If it walks like a bribe and quacks like a bribe

Michigan Republicans are hoping that the lure of state cash will entice Detroit city officials into accepting an Emergency Financial Manager without a fuss. After stripping $152.2 million in annual revenue sharing from the city, Republicans are pushing a familiar theme: take away funding or increase taxes then give a bit back to make themselves look benevolent.

Details after the jump.

The dysfunction continues…

In a series of events that only serves to highlight the dysfunctional relationship between Detroit’s elected officials, the Detroit City Council voted Wednesday to fight the imposition of an Emergency Financial Manager and, a short time later, Mayor Dave Bing went before the media to say it was a stupid idea that he would not be supporting.

All the gory details after the jump.

Democracy is not disposable

Today at 4 p.m., there will be a townhall meeting in Detroit, Michigan to protest the imposition of an anti-democratic Emergency Financial Manager on Michigan’s largest city. Details are below. You can RSVP and get more information at their Facebook event page HERE.

Click through for details on this event and a prayer vigil to be held this Thursday.

How do you build a city up armed only with implements of destruction?

This afternoon, Governor Rick Snyder announced that he will appoint an Emergency Financial Manager for Detroit calling it a “sad day” that he wished “had never happened in the history of Detroit”. As I have already detailed in a post that has been cited by MSNBC and Huffington Post among others, this will result in 49% of the African Americans in Michigan being without a democratically-elected government.

Click through for more.

My heart is broken When Anne and I go to Detroit, and we do so regularly for concerts or the art museum and other events, I always see ghosts. Ghosts of the grand neighborhoods that once were. Ghosts of parks as they used to be. Ghosts of stores and shops and streets that once bustled with vibrant energy. Ghosts of […]

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An accumulated deficit of $327 million. Unfunded obligations of nearly $15 billion with almost $2 billion due in the next five years. A District Court that is owed almost $280 million and which collects only 7.7% of what they are owed each year. A nearly $1 billion 2012 deficit masked by long-term borrowing with no foreseeable ability to pay it back. The city’s bond, pension and retiree health care liabilities account for 35 to 42 cents of every dollar the city takes in.

These items and more led to yesterday’s formal declaration by a state financial review team that, yes, Detroit is in a state of financial emergency without a plan to solve it. Not a big surprise to anyone paying attention but one that puts the situation into clear focus.

My analysis after the jump.

Fighting racism and stereotypes one gun shop at a time

After receiving complaints from various folks in the Royal Oak area, Dawud Walid,
executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Michigan (CAIR) paid a visit to Target Sports and found them selling a target depicting a skeleton wearing a turban and traditional Muslim clothing. He purchased a couple of the targets and then had a conversation with the store owner, Ray Jihad. By the time their conversation ended, Jihad had agreed to stop selling the shooting targets.

Details after the jump.

Don’t be the punchline of a dumb joke

There’s a joke that talks about a guy stranded on a desert island. A man paddles by on a raft and asks, “Would you like some help?” “No,” answered the guy, “God will help me.”

A few days later a boat pulls up and the driver asks, “Would you like some help”? “No,” the guy answered again, “God will save me.”

The next day a helicopter lands on the island and the pilot says, “Hop on! I’ll help you!” “No,” says the man a third time, “God will help me.”

A week later, the man is despondent. “God, why won’t you save me?!” the man shouts to the heavens.

A booming voice from the sky answers, “Dude, I sent you a raft, a boat and a helicopter. What else do you want from me?”

This is exactly the situation Detroit was in with regard to Belle Isle. Long a “jewel” in Detroit, it has fallen into shameful disrepair over the past couple of decades. The State of Michigan offered to lease the island from Detroit, make it a State Park, and restore it back to some semblance of its original beauty.

Find out how the Detroit City Council blew it after the jump.

Hmmm…imagine that

One of my favorite up-and-coming bloggers, Amy Kerr Hardin, has a piece up right now at her site Democracy Tree that shows the incredible hypocrisy behind Michigan Republicans’ efforts to “reform” Michigan schools. The piece, “Education Achievement Authority — NOT Fiscally Responsible”, shows that John Covington, the Chancellor of the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan, has applied for and received millions of dollars in federal grants in order to fund the EAA’s efforts to fix Michigan’s poorest performing schools. Seems he has found that the current level of per-pupil funding is inadequate.

Much more after the jump.

Roll the tape, Jim…

The finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and former Michigan Republican Party chairman Ron Weiser was caught on tape talking serious trash about Detroit back in August. In light of the fact that Michigan Republicans seem hellbent on taking control of the city and its resources and revenues, this major party figure’s comments, hideous as they are, are very illuminating.

Let’s roll tape (after the jump.)

Look out, Detroit! It’s coming right for ya!

The Detroit Free Press is reporting this afternoon that an Emergency Financial Manager is being called “inevitable” for Detroit. If that happens, over half of the African Americans in Michigan will be under the rule of an Emergency Financial Manager, with little to no say in the operation of their local government.

Details and commentary after the jump.