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States Need Bankruptcy Option
Townhall.com ^ | January 26, 2011 | Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

Posted on 01/26/2011 5:14:55 AM PST by Kaslin

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1 posted on 01/26/2011 5:14:56 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

When GM went bankrupt, were the bond-holders protected?

If State’s bankruptcy ever seems like it makes sense, reflect for a moment on who will divide the spoils.


2 posted on 01/26/2011 5:18:06 AM PST by agere_contra (Historically every time the Left has 'expanded its moral imagination' the results have been horrific)
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To: Kaslin

Oh come on, “Education” and police services aren’t the place to start. Get rid of the programs that aren’t part and parcel of a state’s constitutional obligations.

And besides, why talk about “programs” first? Start with employment, benefits, raises, pensions. Cut marginal performers and under performers first. Who would miss them. Cut or freeze benefits and compensation, especially pensions. Tough toenails if it “hurts” some government employees. They’ve enjoyed way too much compensation/benefits vis a vis their private counterparts, and way too much job security as well. Time to shake the trees.


3 posted on 01/26/2011 5:23:45 AM PST by A_Former_Democrat (The Rodney King Riots: Courtesy of ABC, CBS, NBC & CNN)
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To: Kaslin

I would say that allowing a state to absolve itself of debt is too much of a tyranny.

The executive branch can dissolve a union. If they do not want to do that, they can force more concessions in court by demonstrating that the unions are not bargaining “in good faith”, just like the unions do to them.


4 posted on 01/26/2011 5:24:47 AM PST by fruser1
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To: Kaslin

Complete BS article, presuming that the current massive spending is all necessary.

The citizens of those states (and this country) have collectively chosen poorly and now must deal with their failure.

States like California should be forced (allowed) to resolve their own problems. Some will foolishly do anything they can to maintain spending and enter into a death spiral, others will cut spending and in doing so provide an example for others.

And the citizens of the states that have chosen wisely will reap the rewards either way.


5 posted on 01/26/2011 5:25:48 AM PST by SampleMan (If all of the people currently oppressed shared a common geography, bullets would already be flying.)
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To: Kaslin
A state bankruptcy option is bad voodoo given states have the ability now to get a grip on their fiscal apocalypse. Giving the states a bankruptcy option will set a precedence none of us want because as with the alleged bankruptcy of GM, etc., the public unions and pensions will come out of all of it virtually unscathed, bet.
6 posted on 01/26/2011 5:27:22 AM PST by cranked
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To: agere_contra
"When GM went bankrupt, were the bond-holders protected?"

There's the rub. In the GM bankruptcy many bond holders saw their life savings wiped out when the Court blatantly violated the law and gave their assets to the Unions thus rewarding the greed of the very institution which drove GM into Bankruptcy in the first place. Anyone think allowing State's into Bky court would be much different.

7 posted on 01/26/2011 5:29:28 AM PST by circlecity
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To: SampleMan
Complete BS article

Yes, it is.

Defund collectives. The laboratories of democracy have become the stomping gounds for collectivists/socialists/totalitarians and any other labe you want to stick on anti-individual gangs.

8 posted on 01/26/2011 5:30:55 AM PST by PGalt
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To: Kaslin

Only Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are protected against BK - everyone else is on their own.


9 posted on 01/26/2011 5:31:49 AM PST by jd777
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To: PGalt

The monster is so bloated it cannot stand upright by itself anymore....lets start with schools..

when did the local school become a restaurant???Feeding breakfast and lunch to school kiddies on the government dime? All meticulously and lovingly hand prepared by government (union) officals....close the kitchens, layoff all kitchen workers, and tell mommy or daddy to drag their butts out of bed, cook breakfast and pack lunch for their kids.....enormous savings right there....

when did the school have to hire limosine services for the kiddies? Privitize this crap right now, and save tons of cash......

most large corporations oursource janitorial services...why not schools???

how many adminsitrators does it take to run an elementary school....back in my day a principal, vice principal and 2 secretaries did the job....now you have 3 times this many people.....

tons of savings right here without even going into teachers salary...that could be step 2


10 posted on 01/26/2011 5:46:29 AM PST by joe fonebone (The House has oversight of the Judiciary...why are the rogue judges not being impeached?)
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To: Kaslin

Dick Morris sounds like the Big Government guy he has always been.

We need to force the politicians to cut expenses and if the politicians start playing games as to which expenses are cut, then the voters need to clean house and put in a new slate of officers who will do the job right.

The scorecard now reads Morris and Gingrich as big advocates of big government. Who else is going to join the “shunned by conservatives” list?:


11 posted on 01/26/2011 5:46:29 AM PST by Presbyterian Reporter
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To: joe fonebone

-——back in my day a principal, vice principal and 2 secretaries did the job-——

You misunderstand the system. The system exists to pay educators, not to educate children.

Children are merely cannon fodder

America has no education system, it has an educator system


12 posted on 01/26/2011 5:49:44 AM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. N.C. D.E. +12 .....( History is a process, not an event ))
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To: SampleMan

I was going to post what you posted, almost word for word. Thanks for saving me the trouble. It is, indeed, BS.


13 posted on 01/26/2011 5:55:22 AM PST by CitizenUSA (Coming soon! DADT...for Christians.)
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To: bert

“”The system exists to pay educators, not to educate children. Children are merely cannon fodder. America has no education system, it has an educator system””

Thanks for the reminder regarding the US school system.


14 posted on 01/26/2011 6:15:19 AM PST by Presbyterian Reporter
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To: Kaslin

bankruptcy is meaningless for a state.

they can simply renounce their debt.
nobody can do anything to the state.


15 posted on 01/26/2011 6:23:10 AM PST by Talf
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To: SampleMan
The article doesn't actually propose letting the states out of their debts. It suggests letting them void existing labor contracts and go back to the bargaining table with the unions. Those contracts represent a different kind of debt that the state has incurred. I think state employee unions generally have far too much power, but I'm not sure there is a sound reason to let the states get out of one type of liability while not allowing any flexibility on the rest.

However, it does seem that when it goes to the courts, the union members usually make out better than nameless investors holding bonds.

16 posted on 01/26/2011 6:52:26 AM PST by untrained skeptic
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To: Kaslin

State bankruptcy throws off the shackles for demanding responsible fiscal behavior for the states. Just as many individuals will be irresponsible, so will states - already California and Illinois, along with others, have been irresponsible without a promise of bankruptcy. And think about the Federal government mandates to the states where Federal spending can be off-loaded down to the state level and eliminated like a flush of the toilet through state bankruptcy.

Finally, worst of all, this is another ruse whereby wealth can be redistributed to Federal liking. Think of all the pension funds and investors in GM who lost money when the Federal government swiped their equity and gave it to the UAW and the US government. The same kind of entities, companies and individuals invest in obligations of states as well. Bankrupcy courts could just cancel those obligations and transfer that wealth back to the states, or holders of state obligations that those in power like better.

State bankrupty is not just a horrible and atrocious idea, it is raw evil at work.


17 posted on 01/26/2011 6:55:42 AM PST by RatRipper (I'll ride a turtle to work every day before I buy anything from Government Motors.)
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To: Kaslin

Or, you know, the states could sell off assets!

Why are we discussing the bankruptcy of states when those states own a lot of property that could be sold before they have nothing left?

More of the idiotic group-think from the usual suspects.

People tend to get the government they deserve.


18 posted on 01/26/2011 7:05:21 AM PST by MichiganConservative (Terrorists don't commit genocide. That's what governments do.)
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To: Kaslin
...out of vital services like education and police protection. Cuts of this magnitude will almost destroy the education of a large part of this generation of students.

Give me a break. Nanny government won't be able to pay for it, so you'll go through life ignorant and uneducated?

Given the state of education institutions in this country, this option might not be all that bad.

19 posted on 01/26/2011 7:08:32 AM PST by MichiganConservative (Terrorists don't commit genocide. That's what governments do.)
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To: Kaslin
...out of vital services like education and police protection. Cuts of this magnitude will almost destroy the education of a large part of this generation of students.

Give me a break. Nanny government won't be able to pay for it, so you'll go through life ignorant and uneducated?

Given the state of education institutions in this country, this option might not be all that bad.

20 posted on 01/26/2011 7:08:43 AM PST by MichiganConservative (Terrorists don't commit genocide. That's what governments do.)
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