Quote:

Originally Posted by Rochard You are being childish. You are taking the worst of the worst, a city that was fucked long before the recession, and blaming it on the democrats. In fact, maybe we should blame i on the republicans because Detroit was in decline long before the recession hit, and the recession just bitch smacked Detroit even harder. But I don't think it's fair to blame what's happening in Detroit on the republicans or the democrats. Detroit has been in decline since it reached it's population peak in the 1950s, and you cant' really blame that on either side or even the federal government.

The decline began in early 1974 -- that OPEC Oil embargo caught Detroit by surprise. Add the EPA regulations, with the long period of stagflation caused by President Nixon, Ford and Carter's Administrations and the actions of their respective Congress' bungling (or incompetence). Then add the UAW's bad and in some cases corrupt obstruction and half assed adversarial relationship with the automakers.

Greed and the rats fighting for the last bits of meat destroyed the (old) foundation of the auto industry in Detroit.

Then in desperation, state and local property tax abatements and reassessments were offered to "save" the factories or build new ones.

Times are relatively prosperous with half the auto jobs gone. Plant closures and some consolidation. A few recessions, including 1982 - 1984 the Regan recession, shovelled dirt on Detroit's grave ...

Then comes the "Great Recession."
The old General Motors, with management mostly to blame, ended up bankrupt.
Chrysler, a now owned by Cerburus, files bankruptcy, emerges from bankruptcy owned by Fiat.
Ford managed to survive intact making money in Europe and Asia with sustainable losses in the USA.

The results: the shareholders, many of them employees (mainly line workers) with most of their 401K invested in company stock, they drank the Koolaid, had their retirement savings wiped out. Other "wall street equity stock investors" lost it all. Chrysler creditors and secured debt holders (bondholders) got 29 cents on the Dollar for their holdings.

Overview of the GM and Chrysler Bankruptcies:
http://www.heritage.org/research/com...ts-the-economy

http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publi...he-rule-of-law

These are some of your reasons why Detroit is bankrupt. The other main reason is the political corruption in Detroit for 40 years ... It is not a Democrat-Republican issue Detroit fucked itself over with some help ...

How the Detroit Bankruptcy is going:
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/9...OIT-BANKRUPTCY