Calling it “an important milestone” in Detroit’s comeback, Gov. Rick Snyder Friday morning signed legislation that adds $195 million in state aid to a pool of $466 million in private funds to help the city emerge from bankruptcy.
Snyder signed the so-called “grand bargain” bills during a ceremony in the former Globe Trading Building, which the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is transforming into an Outdoor Adventure Center through a $13 million public-private partnership. The grand bargain is intended to limit cuts to city pensions and protect Detroit Institute of Arts masterworks from being sold.
Municipal and state governments that are run by liberals who are in the pockets of Big Labor eventually get bankrupted by the pension deals that are rammed down everyone’s throats. My home state was once the fifth largest economy in the world. Funding public employee union greed dropped it to ninth almost overnight (it has recently bounced back to eighth). It is still firmly on track to eventually be crippled by its pension liabilities, however.
Now the taxpayers of Michigan who don’t get cushy pensions are supposed to pony up for irresponsible Big Labor practices.
Those of us based in reality often have the “Why don’t governments have to behave like citizens when it comes to money?” conversation.
Regular Americans are forced to sell things that are precious to them in order to survive all the time. Houses, businesses, land, jewelry…it’s all fair game for sale when we are broke. I had to sell every valuable thing I had during a difficult post-divorce period.
The Catholic Church has been closing schools and parishes to sell the real estate in order to pay for the abuse scandal settlements.
Why do governments get a free pass? Why should a family in Grand Rapids fork over hard earned money just so Detroit can keep its art museum goodies (it should be noted that I am a huge fan and moderate patron of the arts)?
It’s a fair question.
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