Posted on 07/18/2011 10:40:47 AM PDT by fifedom
After years of declining tax revenues, cities and towns across the country are now running out of ways to deal with their ballooning budget deficits. ... Public employee costs account for a large share of municipal budget woes.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Who would have thunk it to be these cities..../s
Default, and reset public sector workers’ expectations much, much lower during recovery from default. Tear up the contracts and start over.
Does that sound cold-blooded? Sorry.
Because here is the cold, hard truth: this WILL happen, sooner or later, one way or the other.
At some point, the argument transcends politics. “We don’t have the will to reduce their benefits” changes to “we don’t have the resources to keep paying”.
Add Omaha, NE to the list as well. The Police and Fire Unions are raping that town.
They missed Cincinnati.
http://www.roxannequalls.com/home/current_council_issues/cincinnati_pension_fund.html
The $2.1 billion CRS — the combined pension fund and retiree health care plan — faces a $1 billion-plus long-term shortfall that could grow to $1.5 billion in five years. Unless major changes are implemented now, CRS could be depleted by 2028, consultants have told the city.
The real underlying issue is PE retirement costs. This is virtually everywhere. The big liberal cities are in the forefront of articles like this, but it’s a universal problem that government at all levels refuses to address. Just look at Colorado Springs unwillingness to even try to gauge the size of their own problem. On a global basis, nearly all governments are broke! They have over promised everyone, their employees and their citizens. Unless they do something now (and I don’t see them doing it) we are going to see revolts around the globe ( like Greece).
The unions purposely cut active duty cops and firemen, plus teachers, to have maximum effect on the public.
The Unions, like all Leftists, do not care about honor, ethics or public safety, they care about votes and cash, and not necessarily in that order.
If you reduce pensions, you can keep cops on the street. Unions want more crime so people cry for more cops.
Liberalism is thuggery incarnate.
Big liberal cities, what a surprise.
“As federal stimulus money runs dry, states are scaling back on municipal aid and revenue sharing”
This shows one reason why the stimulus money did not work. The majority of the money went to prop up government entities.
You know, when she was mayor she changed the speed limit around city hall from 25 mph to lickety-split...
16 U.S. Cities That Could Face Bankruptcy in 2011
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2646712/posts
1.San Diego, Ca.
2.New York, NY
3.San Jose, Ca.
4.Cincinnati, Oh.
5.Honolulu, Hi.
6.San Francisco, Ca.
7.Los Angeles, Ca.
8.Washington, D.C.
9.Newark, NJ
10.Detroit, Mi
11.Reading, Pa
12.Joliet, Il
13.Camden, NJ
14.Hamtramck, Mi
15.Central Falls, RI
16.Paterson, N.J.
BONUS: Chicago, Il
the Springs? Costa Mesa (in OC CA)?
didn’t think these were liberal cities..
Pittsburgh city government has never laid off a police officer or firefighter and has the same number of both despite a population drop of about 60% since the city’s peak population.
What’s funny is the region is stable and the surrounding counties are booming. Everyone still works here and identifies themselves as Pittsburghers but no one wants to live in the actual city. If you knew how inept their actual services were, blizzard of 2010 the prime example, you wouldn’t want to pay their costs for what you get either.
16 U.S. Cities That Could Face Bankruptcy in 2011
So many more to choose from ... and states, too.
She was vilified for speaking the truth on CBS 60 Minutes, even receiving numerous death threats, but Meredith Whitney was exactly correct. Many state and local governments are in the same or worse financial condition than Uncle Sam.
And at least twelve of the fourteen have been controlled by majority-democrat city councils and/or democrat mayors for the last 20 or more years, right?
Well, labs test are in- FAIL. We know what not to do and who not to emulate.
Socialism only works until you run out of other people’s money.
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