◼ Hot new legal consideration: Does it honor President Obama? - Doug Powers/Michelle Malkin
Yesterday, Michigan Ingham Country Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina ruled that Detroit’s bankruptcy filing must be withdrawn because it is in her opinion unconstitutional (in Michigan, ◼ “reality is unconstitutional”).
Before issuing her ruling, Aquilina said ◼ this:
“It’s cheating, sir, and it’s cheating good people who work,” the judge told assistant state Attorney General Brian Devlin. “It’s also not honoring the (United States) president, who took (Detroit’s auto companies) out of bankruptcy.”◼ Detroit Surrenders As If It Had Been Invaded - Mark Steyn/IBD
...To achieve this level of devastation, you usually have to be invaded by a foreign power. In the War of 1812, when Detroit was taken by a remarkably small number of British troops without a shot being fired, Michigan's Gov. Hull was said to have been panicked into surrender after drinking heavily.
Two centuries later, after an almighty 50-year bender, the city surrendered to itself.
The tunnel from Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit is now a border between First World and Third World — or, if you prefer, developed world and post-developed world....
◼ Detroit's foreseeable bankruptcy: Coming to a nation near you? - Andrew Malcolm/IBD
...Detroit has about 700,000 people now, more than 80% black. In the 1950's it had nearly two million residents and was the nation's fourth-largest city.
Thursday, their city became the largest U.S. municipality to declare bankruptcy. Others may soon follow. And in a disturbing, eerie way those festering financial problems locally are likely precursors of a similar simmering national debt dilemma.
Perhaps these words ring a bell for Americans watching their federal government in Washington: Over-spending, lack of jobs, no fiscal restraint, chronically high unemployment, bloated entitlements, inept politicians, corruption, ineffective governing, missing political courage. Figuring someone else will handle the debt down the road....
◼ CA take note: MI state judge tests federal bankruptcy law - John Seiler/Cal WatchDog
For municipal bankruptcy, all eyes across the nation now turn to Detroit.
The latest: Michigan Circuit Court Judge Rosemary Aquilina ordered Detroit’s bankruptcy filings be withdrawn because they violate state law guaranteeing that pensions must be paid to public employees. The bankruptcy filing seeks to reduce all city liabilities, including pensions, by 90 percent.
Reported the Detroit News:
” ‘It’s absolutely needed,’ said Judge Rosemary Aquilina, observing she hopes Gov. Rick Snyder ‘reads certain sections of the [Michigan] constitution and reconsiders his actions.’….
“ ‘It’s cheating, sir, and it’s cheating good people who work,’ the judge told assistant state Attorney General Brian Devlin. ‘It’s also not honoring the president, who took [Detroit’s auto companies] out of bankruptcy.’”
She gets wrong what happened. Federal bankruptcy court would have dealt with the Chrysler and GM bankruptcies. But President Obama and the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress stepped in and passed bailout legislation. The two auto giants were declared “too big to fail....”
◼ If Obama Had A City, It Would Look like Detroit - Richard Butrick/American Thinker
