Snyder's Demise
Rick Snyder either flunked all of the civic classes he ever had or the years that he successfully spent in the business world drained his memory of all that he was taught. In a democracy elected officials work for the citizens of the state.
A well functioning democracy requires not only the implementation of sound policy and ideas; it also requires the Governor to communicate to his citizens informing them ahead of time what he plans on doing and why he is doing it. This is Snyder's downfall and it is likely to cost him in the 2014 election. The Governor and his team obviously did a poor job in selling the citizens of the state on the wisdom of the Emergency Manager law during the last election. This in turn forced him to ram the law through the legislature after the election in order to deal with the financial emergencies of the state, including Detroit.
I tend to give Snyder the benefit of the doubt. I believe he knew of the possible consequences, including not being reelected, but he felt he needed to do it anyway for the good of the state. Detroit is in deep financial trouble and bankruptcy is one avenue that needed to be explored and it is possibly the best alternative for the city and its residence. Communication is once again a key component of managing this crisis and Snyder and Orr seem to be falling short.
The citizens of Detroit should understand it would be a mistake if Orr, representing the city, shared his every thought concerning his negotiations with the creditors with the citizens of Detroit. This would be like being in a poker game and while the game was in progress you told all your opponents the cards you were holding in your hands. You would lose every time.
Well, Orr is in a poker game with the city's creditors and they are monitoring everything they can to try and determine what Orr is holding and what he is thinking. As a result, he cannot be candid about everything.
So, the voters have every right to throw Snyder's butt out in 2014. In the meantime, recognize the talent that Orr has and accept the fact his opponents are watching and listening to everything he says so he cannot be totally candid. .
A well functioning democracy requires not only the implementation of sound policy and ideas; it also requires the Governor to communicate to his citizens informing them ahead of time what he plans on doing and why he is doing it. This is Snyder's downfall and it is likely to cost him in the 2014 election. The Governor and his team obviously did a poor job in selling the citizens of the state on the wisdom of the Emergency Manager law during the last election. This in turn forced him to ram the law through the legislature after the election in order to deal with the financial emergencies of the state, including Detroit.
I tend to give Snyder the benefit of the doubt. I believe he knew of the possible consequences, including not being reelected, but he felt he needed to do it anyway for the good of the state. Detroit is in deep financial trouble and bankruptcy is one avenue that needed to be explored and it is possibly the best alternative for the city and its residence. Communication is once again a key component of managing this crisis and Snyder and Orr seem to be falling short.
The citizens of Detroit should understand it would be a mistake if Orr, representing the city, shared his every thought concerning his negotiations with the creditors with the citizens of Detroit. This would be like being in a poker game and while the game was in progress you told all your opponents the cards you were holding in your hands. You would lose every time.
Well, Orr is in a poker game with the city's creditors and they are monitoring everything they can to try and determine what Orr is holding and what he is thinking. As a result, he cannot be candid about everything.
So, the voters have every right to throw Snyder's butt out in 2014. In the meantime, recognize the talent that Orr has and accept the fact his opponents are watching and listening to everything he says so he cannot be totally candid. .
This is a hoax. I've looked at the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports for the City of Detroit, and what they're doing is counting liabilities that are due farther than a year out and reporting all that debt as CURRENT debt! This is just a big money grab. I'm not saying that the City Administrators were saints, but there's a reason that snyder & company are charging the City hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars. And snyder made sure that he got Jones Day on board.
ReplyDeleteThe worst part about this is that the very same banks that fraudulently manipulated the LIBOR interest rates to sack the City (and other municipalities) on the interest rate swaps are now coming in to enforce payment at the expense of the general welfare of the City. The debts are fraudulent, and count for approximately $400 million. This is extortion on working people for the benefit of rich corporations that are robbing the entire country blind. America is going straight down the tubes, and most people are going along with it because the corporate mass media is on board for this fleecing of the country. See https://realitybloger.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/detroit-the-latest-bankruptcy-lie/ and http://www.cafr1.com.
You are wrong to call it a hoax. If you have $10,000 in the bank today but owe $40,000 tomorrow you have a serious financial problem and this is where the city is. The city's cash flow over the next ten years is a negative $5 billion. See the link. (http://lstrn.us/13CQXVb)
ReplyDeleteYes these numbers were created by the EM and they may be inflated to be in a better bargaining position with the creditors, however it is a real problem that should have been addressed years ago.
Shame on you.