies in other U.S. cities and they operate year-round, offering free baseball and softball instruction to boys and girls 7 to 17, as well as clinics for umpiring and coaching. They also provides educational tutoring.

The oldest academy in Compton, Calif., opened in 2006, helped train two student athletes who were first round picks in the MLB draft this year. Other students, both males and females, have won athletic scholarships and others have become coaches, Miller said.

Other academies are in Houston and New Orleans; two are being built Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

George Jackson, president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., which controls the city-owned Tiger Stadium property, says he has met with Miller and is convinced the deal is not solid. Jackson painted the idea as the latest in a long line of plans high on sentiment for the site but fell far short on basic fundamentals.

“Show me the money and I would be more than happy to do the deal,” Jackson said. “But there is no money. The Tigers have already said no to this deal. You just can’t come to the table without any money.”

A spokesman for the Detroit Tigers didn’t have any comment Tuesday. Miller contends both Tigers organization and Ilitch Holdings, an entity controlled by Tigers owner Mike Ilitch, have expressed interest.

“It’s early, but I would say we are really, really close,” to a detailed plan, Miller said.

Typically, the construction and operational costs of Urban Youth Academies are shared by the league, the local major-league franchise, and corporate partners, Miller said. Jackson said the only funding that Miller had identified was a $3 million federal earmark for the property.

An youth academy in Detroit could cost somewhere between $4 million to $6 million to build, Miller said.

The Tigers played their last game at Tiger Stadium in 1999. It was was shuttered for a decade. It began to be demolished in 2008. The site is vacant now, other than a baseball field maintained by volunteers.

Detroit wants a major redevelopment project on the Tiger Stadium site, which is part of a surging Corktown neighborhood.

Last year, the city rejected an offer by General Motors Co. Chevrolet to build a baseball diamond for youths at the former baseball site. Chevrolet instead agreed to help refurbish the Jayne Field complex in northeast Detroit.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2013 ... dyssey=tab
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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby conniption » Fri Jul 12, 2013 9:27 pm

wsws

Emergency manager moves Detroit closer to bankruptcy
By Bryan Dyne

12 July 2013


After a second round of closed-door talks with pension and union officials on Wednesday, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr indicated a decision involving Detroit’s bankruptcy will come sometime next week. It is becoming increasingly likely he will take this option in order to slash the pensions and benefits of current and retired city workers on behalf of Detroit’s creditors. If so, Detroit will go through the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history.

According to Orr’s latest figures, Detroit has up to $20 billion in long-term debt, of which $3.5 billion is owed to the city’s pension fund, which pays out to the city’s nearly 20,000 retirees. The funds, Orr claims, are underfunded to the point of being insolvent. The meetings this week were aimed at convincing the unions and pension boards to accept savage cuts, with Orr proposing to pay as little as ten cents on the dollar to the city’s pension fund.

Pensions have been Orr’s primary target from the beginning of his reign. Pension cuts of such magnitude are unprecedented and are seen as another source of profit for the banks and hedge funds. Orr’s job is to facilitate the transfer of money from pension funds to bank vaults, setting a precedent that would be used across the country.

Orr has said the funding of pensions consumes up 65 percent of the Detroit’s operating budget and can no longer be maintained. Rather than seeking ways to increase revenue flow, such as ending tax abatements on corporations and real estate developments in the downtown area that will only benefit the rich, Orr declared there “must be significant cuts in accrued, vested pension amounts for both active and currently retired persons.” In other words, pensions must be slashed no matter what.

Orr has also attempted to pit city workers, especially retirees, against the general population, saying pensions must be slashed in order to maintain city services. This is a fraud. In reality, city services are being targeted just like pensions, as part of the plans of the corporate and financial elite to privatize city departments and end services to whole areas of the city deemed too poor or under-populated to maintain. The “restructuring of Detroit” as envisioned by big business and Orr involves a shrinking of the city and the development of a small area—downtown and midtown—through subsidizing the construction of an upscale housing and entertainment district.

The average pension for retired firefighters and police is $30,607 and for general city workers only $19,213. Orr is proposing to cut these by up to 90 percent, sending retirees from poverty or near poverty to abject destitution, along with all those who depend on the steady income of a parent or grandparent.

Opposed to any struggle by the working class, the unions, particularly AFSCME and the UAW, are leaving the fate of the pensions in the hands of the courts and a section of the Democratic Party. They are backing two lawsuits—one, that challenges Public Act 436, the emergency manager law which supposedly gives Orr power slash pensions in violation of the Michigan Constitution, and a second seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Treasurer Andy Dillon from approving a bankruptcy filing.

These toothless measures will, at best, merely delay the process, which enjoys the full backing of the both big business parties and the corporate and financial elite. Orr’s “restructuring” team has claimed that federal bankruptcy laws trump and state constitutional protection of pension benefits. Orr has also stated he would circumvent the state’s constitution by claiming the pensions are unsecured bonds.

Another meeting was held on Thursday dealing with the city health care system, which is reportedly $5.7 billion of Detroit’s long-term debt. Orr’s latest proposal is to entirely eliminate the health care coverage of city workers who retire early, specifically those who retire before 55, which is not uncommon especially among city police officers and firefighters. Unlike pensions, the Michigan Constitution does not protect health care benefits.

This plan is in addition to Orr’s previous proposal to dump retirees into the federal Medicare system and current workers into health care exchanges set up under Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Both would mean a sharp reduction in health coverage for workers and their families and much higher deductibles and co-pays.

There are other considerations behind Orr throwing the city into bankruptcy. In particular, a Chapter 9 bankruptcy would make it easier to sell of city assets, including artwork from the Detroit Institute of Arts and the water department, to bondholders. Either way, the working class will be made to pay for Detroit’s financial crisis.
Last edited by conniption on Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby MinM » Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:20 pm

Image Rick Snyder @onetoughnerd: See Michigan from space! RT @AstroKarenN Michigan, Lake Huron coast. July 11. pic.twitter.com/sbHGdw33Cj
Image
@theMadLiberal: @onetoughnerd Wow, even from that view you can tell that Emergency Managers subvert democracy.
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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Jul 18, 2013 5:35 pm

Detroit files for largest municipal bankruptcy in US history
Published July 18, 2013
FoxNews.com

July 17, 2013: This aerial photo shows the city of Detroit. On Thursday, July 18, 2013, Detroit became the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy when State-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr asked a federal judge for municipal bankruptcy protection. (AP)
Detroit filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history Thursday after steep population and tax base declines sent it tumbling toward insolvency.
The filing by a state-appointed emergency manager means that if the bankruptcy filing is approved, city assets could be liquidated to satisfy demands for payment.
Kevin Orr, a bankruptcy expert, was hired by the state in March to lead Detroit out of a fiscal free-fall and made the filing Thursday in federal bankruptcy court.
The filing leads to a 30 to 90 day period that will determine whether or not the city of Detroit is eligible for Chapter 9 protection, and define the number of claimants who may compete for Detroit’s limited settlement resources. The petition seeks protection from unions and creditors who are renegotiating $18.5 billion in debt and liabilities, according to the Detroit Free Press.
A number of factors -- most notably steep population and tax base falls -- have been blamed on Detroit's descent toward insolvency.
Detroit lost a quarter-million residents between 2000 and 2010. A population that in the 1950s reached 1.8 million is struggling to stay above 700,000. Much of the middle-class and scores of businesses also have fled Detroit, taking their tax dollars with them.
Orr was unable to convince a host of creditors, including the city's union and pension boards to take pennies on the dollar to help facilitate the city's massive financial restructuring.
He laid out his plans in June meetings with debt holders, in which his team warned there was a 50-50 chance of a bankruptcy filing.
Some creditors were asked to take about 10 cents on the dollar of what the city owed them. Underfunded pension claims would have received less than 10 cents on the dollar under that plan.
A team of financial experts put together by Orr said that proposal was Detroit's one shot to permanently fix its fiscal problems.
Detroit's budget deficit is believed to be more than $380 million. Orr has said long-term debt was more than $14 billion and could be between $17 billion and $20 billion.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07 ... z2ZR2gaW2N
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby seemslikeadream » Fri Jul 19, 2013 9:37 pm

Mich. judge rules Detroit bankruptcy unconstitutional
DETROIT: SNAPSHOT OF A CITY IN TROUBLE
On July 18, Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy. The city struggles with high unemployment and diminishing city services. A look at some statistics that shape Detroit:

Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press 7:22 p.m. EDT July 19, 2013
State's attorney general disagrees, is appealing.

Detroit's $18.5 billion bankruptcy, filed Thursday, is largest city filing in U.S. history
City's emergency manager filed the petition 5 minutes before hearing for pensioners, pension funds
Judge says state constitution prohibits actions to lessen pension benefits of public employees

LANSING, Mich — An Ingham County judge says Thursday's historic Detroit bankruptcy filing violates the Michigan Constitution and state law and must be withdrawn.

But Attorney General Bill Schuette said he will appeal Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina's Friday rulings and seek emergency consideration from the Michigan Court of Appeals. He wants her orders stayed pending the appeals, he said in a news release.

STORY: Detroit was running out of time, Orr said
STORY: Bankruptcy tied to auto troubles, GM says

In a spate of orders Friday arising from three separate lawsuits, Aquilina said Gov. Rick Snyder and Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr must take no further actions that threaten to diminish the pension benefits of City of Detroit retirees.

"I have some very serious concerns because there was this rush to bankruptcy court that didn't have to occur and shouldn't have occurred," Aquilina said. "Plaintiffs shouldn't have been blindsided," and "this process shouldn't have been ignored."

Lawyers representing pensioners and two city pension funds got an emergency hearing Thursday with Aquilina, and she said she planned to issue an order to block the bankruptcy filing. But lawyers and the judge learned that Orr filed the Detroit bankruptcy petition in Detroit 5 minutes before the hearing began.

Aquilina said the Michigan Constitution prohibits actions that will lessen the pension benefits of public employees, including those in the City of Detroit.

“I have some very serious concerns because there was this rush to bankruptcy court that didn't have to occur and shouldn't have occurred.”
— Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, Ingham County, Mich., Circuit Court
Snyder and Orr violated the constitution by going ahead with the bankruptcy filing because they know reductions in those benefits will result, she said.

"We can't speculate what the bankruptcy court might order," said assistant Attorney General Brian Devlin, representing the governor and other state defendants.

"It's a certainty, sir," Aquilina replied. "That's why you filed for bankruptcy."

Devlin said Snyder has to follow both the Michigan Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.

Schuette's office issued a statement saying an appeal has been filed on behalf of the governor in all three cases before Aquilina.

"In addition, the attorney general filed motions to stay the trial court rulings and any future proceedings while the appeals proceed," spokeswoman Joy Yearout said. "Later today, we expect to file additional motions seeking emergency consideration."

Aquilina issued a declaratory judgment that says the bankruptcy filing violated the Michigan Constitution.

STORY: What happens next in the Detroit bankruptcy case
STORY: Detroit bankruptcy rattles municipal bond investors

"In order to rectify his unauthorized and unconstitutional actions ... the governor must (1) direct the emergency manager to immediately withdraw the Chapter 9 petition filed on July 18, and (2) not authorize any further Chapter 9 filing which threatens to diminish or impair accrued pension benefits," she said in her order.

John Canzano, a Southfield, Mich., lawyer representing retirees, cautioned that Snyder faces no contempt of court implications if he doesn't follow the judge's instructions. But Canzano said he likely will return to court seeking further relief if Snyder doesn't instruct Orr to withdraw the bankruptcy filing.

Asked what the judge could then do, Canzano said: "I will have to do my homework."

STORY: Detroit files 3,000 pages of bankruptcy documents
Q&A: The Motor City's Chapter 9 bankruptcy

Douglas Bernstein, a partner with Plunkett Cooney law firm in Birmingham, Mich., said Aquilina's ruling is surprising.

"This is generally how bankruptcies occur: You file bankruptcy when there is an impending crisis at the 11th hour," Bernstein said. "You file bankruptcies to stave off litigation."

University of Michigan law professor John Pottow said the issue could travel up the court system, all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court. Or it could be answered decisively and quickly in bankruptcy court.

STORY: How the Motor City went bust
MORE: Full coverage of Detroit's financial crisis from the Detroit Free Press

"There's nothing that precludes a federal judge from adjudicating the constitutionality of the Michigan statute," Pottow said. "The bankruptcy judge can interpret Michigan law."

Aquilina, who like most of the judges on the Ingham court has a Democratic background, appeared prepared for her orders to be appealed.

"Let's get this moving to the Court of Appeals because that's where you all are headed," she said.

She also ordered that a copy of her declaratory judgment be sent to President Barack Obama, saying he "bailed out Detroit" and may want to look into the pension issue.
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby conniption » Sat Jul 20, 2013 12:20 am

Bobby Bare - Detroit City

2:48 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6dP1xLk4rQ
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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Jul 22, 2013 8:28 am

apologies to Wommie for posting too many pictures

ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby beeline » Wed Jul 24, 2013 11:18 am

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/07/24/detr-j24.html

Leaked emails reveal conspiracy to throw Detroit into bankruptcy
By Bryan Dyne
24 July 2013

Leaked emails show that as far back as January, there were backroom discussions being held between Detroit and Lansing public officials and corporate law firm Jones Day suggesting that the best course for Detroit would be to send it through Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

The revelations expose the charade by Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr who claimed he only made the“tough decision to file bankruptcy reluctantly after thorough negotiations with creditors, pension trustees and public sector unions. In fact, all along Orr, Republican Governor Snyder, Detroit’s Democratic mayor and the powerful financial interests behind them, were determined to use federal bankruptcy laws to circumvent legal obstacles, including the state constitution and the city charter, for the gutting of city worker pensions and sale of public assets.

The emails were obtained by Robert Davis, a figure in the local political establishment tied closely to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 25. The Detroit unions have complained that Orr’s bankruptcy filing halted their efforts to reach a “good faith” deal with the emergency manager to impose his demands on their members.

Davis is involved in an ongoing lawsuit over whether Michigan Governor Rick Snyder violated Michigan's open meeting laws by ultimately appointing Orr not by the interview process through the Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board (ELB), but through closed door discussions.

One of the emails dated January 31, from Dan Moss, an associate at Jones Day who worked with Orr on the Chrysler bankruptcy and restructuring, told Orr the “ideal scenario” would be for Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Snyder to “go through an orderly Chapter 9.” Moss then stated his own reservations about whether an emergency manager would be useful in a city where his powers would be questioned at every turn, versus bankruptcy, where a federal judge simply dictates to the city what to sacrifice. Others involved in the discussions include Jones Day Managing Partner Stephen Brogan, Jones Day Partner Corinne Ball and Rick Snyder's Transformation Manager Richard Baird.

As last week’s events showed an emergency manager can declare bankruptcy anyway. As Orr himself once said, “I have a very powerful statute. I have a more powerful Chapter 9.” From the perspective of the local and national ruling elites—who consider Detroit a test case for cities around the country—they got the best of both worlds: an emergency manager essentially unchallenged from the Detroit establishment and a Chapter 9 bankruptcy to expedite the gutting of the city.

Davis previously revealed secret correspondence between Governor Snyder and Mayor Bing over the selection of Orr as emergency manager long before any public vetting process began. Orr was part of a Jones Day team, which pitched its services to the governor last January. The governor selected Orr because of his role as a bankruptcy attorney for Chrysler during the 2009 restructuring, where he shut down hundreds of dealerships, wiping out thousands of jobs. Moreover, as an African American and Democrat, Orr, would give the Republican governor some political cover in an overwhelmingly black population, officials thought.

The emails expose the anti-democratic nature of the emergency manager law itself. Voters last year rejected Public Act 4 overturning the emergency manager law passed in 2011. In response, Governor Snyder declared that an old law, Public Act 72, was back in force, allowing the state to appoint an “emergency financial manager.” Then, against the will of the public, the governor essentially changed the name of Public Act 4 to Public Act 436—the current EM law—and forced it through with bipartisan support in a lame duck Congress. PA 436, which gives even greater dictatorial powers to an “emergency manager” than PA 72, went into effect just after Orr was installed under the old law, and then was automatically upgraded three days later.

In his emails to his law partners at Jones Day, Orr expressed concern over the voter’s defeat of the previous law, noting, “So although the new law provides the thin veneer of a revision it is essentially a redo of the prior rejected law and appears to merely adopt the conditions necessary for a chapter 9 filing. The news reports state that opponents of the prior law are already lining up to challenge this law.”

Corinne Ball from Jones Day seems to have been a sounding board for Orr as to whether he would accept the position. An email sent by Orr from January 31 thanks her for showing him “alternative ways to skin this cat.” Such comments also show that Orr was being scouted by Snyder well before his appointment was officially announced or he was even interviewed, illegal under even PA 436, much less other Michigan laws.

It should come as little surprise that the decision to bankrupt Detroit was made long before the imposition of the emergency manager. The Obama administration used the same cynical ploy during the restructuring of GM and Chrysler in 2009, first claiming it wanted to avoid bankruptcy and then using the courts and the collaboration of the UAW to carry out a “managed bankruptcy.” The result was the shutdown of a dozen plants, the destruction of tens of thousands of jobs and the halving of wages for new workers.

Last year's consent agreement with Detroit, where city workers had their wages and benefits cut by 10 percent, was the first step in this process. Emergency management and bankruptcy were the next logical steps, providing Wall Street free access to loot not just workers' wages and benefits, but legally protected pensions and public assets. The latter includes the city’s lighting and water systems and even the masterpieces of the Detroit Institute of Art.

All the talk about the tragic, “tough choice” to declare bankruptcy was a lie. There was even discussion of how to present it, so that local politicians would take as little heat as possible. One email from Jones Day lawyer Dan Moss to Orr notes, “Making this [bankruptcy] a national issue is not a bad idea. It provides political cover for the state politicians.” The same email also notes that a successful Detroit bankruptcy, and the requisite destruction of living standards, will open up further patronage jobs for Snyder and Bing—“Cabinet, Senate or Corporate”—once their terms are ended.

Jones Day was involved in the discussions on Detroit's bankruptcy, and knew it was the end goal. As such, they positioned themselves to be hired by the city as its “restructuring consultant” to a tune of millions of dollars, and now stand to make even more. One estimate placed the legal costs for Detroit's bankruptcy at around $100 million, of which Jones Day now will most likely make a significant fraction.

Even the late July 18 filing was carried out on a conspiratorial basis. Orr and Snyder rushed the bankruptcy filing to preempt lawsuits filed by pension trustees and public-sector unions seeking to block bankruptcy on the grounds that it would lead to unconstitutional pension cuts. Attorneys for Snyder reportedly asked the lawyers representing the pension funds for a five-minute delay before they sought a temporary restraining order to block the bankruptcy filing. During those five minutes, Orr’s attorneys filed the bankruptcy petition in Detroit.

The destruction of basic democratic forms in Detroit is part of the broader assault on democracy nationally and internationally. The financial aristocracy realizes it cannot impose deeply unpopular measures on the population through democratic means and is therefore increasingly adopting authoritarian methods.
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Re: Poor Detroit

Postby beeline » Thu Jul 25, 2013 3:55 pm

video at link


http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10484


Detroit Red Wings Get New $400 Million Taxpayer-Financed Stadium While the City Goes Bankrupt

JAISAL NOOR, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jaisal Noor in Baltimore.

On Thursday, a U.S. bankruptcy judge suspended lawsuits challenging the City of Detroit's bankruptcy proceedings, ruling that emergency manager Kevyn Orr is a valid city official. Outside the federal courthouse, hundreds of Detroit residents protested, including firefighters and pensioners who fear their monthly payments will be reduced. In the next step of court proceedings, Detroit officials must demonstrate to the bankruptcy court that the city is insolvent.

Now joining us to talk about these latest developments is Frank Hammer. He's a retired General Motors employee and former president and chairman of Local 909 in Warren, Michigan. He now organizes with the Autoworker Caravan, an association of active and retired autoworkers who advocate for worker demands in Washington.

Thank you so much for joining us, Frank.

FRANK HAMMER, COFOUNDER, AUTOWORKER CARAVAN : Thank you for having me, Jaisal. And I'll add that I'm also a Detroit resident of over 40 years.

NOOR: That's right, a longtime Detroit resident and activist. So, Frank, now that the bankruptcy proceedings will go forward, what are pensioners doing to ensure that they will keep receiving their monthly payments?

HAMMER: I haven't seen any official pronouncements, but I did hear that the unions representing the city workers are going to continue to challenge the attempt to file the Chapter 9 bankruptcy. So I think they're going to a federal court to file an appeal. But I haven't seen any official pronouncements yet.

NOOR: So, Frank, Detroit's bankruptcy has been blamed on falling revenue, which has been a problem in Detroit for years. Can you give us a recap? What accounts for this falling revenue?

HAMMER: Well, I can point to two things, one that I mentioned in my prior interview with The Real News, and that was basically the exit of manufacturing jobs from the city of Detroit that's been going on over a long stretch of time. So with declining jobs, people leave. And therefore we have a declining population. Two hundred thousand left over the first decade of the 21st century. And then, on top of that, you have a financial crisis where the banks engage in predatory loan practices and trigger a massive number of foreclosures and evictions here in the city of Detroit. I think we have 90,000 vacant properties, probably, as a result of people having to move, but also people being cast out of their homes. And institutions that are behind this decline are none other than the Bank of America, which has basically swindled people, thousands and thousands of people in Detroit out of their homes. And as a result, you also have a dwindling tax base, and presto, we have a major city going into a bankruptcy proceeding.

NOOR: So, Frank, how would you compare the federal government's response to Detroit's bankruptcy to how they responded when the carmakers in Michigan were going bankrupt?

HAMMER: Well, I think that what's important to note about the relationship between the two is that at the time of the GM and Chrysler facing bankruptcy, that the federal government took the initiative to engage in something that was called structured bankruptcy, which meant that it could be completed in a relatively short amount of time. So far what I've heard in regards to Detroit is that a Chapter 9 proceeding, which, by the way, is unprecedented for this size of municipality, that this could take a very, very long time and could make a lot of lawyers rich.

Now, what needs to be done in the city of Detroit is something that autoworkers have been advocating for quite a while, and that is a reopening of these factories that have closed and to implementing new green technologies here in the city of Detroit to give it some kind of a future. And Obama recently made major policy speeches about having to address climate crisis. So it would seem that the federal government could sort of address two issues simultaneously, bringing the city back with employment and addressing impending climate change through developing a green technology. And Detroit could be a new green center. Obviously, that wouldn't be done overnight, but it seemed to me that without such a plan, the people of the city of Detroit will not benefit and the people of the planet are not going to benefit.

NOOR: And, Frank, we just got some breaking news that the Michigan strategic fund has decided to issue $450 million in bonds for a new stadium for the Detroit Red Wings, 44 percent of which will be financed publicly. Do you think this decision is emblematic of the development model that led Detroit on this path for years, if you can give us a brief comment?

HAMMER: Well, you know, I mean, I think that Detroit built a new baseball stadium, it built a new football stadium, and lo and behold, here we are a few years later and Detroit is still going into bankruptcy. So apparently building stadiums doesn't quite do the trick. And I think that a manufacturing model, a resurrection of manufacturing with green technology would be a much more permanent and sustainable solution.

NOOR: So, Frank, are these bankruptcy proceedings being viewed as an opportunity to privatize public assets in Detroit?

HAMMER: Most definitely. And I think that what's important for people to understand is that the way the governor's promoting this is to say that, oh, we're going to do this bankruptcy so that we can improve city services. And I have to tell you as a union member, as a UAW retiree, that this sounds a lot like the way the governor saw the right-to-work. It was on the basis of giving workers choice and creating jobs. Well, the right-to-work had nothing to do with their explanations, and the bankruptcy in Detroit has nothing to do with improving city services.

What it does have something to do with is a privatization of the city's assets. And if you're not convinced of that, I would recommend that our viewers go and see the website of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which is a right-wing Tea Party institution that has been promoting privatization for the city for years. And now that we're having the bankruptcy possibility, they see this as an opportunity to implement what has been their program for a long time. So they have a solution looking for a crisis. They don't have a crisis [incompr.] they're looking for a solution.

NOOR: Frank hammer, thank you so much for joining us.

HAMMER: Thank you, Jaisal.

NOOR: Thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
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