Friday, March 15, 2013

AMERICA - Detroit Under Fiscal Dictatorship

"Michigan Gov. Puts Detroit Under Emergency Fiscal Management" PBS Newshour 3/14/2013

Excerpt

MARGARET WARNER (Newshour):  It was once a bustling Midwestern city alive with people, the humming heart of the auto industry.  But Detroit today is just a shell of that, with widespread decay and population loss.  The 2010 census showed one person moved away from the city every 22 minutes in the last decade.

WOMAN:  It makes me sick.  I want to leave.  I wish I had somewhere else to go, because I would leave and never come back.

MARGARET WARNER:  Detroit is also the poorest major city in the U.S., running big annual deficits and $14 billion dollars in debt.  All of that led Michigan's Republican governor, Rick Snyder, today to declare a financial emergency and recommend the appointment of an emergency financial manager for the city, Kevyn Orr.

GOV. RICK SNYDER, R-Mich.:  And if you look at the history of the city, this is a problem that's been evolving for 50-plus years.  This is a problem that now has reached a true crisis point.

In many respects, it's a sad day, to say we have this day, but again I like to view it as a day of opportunity.  This is an opportunity for us to work together.

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