Detroit City Government Crisis : 2011

Financial dictator would rob Detroiters of their vote by: Charles Brown March 22 2011 tags: economy, African Americans, jobs, civil rights, Michigan DetroitJoeLouis2 DETROIT - A receivership or appointment of an "emergency" financial manager by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is hanging over this city's head, based on the phony claim that its deficit poses an "emergency" for the public health, welfare and safety. The financial manager could usurp the powers of the mayor, City Council, pension board, and the City Charter. The essence of this would be profoundly un-American and undemocratic. It would be a violation of Detroit residents' right to self-determination. In the larger historical view, the financial power structure that controls Detroit's economic investment and development is responsible for the long-term economic depression that has afflicted Detroit as it has become a majority Black, and proud, and disproportionately poor urban location. There has been a financial and investment blockade on Detroit by the private sector. Now the same financial power structure that for the last 35 years made Detroit what it is economically stands in the shadows as certain mouthpieces of money in Michigan state government threaten that the city may have to submit to receivership. Detroit did not become overwhelmingly Black because Black people planned to take it over. No, it was by default, from the long-term process, confirmed by social science experts, of out-migration of many whites to Detroit's surrounding communities. (See Thomas Sugrue's "The Origin of the Urban Crisis" and Coleman A. Young's "Hardstuff.") To this day, at least one official in Oakland County, north of the city, holds office based on opposition to integrating greater Detroit 40 years ago. My point is, it has not been Black people who made the Detroit metropolitan area the most segregated in the country (according to the last Census). The out-migration of economic wealth and investment by the financial power structure has created this out-migration, or "flight," of the population of this area. People must have jobs in our society. There is no other way to survive. People follow the jobs. People in Detroit need jobs and income. Detroit's fiscal stresses are rooted in the job deficit and the business deficit. The people of Detroit also have the right to the democratic election of their own leaders. This principle was proven in the election vote on ending the state takeover of the Detroit Public Schools board several years ago. America owes the majority Black population of Detroit equality of citizenship, which means the right of self-determination and self-governance, especially with regard to the financial matters of its city government. This is irrefutable, given the history of the struggles of Black people in the civil rights movement in America. Drawing on this historical context, Detroiters demand that any accounting of their own government, any assessment of the city of Detroit's fiscal health, be made based on the following issues: * Down through the years, returns to city residents in public services and funding do not equal the federal and state taxes Detroiters have paid. We say federal and state governments owe Detroit because we have not gotten full value for taxes paid to them. * We think the tax breaks given to municipal bondholders on Wall Street should be shared with Detroit, which sold them the bonds, providing the tax breaks based on Detroit's municipal status. This must now be given back to Detroit in a substantial forgiveness of current bond debts. * Finally, the state of Michigan, under former Governor John Engler, made a deal with Detroit under former Mayor Dennis Archer: Detroit would reduce its income taxes in exchange for revenue sharing from the state to the city. The state has not lived up to its end of this bargain. It has cut revenue sharing to Detroit. This reversal has hurt Detroit's fiscal situation. Declaring a public emergency because of a fiscal deficit is a fraud. A fiscal deficit does not endanger the public health, safety and welfare. The powers-that-be are using this lie as a cover for robbing the people of Detroit of their vote and their assets, and robbing city workers of wages, benefits and pensions. In a protest rally at the state Capitol in Lansing this month, state Sen. Coleman Young quoted founding father Patrick Henry, saying, "Give me liberty or give me death." United Auto Workers President Bob King said the struggle against the tea-Republican Party attacks on the people of Michigan will be responded to by a struggle all the way to November 2012. We in Michigan will follow the lead of our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin. Photo: The famous sculpture of Joe Louis' fist, in downtown Detroit. The photographer calls it "a symbol of the strength of Detroit and its people." ktpupp CC 2.0 6 hours ago · Like Tammy Barbour Hi, this is my favorite quote of Charles: The whole purpose of the Emergency Manager law is to shield Wall Street municipal bond banks from sharing in the pain of a city's fiscal crisis. I know that sounds too evil to be true, but it is and it is why what is happening now is happening. The EM law's preamble says that its purpose is to protect the State of Michigan's bond rating, and the only way to do that is to give first priority to Detroit paying Wall Street municipal bondholders before City workers or for provision of services to the People of Detroit. Instead of the EM boondoggle law, fiscal crisis should mean cities go into bankruptcy where bond debts would be forgiven. So, the State of Michigan, Governor, Legislature, Courts, as craven agents of Wall Street , passed the emergency manager law to cut as much as possible from everything but Wall Street bond debt payments. It cuts city services and protection of the public health, safety and welfare; and city workers' wages, benefits, jobs, pensions; and sells everything of value such as Belle Isle or the Water Department BEFORE Wall Street municipal or city bond holders are cut at all. The Tea Party is UnAmerican: A City budget deficit does not cause an emergency to the public health, welfare and safety by Shields Green The Michigan Dictator bill rationalizes imposing a dictator on cities and towns based on an alleged emergency to the public health , welfare and safety due to a budget deficit. However, a municipal budget deficit does not remove critical city services from the People, the citizens , the Electors. The deficit or fiscal stress causes a threat to the revenue streams that Wall Street sucks like blood as a vampire from the working class' wealth, but not to the well being of the great mass of the People. A moratorium on payments to Wall Street on municipal bonds would go a long way toward keeping full pay , benefits and pensions to city workers and retirees. Realistically, it is these city workers who keep the PUBLIC HEALTH , WELFARE AND SAFETY, NOT WALL STREET BANKERS AND HEDGE FUNDS. These government jobs are jobs. Real jobs. When we say we need jobs, jobs, jobs, to cut government jobs is an insane as cutting taxes on the rich and giant corporations , where the money is , to cut the deficit. A moratorium or substantial forgiveness ( a Jubilee) on mortgage foreclosures and payments would keep tens of millions of dollars in the hands of the working class in the Detroit Metropolitan area, Detroit, Macomb, Oakland and Monroe.. It is to keep the People's money flowing to Wall Street and the Big Banks that the State of Michigan, the Governor , who is the real Dictator in the Dictator law, tells the Big Lie that he must impose himself as a tyrant on the City , through his agents the State Treasurer and an socalled Emergency Manager ( There is no emergency to the pubilc, but to the monied classes looting us) It must tell this Big Lie to justify the UnAmerican act of stealing a City population's fundamental democratic privileges to choose on its own the officials to control the City's wealth, assets, wages, benefits and pensions, all that is valuable to the People's municipal corporation. The State is training a corps of financial gestapo, all imbued with the money drunk philosophy of business accounting, Wallstreet technical minions to shift wealth from the working masses and their local government to the finance capital and Big Business. This was the purpose of taking over the DPS when there was billion dollar bond sale years ago. This was the purpose in imposing the Dictator on DPS more recently: to take the People's money and give it to private enterprises, and crony capitalists. The DPS dictatorship is a pilot program, a test of the reaction of the People of Detroit as to how they will react to a dictatorial seizure of the City government. There have bee insufficient mass protests against the DPS dictatorship to deter a dictatorship over Detroit. So, the Powers-that-be are moving quickly to seize Detroit. Only a protracted mass movement from the Bottom up of militant protest, state initiative and referendum petitions and votes, recall petitions and votes, of the Governor in the first place, and 2012 election votes with a tremendous increase in voter turnout , in Detroit in the first place, will stop the fascist, unAmerican attack from the tea-Republicans and their Wall street and Big Business masters. See you at the protests at the Capitol and in Wall Street's face. All Power to We, the People ! We are one. Speak Power in the Streets ! Carry on ! Vote Democratic. White supremacy surges in Michigan state government By Shields Green Republican Governor Rick Snyder, State Treasurer Andy Dillon and the Republican legislators are ratcheting up for a white supremacist* takeover of Detroit from its people and elected officials as has already been done with the Detroit Public Schools. They are aggravating the law, empowering an emergency financial manager to act as an un-elected dictator, seizing all the powers of the mayor and city council, who are chosen by the People of Detroit, attack city workers� wages and benefits and take control of all the city�s assets. We can expect that they will dispose of the assets to further enrich suburban and out-state rich people. The new dictatorial, un-American law is going through the legislature lickity split headed for the governor to sign. They are preparing to steal the vote of the Detroit Black majority. It is not a surprise that this happens as we celebrate for Black History Month, our first, all-Black Detroit City Council. This state action is the culmination of many years of out-state takeovers of majority Black Detroit by majority white populations out-state. The DPS takeovers by Governors John Engler and Jennifer Granholm were preceded by the abolition of Recorders� Court, the abolition of city residency requirements for city workers, snatching of Cobo Hall, and federal court takeover of the water department. The majority of white Michiganders also passed a Constitutional Amendment outlawing affirmative action. The latest colonialist, white supremacist action is done under the phony claim that Detroit is fiscally irresponsible. This comes from a state that is more than a billion dollars into fiscal irresponsibility; a state that used a huge swathe of federal stimulus money to cover-up its own �fiscal irresponsibility,� all the while with its White Supremacist Tea Partiers denouncing President Obama, who is Black, for providing said stimulus money. Can you belieive it? In other words, out of one side of the Republicans� mouth, they won the mid-term election by attacking President Obama and on the other side of their mouths, instead of providing some of the money for impoverished Detroit. They use the money from Obama to hide their own bankruptcy and then turnaround and move to steal Detroit�s public wealth to enrich their sectors. The state has reneged on a deal between Engler and former mayor Dennis Archer to pay Detroit more than $200 million (which would balance Detroit�s deficit) while restricting Detroit from raising its income taxes. Thus, the state is forcing the city into an alleged �fiscal irresponsibility� as a shell game to seize the city�s wealth and power. Both Michigan and Detroit are in difficult fiscal straits, not because of the failings of government, but the failings of private business, finance and industry which have caused Michigan to fall into a one-state depression and Detroit into a 30-year depression. The People United will not be defeated. Fight the Powers that be! *We use �white supremacist� rather than �racist� because the white supremacists have reversed the meaning of the venerable sixties rhetorical term �racist� in the public dialogue to use it mainly to slander Black people as �racist� or �reverse racist.� Hopefully , �white supremacist� will be more difficult to twist.