Detroit News Can't Connect The Dots

Violent crime on the decline in Detroit, FBI statistics show

Crime dropped in Detroit and in most large Michigan cities in 2008, according to statistics released today by the FBI.

The Michigan statistics were in line with the national trend. Across the United States, violent crimes declined 1.9 percent in 2008 and property crimes dropped 0.8 percent, the FBI reported.

Detroit had 17,428 violent crimes in 2008, down 11.6 percent from 19,708 in 2007, the FBI said. Property crimes in Detroit fell 8.9 percent, to 53,095 from 58,302 in 2007, the bureau said.

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Wow...big whoopee doo

What The Detroit News failed to connect the dots on was that population in Detroit has fallen every year at very nearly the same rate.

According to the U.S. census bureau between 2006 and 2007 Detroit's population fell 11%.

11% again between 2005 and 2006.

11% between 2004 and 2005.

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You get the idea.

Population for the state of Michigan fell about exactly the same rate.

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What was The Detroit News trying to report on?

What kind of a piece of fluff was this?

Didn't they even notice that the crime rate was falling at almost the exact same rate as the population of Detroit?

It took me about 2 minutes to find the facts, didn't they even try?

Did the editor read it?

So you can rest assured, crime probably has not gone down one iota in Detroit in the past year but rather is on the same trend as the exodus leaving the state.

Property crimes in Detroit may have actually risen if 11% of the people left and property crime only fell 8.9%

Welcome To Detroit

Granholm Destroys Michigan

Granholm budget proposal: Cut $2B, hike taxes $1B

Bottled water, tickets to live events and pop out of a vending machine would be taxed and smokers would pay more under a budget plan Gov. Jennifer Granholm released for the first time Tuesday.

The plan calls for nearly $2.2 billion in budget cuts, $1.09 billion in tax hikes and tax credit reductions and about $2 billion in federal stimulus money spending in the next two years.

But fellow Democrat and House Speaker Andy Dillon, in a rare public clash with the governor, called the plan "showboating" and "theatrics" and said it has "no chance of passing."

Granholm's plan is one of the proposals offered in budget talks. She and legislative leaders will work behind closed doors to strike a deal before the new fiscal year starts Oct. 1.

Under her plan, Granholm would cut government spending by 12 percent and reduce business tax loopholes -- including controversial film credits -- by a similar proportion.

As previously reported, the governor would raise the cigarette tax by a quarter to $2.25 a pack; assess the 6 percent sales tax on tickets to live entertainment, vending machine sales and service contracts such as landscaping; and slap a 1 percent tax on bottled water.

No one has enough money to go to live entertainment venues anymore, only the economically deprived are still smoking so in effect it's a tax on the working or non-working poor only, put a 10 cent deposit in bottled water instead of a 1% tax like every other bottle in Michigan and finally I guarantee only the middle or lower class are using vending machines, I almost never see an Onassis or Kennedy at the pop machine.

In exchange, she proposes phasing out the 22 percent Michigan Business Tax surcharge over three years, beginning in 2011. Revenue sharing that local governments use to fund police and fire protection and other services would lose $74 million.

Get rid of police and fire funding.....sheer brilliance...is she nuts?

Also, $22 million would be squeezed out of the governor's pet 21st Century Jobs Fund used to attract business, ( which never worked ) and $12 million would be trimmed from a pot used for road improvements ( which to anyone who lives in Michigan knows, we have the worst roads in the country, so this never worked either ) to support economic development, state budget officials said.

The governor does not propose any reduction in the $4,000 Promise Grants for students who complete statewide high school exams and go on to college. ( because to a state that is already losing over 50% of it's college graduates to other states this would be the death nail to anyone staying in actually unable to move from the state.)

The document does not detail how the tax hikes and spending cuts would affect individuals, but a 1 percent tax on a $1.50 bottle of water would be a penny and a half; a 6 percent levy on a $50 Red Wings ticket would amount to $3.

In the school aid fund, the governor is proposing $290 million in cuts each year ( just how much did the Michigan lottery make last year? ), according to state Budget Director Bob Emerson. Divided by the state's 1.6 million students, that amounts to $181 per pupil in each of the two budget years. The state would use $800 million in federal recovery cash for school aid, budget officials said.

The Lottery was established under the authority of Public Act 239 of 1972 to generate funds to support Michigan’s public school system. The first lottery ticket was the Green Ticket which went on sale on November 13, 1972. On October 7, 1975, the first instant game ticket was sold. Online sales began June 6, 1977 with the introduction of the Daily 3 game. The first multi-state ticket sales for the Lottery were on August 31, 1996 for The Big Game (now called Mega Millions). Since its inception, more than $14.5 billion has been contributed to the School Aid Fund.

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Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, has called for the governor to reveal her budget-balancing plan for weeks. She said this proposal has been on the table in talks with legislative leaders since Aug. 6.

"We have a lot of cuts, some loophole closings and some reforms that will not result in savings for this year," Granholm said after a grand opening ceremony for an IBM applications center at Michigan State University.

Granholm and legislative leaders are working against an Oct. 1 deadline to balance a budget that is $2.8 billion out of whack. Leaders are looking at a similar hole in 2011.

I can figure out HOW it happened...mismanagement by the Granholm administration, it's easy enough to fix, Granholm is at her term limit, that should fix this fairly quickly.

Had she not been positioning herself for a position in the Obama administration and actually trying to do something with the state's financial problems we might not be in quite so deep, but we'll never know...What job will you have in the Obama administration after your tenure as Governor Ms. Granholm?

Will it be worth the level on destruction you have asked this state's citizens to own under your terms?

Matt Marsden, spokesman for Bishop, said the budget balancing can begin in earnest.

Why didn't budget planning begin...oh I don't know...about 4 years ago?

"We were asking her to come out from behind closed doors. If she's finally done that, great," Marsden said.

Granholm said the House was preparing to pass budget bills starting today. But Dillon said that's news to him. "The governor should know that showboating a proposal that has no chance of passing is not a way to solve the state's fiscal crisis," he said. "All parties need to ... get back to the hard work of negotiating a budget solution." AMEN!

The Senate has passed $1.2 billion in budget cuts, including elimination of the Promise Grants and reductions to many human services programs. And the exodus of citizens continues.

The spending reductions laid out in Granholm's document add up to $464 million in the budget year starting Oct. 1 and $518 million in the following fiscal year. But Emerson said these cuts are in addition to the $500 million in cuts the governor proposed in her budget plan in February. The spending reductions would be carried over to 2011.

Her plan calls for $684.8 million in tax credit reductions and tax increases in the budget year that starts Oct. 1 and $662.9 million in the 2011 budget year.

She would cut the film credit by 12 percent, or $7.8 million in 2010 and $19.8 million in 2011. Filmmakers qualify for a 42 percent tax credit, and the 12 percent cut would bring that to 37 percent. Other tax credits would be reduced by $130 million in 2010 and $156 million in 2011.

The film making industry is the ONLY industry even slightly interested in giving Michigan a chance and for all intents and purposes seems to be bearing fruit....yeah slash that brainiac.

Her plan calls for a liquor license fee increase, a fee for allowing bars to stay open extended hours, a doubled tax on tobacco products other than cigarettes ( which will only effect the people too broke to buy actual rolled cigarettes and are attempting to save a few bucks by rolling their own, yeah lets get those dimes from the poor too...what a lame excuse for fiscal capability this decision is.) and a freeze in the amount of personal exemptions from the state income tax. The exemption, indexed to inflation, is $3,600.

What happens in neighborhoods where people foreclose?

The city raises taxes on the remaining citizens, more people foreclose because of the tax hike, then more leave...its a ineffective paradigm.

Now just extend that same faulty logic to the state level like Jennifer Granholm is doing.

What happens? People leave and taxes go up.

If I can figure it out why can't they?

Cough up your $3,600 bucks folks, oh you don't have a job?

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Welcome To Detroit

Why Job Boards Do Not Work

Job Boards Don't Work...period

Career Builder, Monster, etc...my opinion is they don't work and I recommend avoiding them at all cost.

Considering the time you spend inputting your demographic information for free so they can resell it, your better suited to try and determine the potential employer yourself, circumventing the whole job board route and contacting someone directly at the business either via mail or phone.

What was initially a good idea back in the day has become nothing more than a way to harvest personal information about people from the web for free for resale.

If I have to skip one more forced pop up ad for Phoenix University I will go totally ape shit.

Take for example the two choice opportunities I received today. ( see above picture predicting my dismal future)

Pizza Delivery OR the US Air Force !!!

WTF?

Moreover what the frig to they mean by for pizza delivery driver I am and I quote a...

"Good Match"

WITH 3 stars no less....ugh

Keep in mind I have program management level experience in IT with over 17 years of employment in IT. Which they know, or their equivalent of Hal 9000 knows.

"I am sorry Dave, your a pizza delivery driver"

My experience with hours of manually inputting my employment information OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER as to job experience, skills, certifications, etc communicates my lifetime of achievements, accolades and awards in to their massive databases and by the exacting parse and search criteria the job boards utilize after decades of fine tuning their ability to match potential employees with employers to ...



...me being either a pizza delivery person or enlisting in the military.

Now the job boards could and would of course say "Well it's how you set up your search criteria...blah blah blah"

No it isn't, but whatever. What other choice do I have other than personal networking?

Obviously from having the skill set of a pizza delivery driver I can only network personally with the guy at 7-Eleven and my Dungeons and Dragons group of the fellow unemployed.



The Detroit News' Sunday edition has about 6 IT positions, so by that logically extrapolation of the jobless rate here in Michigan I can assume about 243,522 people applied to each one.

Pizza delivery doesn't look all that bad under these circumstances.




Welcome To Detroit

Wayne County Executive Unfit For Duty

Ficano proposes 500 job cuts

Wayne Co. executive, facing $105M deficit, introduces plan for 20% spending reduction

Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano is proposing to lay off 500 employees, dramatically shrink Sheriff's services and consolidate services to balance the budget -- and warning that more layoffs could be coming if his plan isn't approved.

Facing a deficit of about $105 million, Ficano introduced the $2 billion plan Wednesday, calling for a 20 percent reduction in spending and seeking concessions in wages and benefits that include 12 unpaid days a year for employees. If not, another 440 of the county's 4,900 employees could lose their jobs, Ficano warned.

"This is something that has been very challenging, but we feel that we wanted to make the tough decisions," Ficano said. "We're asking that everybody get to their core functions of what they do."

Ficano also wants his appointees to take a 10 percent wage cut and eliminate $700 monthly car stipends and the Sheriff's Office to abandon all services beyond operating the jail and patrolling parks.

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A 10% pay cut! Could you imagine your boss asking you that?

I have a slightly more effective suggestion.

Since poor management starts at the top and positions, like janitors for example, would be the least responsibility for the county's woes;

1) Examine the salaries from the lowliest paid Wayne County employee to the Executive position Ficano holds and divide that (incredibly vast) spectrum into 100 levels.

2) Start pay cuts at Ficano's level at 100% working your way down to 1% pay cuts for the least responsible positions.

I call it "My 2 step plan" to quickly and effectively eradicate the county's least capable employees.

What Robert Ficano doesn't seem to want to mention is that Wayne County is the probably the richest county by tax base in Michigan while being in arguably the worst condition of all the counties in Michigan.

Wayne county regardless of the economy should be in the best condition of all the counties in Michigan but take a look around...what a dung heap this place has become.

If Wayne County was YOUR business and Robert Ficano was the manager you hired to run it, what would you be doing about now?




Welcome To Detroit

GM Buys Bankruptcy For Dummies Book

GM declares bankruptcy and how your going to get the shaft.

I came across this article in the New York Times

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DETROIT DAILY DIRT translated it into terms the rest us can understand.

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QUESTION. Is G.M. going out of business?

ANSWER. No. G.M. is reorganizing under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The law allows companies to shed assets, restructure debt, cancel contracts and close operations that normally would have to continue running. Once they secure financing to emerge from bankruptcy, these companies are reconstituted as new legal entities.

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DETROIT DAILY DIRT TRANSLATION. Going out of business? HA! No way, they will be better off than they have in the past 20 years after all their debts are forgiven. Recent changes in the bankruptcy laws made it harder for you and I to declare bankruptcy but this one gets the corporate fast track to the tune of $172 billion.

If you or I went to court to declare bankruptcy we would have to explain to each of our debtors why we could not pay in front of a judge and then the debtor would ask the judge to make us pay...fun.

Now figure all your debts and the months it would take you to go through a bankruptcy.

Imagine how complex and convoluted the finances of a 100 year old corporation that used to be the largest employer in the country must be AND imagine that same company with piss poor board level management of finances which threw it into bankruptcy in the first place...pretty murky huh?

By all rights to be done right it should take years if not decades to resolve. I foresee this as the sloppiest chapter 11 declaration in American history.

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Should G.M. fail to successfully reorganize, it might turn to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which would mean liquidation, but that is not seen as likely given support from the Treasury and the Obama administration.

Q. Where will the case be heard?

A. As with Chrysler, the case will be heard in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Judge Robert E. Gerber will preside.

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DETROIT DAILY DIRT TRANSLATION. Liquidate it how? To who? Be real, Chapter 7 is as likely to be completed as a ladder made of my poop to the moon.

No offense to the honorable Robert E. Gerber but how the hell would he even approach something like this? Introduction of the known GM assets would take years in court.

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Q. How long will this take?

A. Senior White House officials say the essence of the case should take 60 to 90 days. It plans to use Section 363 of the bankruptcy code to sell assets, rid the company of liabilities and restructure its debt, creating a new version of G.M.

Late Sunday, the bankruptcy court approved the sale of Chrysler assets to Fiat, only a month after its case began. The remaining pieces of Chrysler will remain in bankruptcy for at least several more weeks. Such quick bankruptcies are unusual. In reality, most bankruptcies take much longer. United Airlines spent more than three years under bankruptcy protection. Delphi, the auto parts supplier, has been in Chapter 11 since 2005. The bankruptcy by LTV, a steel maker, took seven years to resolve.

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DETROIT DAILY DIRT TRANSLATION. 15 to 25 years.

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Q. What happens to G.M. dealers?

A. G.M. is able under bankruptcy to cancel franchise agreements with its dealers. It has already announced plans to eliminate 1,100 dealers and may cut more. The company wants those dealers to close within 18 months. Dealers can sue to block the action, but a final decision would be up to the judge. In the meantime, G.M. will continue to provide dealers with vehicles.

GMAC, with support from the government, will provide financing for G.M. customers. It is also providing financing for Chrysler.

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DETROIT DAILY DIRT TRANSLATION. Dealers? Out of business unless they have a proven track record of selling X amount of product per year if Chapter 11 is used.

If chapter 7 is utilized all dealers are on their own, probably will switch to used vehicle sells or a new manufacturer.

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Q. What’s the biggest difference between the G.M. and Chrysler cases?

A. Chrysler had reached an agreement to sell assets to Fiat before its case began. G.M. is attempting to restructure on its own, with financing from the Treasury. It is providing G.M. with $30 billion in debtor-in-possession financing so it can operate while in bankruptcy, in addition to about $20 billion G.M. has already received. It is likely the Treasury will provide more scrutiny and guidance in the G.M. case, since such a large amount of taxpayer money is at stake.

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DETROIT DAILY DIRT TRANSLATION. GM's corporate officers collective egos would not allow them to admit to themselves and the world that they failed.

Selling assets would have been tantamount to admittance of failure in addition to the fact all the assets for lack of a better term would be considered toxic since GM had little or no worth to the private investor.

GM also went toe-to-toe with the US Government on the "we are too big to fail" defense and received $50 billion.

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Q. What happens to G.M. employees?

A. G.M. employees who are not union members do not have any job security. The company can ask a judge for an immediate pay cut for its salaried employees, and can announce job cuts and close offices, just as it can outside bankruptcy,

Contracts covering members of the United Automobile Workers union and other unions will remain in force, unless the company asks a judge to void them. However, U.A.W. members approved changes last week, and the new G.M. is expected to honor that contract.

But in bankruptcy, the company can ask for contracts to be terminated and replaced with terms it can more readily afford, and the union would have a chance to respond in court. Negotiations would take place before any cuts were imposed. Such a process could take months.

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DETROIT DAILY DIRT TRANSLATION. Attention GM employees you are hereby screwed.

If GM can squirm it's way out of ANY contractual or moral obligation to it's employees and retirees...it will.

The Union will be worth less than nothing at this point as well, what good are 20,000 members if they can't pay dues?....see ya!

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Q. Are pensions and retiree health care benefits protected?

A. The White House said Sunday that, assuming the sale goes forward, G.M. workers’ pensions and health care benefits would transfer to the new company, and remain in force.

Companies have the right under bankruptcy law to ask to terminate their pension plans. If such a request were to be made, a judge would convene a brief trial on the subject and hear both sides. If pensions were terminated, employees would still receive about a third of their benefits through financing from the federal pension agency.

A company can also eliminate retiree health care benefits for nonunion employees; they would subsequently be covered by Medicare.

The U.A.W. and G.M. agreed in 2007 to transfer responsibility for union retiree health care to a special fund, and the fund would administer those retiree benefits.

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DETROIT DAILY DIRT TRANSLATION. If GM can push its health benefit cost to US taxpayer, it will. Otherwise it will probably just cut it off regardless.

I would just consider pensions and health benefits as good as gone at this point.

P. S. Refunds on the 30 years of your life you gave to GM are not enforceable, so even though you came through with your end of the deal by giving your entire life away in 8 hour shifts to GM, they will choose to renege on their promise to you to take care of you in your golden years.

Don't believe me? Just watch.

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Q. What happens to G.M.suppliers?

A. In its bankruptcy filing, G.M. listed its 50 biggest creditors holding unsecured claims, meaning those that would have to get in line behind creditors whose debt is secured by collateral, like the company’s plants, brands and other assets. The unsecured creditors include Wilmington Trust Company, a bondholder; the U.A.W., through its health care trust; and suppliers like Delphi, Robert Bosch and Lear.

The White House said supplier contracts would remain in force, and it has created a program to provide federal help to parts makers. But in bankruptcy, supplier contracts can be canceled.

G.M. is likely to tell the court which suppliers it wants to keep doing business with, and which contracts it wants to reject. Suppliers could challenge the rejection of their contract, but most likely they would have to reach a settlement with G.M.

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DETROIT DAILY DIRT TRANSLATION. If suppliers aren't flexible enough to move sales to new clients they are as good as gone. They won't get enough money to survive without GM to continue with "business as usual" and any money the do get will take years to get and the lawyers will no doubt have their cut first.

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Q. What happens next in the bankruptcy case?

A. G.M. filed its initial paperwork with the federal bankruptcy court in New York on Monday. Next, it will ask a judge to issue a series of rulings called the first-day orders, which allow the company to keep operating. They may include authorizing the payment of routine expenses, like salaries and payments to vendors, including its lawyers, and whatever else G.M. needs to run its business. G.M., unlike Chrysler, has not halted production.

Once the case begins, a committee will also be formed that represents G.M.’s creditors.

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DETROIT DAILY DIRT TRANSLATION. The lawyers descent like maggots on a dead bison.

All officers of the GM upper management will secure their own salaries and start searching the"old boy network" to get another job. Sad part is, they will get other jobs.

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Q. Should owners of G.M. cars and trucks be concerned?

A. The federal government said it would back the warranties on vehicles bought from G.M. while it is operating in bankruptcy. So, effective Monday, warranties are underwritten by the government.

Owners of G.M. vehicles bought before Monday should expect their warranties to be honored until they expire. Owners whose vehicle warranties have run out are liable for any problems with their cars and trucks, as they are now.

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DETROIT DAILY DIRT TRANSLATION. No more concerned than those of us who own AMC Hornets should be.

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Welcome To Detroit

GM and Chrysler leave thousands of destroyed lives in their wake

Chrysler dealer closures rip at fabric of communities

Redford - At Bruce Campbell Dodge, the voice mail of owner Bruce Campbell greeted callers thusly:

"It is a thrilling Thursday here in remarkable Redford."

On a day that Campbell and 38 other Chrysler dealerships in Michigan learned they were no longer wanted by the company, the greeting may have been the only positive note.

And it wasn't just the sellers of autos who were hurting.

Communities where the dealers have been fixtures, some for more than a half century, wondered how they will fill the holes that will be left when the businesses close.

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Can you hear the doors slamming America?

Did you hear that first shoe fall?

This is a signal that will reverberate with unemployment across the country.

And Why?

The PT Cruiser sold so many units that you could hardly turn your head without seeing one on the road, that was just a few short years ago.

GM was the largest automaker in the world.

How bad of a CEO/COO/Etc., do you have to be to get from prosperity to bankruptcy?

I can tell you why in one two words. I can summarize what all the analysts and commentators cannot encapsulate with hours jabbering about what if, and should of, could of, would haves....what the top 1% of executive talent could never seem to fathom.

Two words.

Incompetence and Greed.

Both words practiced ad nausea by every major auto companies' upper echelons for decades while Detroit and the country were squeezed for every dollars' worth that faulty products, lack luster design and shoddy manufacture could muster.

They sold millions of cars, MILLIONS, the US auto companies had a virtual monopoly on the automotive market for nearly a century across the entire planet and what did they accomplish?

Nothing.

No energy advances worth mention, no remarkable advances in any of the technology involved. The advent and incorporation of computers into cars did more than any automaker did to change the face of the industry.

All the auto companies did was incorporate other advances and others' inventions into a 100 year old business model that remained unchanged during that whole time.

Black ink and profit margins for shareholders were their only concerns for decades.

And now they fail.

The auto companies are falling apart at the seams and they want the very customer and employee base they took advantage of for nearly a century to pay for it.

I say let them fail.

Let incompetence and greed reap what it has sown.

The collapse of the US auto industry will be felt across the country with slow reverberations of unemployment and economic despair for decades.

But we should just take this bitter pill and get it over with.

Let new companies with forward ideals and justifiable business ethics take their place, it is economic evolution in motion and it shouldn't be stopped.




Welcome To Detroit

Those Responsible Few.

I recently read a great article in the Feb. 23 2009 issue of Time.

This lists the 25 people most responsible for the financial meltdown in recent months in this country...or as I like the call them, the treasonous, greedy few.

These are the archetypes that more often than not like to consider themselvesas masters of the universe types from years gone by, rail barons, oil magnets, land owners, etc, etc.

Except these people really don't produce or manufacture anything for society on the whole...just push paper and I.O.U.s back and forth for profit.

Here let me name the top 14 of them so you and I can direct your empty stomachs and guilty gaze upon them.

1. Aneglo Mozilo - Why haven't you ever heard of him? Because he is way richer that you can ever dream of being. Founded Countrywide mortgage. Gave money to unqualified borrowers as standard operating practice. Sold Countywide to Bank of America which now has to settle the $8.7 billion in legal charges filed against Countywide by 11 states.

2. Phil Gramm - Chairman Senate banking committee 1995-2000
Repealed those pesky laws invented during the depression to separate commercial banks and Wall Street.

3. Alan Greenspan - Federal reserve chairman.
Alan just knew that financial institutes could be trusted to regulate themselves, advised the government in just such a manner.

4. Chris Cox - Former SEC chief, people tried to tell him about the Madoff-Ponzi scheme, it fell on this man's deaf ears.

5. American Consumer - Time states we are rall esponsible for living beyond our means, I don't agree with this. Time Magazine hasn't been to my house for Friday night baloney and water dinners.

6. Hank Paulson - Treasury Secretary in 2006, convinced Congress to throw $700 billion at the financial problem with zero effect...good job with my money Hank.

7. Joe Cassano - Got AIG involved in Credit Default Swaps. In layman's terms, convinced AIG to bet heavily that people will spend beyond their means forever and ever and ever. That cost us about $150 billion so far to keep AIG afloat.

8. Ian McCarthy - CEO of Beazer homes, they were leaders in predatory lending practices from 2000 and on in this country, but don't expect to see Ian in court anytime soon. Criminal law is for the unwashed masses, not Ian.

9. Frank Raines - Ran Fannie Mae, left during an accounting scandal and investigations into sub prime securities, he won't be going to court anytime soon either, he worked for Bill Clinton.

10. Kathleen Corbet - Standard and Poors AAA ratings came from this lady and apparently she handed them out like tic-tacs on Halloween. Her crime? Obliviousness and under qualification.

11. Dick Fuld - My personal favorite, Dick directed Lehman deeply into the sub prime lending business. Which is all now toxic debt and mostly responsible for creating "zombie banks".
Why is Dick my personal favorite? Because he got paid $500 million to help put his country into a financial tailspin that may take decades for it's poorest citizens to pay their way out of.
This guy makes the Grinch look like Tinkerbell....what a turd. You won't see him in prison anytime soon either, why? $500 million buys a lot of lawyers.

12. Marion and Herb Sandler - Bankers who got rich on Adjustable Rate Mortgages then sold the toxic debt to Wachovia..they made $2.3. Billion by bilking their fellow US citizens.

13. Bill Clinton - The prosperity he enjoyed during his Presidency was a side effect of his deregulation policies concerning financial institutes. Now either he knew that the bubble would pop one day or that he was just stupid remains to be seen but don't forget he did go on national TV and lie to every citizen in this country about a blow job.

14. George W. Bush - George embraced deregulation like the head of a $10 hooker. Actually blocked efforts by SEC head William Donaldson to regulate hedge funds, Williamson resigned because of it. George's inadequacy has done more harm to this country in 8 years than any attack by foreign forces has in 200 hundred years.

Time magazine once again did a great job on this...now when you hear the news about how the unnamed financial types did this to us you can put some faces on it.

Madoff is in the list too for obvious reasons but as far as I know the only one facing any serious media attention or criminal investigation because he fucked rich people and celebrity types...anyone who fucked the little people up the bunghole apparently gets away with it.



Welcome To Detroit

God Hates Detroit

And so the worm turns...

It's been a few months since I have posted but I have been very busy.

Firstly, Obama was elected president, cigarettes went up about a buck a pack, gas went down about a buck a gallon, unemployment in Michigan went from about 8 or 9 to an almost unprecedented 11.6% reported.

That is probably low, I mean those are the people reporting to unemployment that they are looking for work, it does not count those that unemployment has run out for and still can't find a job, illegal workers, those whose retirement fund is gone and being forced to return to work, etc.

If you were to press me for a guess I would say it's probably running at about 20% in Michigan in reality.

Of my 4 best friends and myself, 3 of us are out of work so that is a little higher than the state rates it. So 3 of 5 unemployed, of the 2 left one has been forced to take a pay cut and the other is the only guy left in his building, about 20 others at his employer have already been laid off.

Tales all too common in Michigan.

I found work but only for about 6 months, then laid of myself.

Michigan has to under go a massive renaissance to recovery.

Total abandonment of the auto industry as a partner in the future with Michigan.

State movement towards diversifying employment as to avoid economic susceptibility.

Massive price hikes in out of state hunting and fishing licenses and permits.

Blah, blah, blah I guess I could rattle of a hundred ideas but known are likely to come to fruition anytime soon. The Michigan state economy probably will not recovery for a decade or more at this point.

Which segues into my next point...the Detroit City council is inept and wholly responsible for the blight and plight of Detroit for the foreseeable future.

Some, not all, but some on the Detroit City council are the most bigoted, prejudiced, rude, under qualified idiots and national laughing stocks that God could supply.

God hates Detroit.

Perform a search at Youtube on the city council members and let the hilarity ensue.

Last headline I had the courage to read before the newspaper shifted from daily publication to a few days a week that we have now was that 109,000 left Michigan last year...nice...I feel like the last asshole to leave a party late AND miss my chance with the last drunk girl.

So its back to my search for employment, only this time I opened the net a lot farther.

I decided that if given the opportunity I will take my family and leave Michigan as well.

I have lived here my whole life and the last 15 years have been by far the worst, economically speaking.

This last sin tax for example, hardly fair.

Its been proven over and over that the lower the annual money making ability of a person the more likely they will be a smoker. THAT means this tax on cigarettes is directed at the least educated, lowest income citizens of the state.

Agree or not, that is exactly what it is.

Michigan has planned its budget relying on the fact that a certain number of its citizens will pay sin tax on cigarettes.

Now, people forced to quit because of economic reasons has left the state with a budget hole that had to be filled by....raising the tax on the remaining smokers.

Funny enough that is the same thing that is happening to the housing market here.

People are leaving Michigan, the homes are either turned into the bank or sold for far less than it's previous value and this creates a deficit in local governments that relied on housing to ALWAYS been in demand in their areas.

So when that tax base is suddenly lower?....just like cigarettes, the housing tax goes up to make up for the loss in budget dollars.

Only this time everyone is hurting

God hates Detroit.


Welcome To Detroit

Congress Says Look At Our Track Record For Guidance

White House gets bailout plan, but negotiations continue

Congressional Democrats sent the White House an emergency $15 billion auto bailout plan Monday, complete with provision of a "car czar" to oversee the industry's reinvention of itself. The Bush administration said there had been progress toward agreement but pressed further negotiations into the night.

The measure would rush bridge loans to Detroit's struggling Big Three but would also demand that the auto industry restructure itself in order to survive and would put an overseer chosen by President George W. Bush in charge of monitoring that effort, according to the draft obtained by The Associated Press.

At first blush, White House officials suggested privately that the draft plan might fall short of principles behind a broad agreement to give long-term financing only to viable companies. But a later statement from press secretary Dana Perino sounded relatively upbeat about the rescue legislation, which congressional leaders hope to approve in the next few days.

"We've made a lot of progress in recent days to develop legislation to help automakers restructure and achieve long-term viability," she said. "We'll continue to work with members on both sides of the aisle to achieve legislation that protects the good faith investment by taxpayers."

Bush himself said it was "hard to tell" if a deal was imminent because definite conditions had to be met. "These are important companies, but on the other hand, we just don't want to put good money after bad," he said in an interview with ABC's "Nightline."

Senate aides said they thought they were rounding up significant Republican support to ensure passage as early as Wednesday while still hammering out the final details.
The bailout bill that gives automakers seven years to repay the loans at a 5 percent interest rate. Automakers will have to get approval from a government administrator for any transaction of $25 million or more and must submit a detailed long-term restructuring plan by March 31, which must be approved by the White House's designee.

Automakers accepting loans are barred by law from having corporate airplanes.
The government will get stock warrants worth 20 percent of the value of the government loans.

They are also prohibited from taking part in lawsuits against states who are seeking to impose their own vehicle emissions standards.

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Congress was committed to getting emergency aid to automakers, but said General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler LLC were teetering on the brink largely "through their own ineptitude."
Still, he said "Congress is trying to save Detroit."

Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., a chief Republican ally of the automakers, said on the Senate floor that: "I share and understand the bailout fatigue" of many Americans. "Doing nothing for the auto industry means allowing them to go into bankruptcy."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said negotiations were continuing with the White House, and lawmakers were hoping to create an auto industry that could thrive on its own -- an effort she said would require concessions from management, labor, creditors and others.

"We call this a barbershop. Everybody's getting a haircut," Pelosi said.
Earlier Monday, the White House and a top Democratic lawmaker said they were likely to strike a deal quickly on the multibillion-dollar bailout, which places strict restrictions on the automakers while they're receiving the loans and mandates that the government overseer keep close tabs on their efforts to restructure.

The emergency loans would be drawn from an existing program meant to help the automakers build fuel-efficient vehicles.

Among the requirements included the draft proposal is one that the carmakers getting federal help get rid of their corporate jets -- which became a potent symbol of the industry's ineptitude when the Big Three CEOs used them for their initial trips to Washington to plead before Congress for government aid.

The proposal also would give the overseer -- a kind of "car czar" -- say-so over any major business decisions by the automakers while they're taking advantage of federal aid. The companies would have to open their books to the government, including informing the overseer of any transaction of $25 million or more and any "material change" in their financial condition.

Under the plan, the carmakers could get emergency loans right away. Then the overseer would write guidelines, due on the first of the year, for restructuring the Big Three automakers.

In testimony before Congress last week, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, which have said they are weeks from collapse, made it clear they would need a total of $14 billion to $15 billion to survive through early 2009. Ford Motor Co. has said it has enough money to stay afloat unless one of the other Big Three goes under or the economy deteriorates more sharply.

While the measure would put an administration official selected by Bush in charge of setting terms for restructuring, the decision about whether the terms were being met would not be made until President-elect Barack Obama had been sworn in. Congressional Democrats and the White House were working to find a broadly supported candidate who could span the two administrations.

Congressional officials said Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer who oversaw the federal Sept. 11 victims' compensation fund, was under consideration for the position.
Asked if a deal could be struck for a vote as early as Monday, White House spokeswoman Perino said, "I think it's very likely." That was before the Democrats sent their draft.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the Financial Services Committee chairman, said that he, too, expected a deal by the end of the day and enactment by week's end.
In the latest gauge of public opinion, people were split about evenly over providing federal money to keep the car companies functioning.

Forty-five percent approved and 44 percent were opposed, according to a CBS News poll released Monday. Nearly six in 10 Democrats favored the aid, while nearly the same share of Republicans opposed it.

About seven in 10 said the government should have a say in managing the companies if taxpayers provide assistance, and nearly as many said requiring more alternative fuel vehicles should be a condition of such aid. Fifty-six percent blamed management for the companies' problems, double the number who blamed uncontrollable economic problems.

Source For More Hilarity

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Washington must be a giant ass magnet because thats all that ends up there.

They give the finance industry 700 billion to help out their bro's in the finance business that technically neither manufactures nor produces anything but paperwork for profit but when an group of actual manufacturers that produce a product and provide employment for untold masses directly and indirectly asks for a bridge loan to get by...congress gets out the bdsm gear and demands "pony-time" from the executives..frankly demeaning them publicly like stern headmasters.

What The F#@* ?

These asswipes DEMAND performance and plans of actions from the auto industry but can't even balance the damn budget...HELLO? CONGRESS?...your 10 trillion in debt you f-wads!

If ANYONE deserves a stern dressing down if not flat out tried for ineptness it's congress.

Is this dog and pony show so we will forget you approved us into two wars, approved the economy into debt by deregulation, approved of flawed trade international aggreements, approved of laws that favored corporations and limited the power of the individual?

Is that why you pout and finger point and yell and glower with such determination?...that we might forget that it was you that brought us to this.

ARGH!

Welcome To Detroit

What Happened?

Well it's been a while but I have been working for "the man".

Thinking back on what happened to this country in my lifetime and further into my parents.

I was born in the mid 60's to a single income Anglo family in the Midwest.

According to my now deceased father, work was easy to come by in the 60's.

By his own accounts to me, if you didn't like your job, you quit and walked down the street to another decent job.

Now you might be a garbage man or a plumber or a assembly line worker but the fact of the matter is you could get a good, stable, secure job that rewarded longevity and responsibility.

Fast forward...my parents had three children total and managed their whole careers to have a single income family in the 80's as we, the children matured into the workforce.

The 80's.

I found numerous great jobs, sure with some connections but frankly they were jobs with a future..something real to keep for experience.

Engineering, Design, Computers....etc.

Careers with potential in other words...no McDonald's or fast food otherwise involved.

The middle class still had the fighting chance then...but it was going fast and no one seemed to care for much other than their own well being...after all it was the 80's

Fast forward to 2000's....jobs are scarce and if you do find work, chances are you have a middle man or contract house taking half of your effort in pay from you.

Employers have little to no intention of ever hiring you because...frankly...in terms of health insurance and pension your a liability waiting to happen.

Contract houses want you because they will take the health and liability risk for say 45% profit on your labor with their only responsibility being to process your paycheck and paperwork....easy beans for maybe 20-30-40- thousand a year on your effort.

The middle class is slowly destroyed by the machine and if you ask anyone who knows anything about American economics...destroy the middle class and you might as well destroy America by atomic bomb.

No seriously...we went from a single income structure to a dual or plural income structure of family units in the country virtually overnight...one generation...way to pump up that gross national product...feel it paying off?....better off than your grand parents were for the return on effort?

Ask your grandma and grandpa what they think of how things work now...most of your labor goes for national infrastructure or as I like to call it "payola for rich f#cks who can't even run a business and need a bailout because we went to the skull and bones society and frankly are better than the little people."

Thanks to the last 8 years of republican rule we each owe , yes each , man woman AND child owe $40,000 each to national debt....WTF is your kid waiting on?

Tell then to get a paper route or something they have some debt to pay off.....f-ing free loaders!

I mean c'mon how old is your kid anyway?...get a f-ing job already!

Some bombs cost $10,000 or more so your life is worth about 4 bombs now....still going to back republicans?

I met a republican today at work...he was great...the nicest man...from a totally different era...but he was great.

I know why too.

He wasn't mad, he wasn't vindictive, he was funny, he was light hearted....he was an American.

Americans have one thing in common, we ALL have the best intentions for our country at heart.

We may be right or wrong about how to do it but we ALL CARE.

We ALL LOVE OUR country.

So as I heard from Barack Obama and as I understand it he heard from a republican..........never doubt the motive of your political opponent.

You may be right, they may be wrong, or vice versa...but the intention to help is there, not hurt.......that is what being American is.

You may not agree with your brother or sister but they are your bother and sister...therefore your allies....always.

So are we better off?

No.

We are far, far worse that those before us...it's a simple truth...deal with it.

BUT...

We are Americans...let's make this work...I want your kids to be able to quit a crappy job and walk down the street to get another job...a better job.

Welcome To Detroit

Far Reaching Effects Of Economy

Detroit church shuts doors after 80 years

Allen Park resident Dianna Rigato lingered outside Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church on Sunday after Mass had ended, reluctant to say her final goodbye to the southwest Detroit church, the site of so many memories. Rather than merge with another parish, the congregation voted to close the 80-year-old church after their pastor, the Rev. Robert Cini, announced he was retiring because of health and age, Rigato said.

The final Mass was said Sunday, and the churchgoers later hung a purple ribbon from the church doors to mark its closing.

"We chose to close so we could close with dignity and celebration," Rigato said.

Across Metro Detroit, Catholic churches have been forced to close or merge as the population has shifted and because the number of priests has declined. Parishes are evaluating themselves to see how they fit into the Archdiocese of Detroit's strategic five-year plan for parishes and schools called "Together in Faith."

In addition to the pastor's retirement, attendance at Our Lady of Mount Carmel has dwindled.

The parish, not far from Ford Motor Co.'s sprawling Rouge complex, was established in 1927 when a bishop assigned a priest the task of establishing a parish for the southwest Detroit community known as "Little Italy," according to the commemorative booklet handed out Sunday.

Italian, Polish, Hungarian and French immigrants who worked in the nearby factories comprised the congregation.

In the 1970s, the parish had 500 families. About 80 families attend the church today, said Parish Council President Frank Bartel, 58, of Southgate.
"We are losing a parish, but we are losing a friend, as well, because Father is going back to Malta," Bartel said.

For Rigato, the church was where she was married, where her six daughters were baptized and where, five years ago, the funeral of one of her daughters was held.

As Cardinal Adam Maida, archbishop of Detroit, wrote to parishioners: "While the Ford Motor Company was busy producing automobiles in its Rouge River Plant to physically move people, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish was busy proclaiming the Word of God and celebrating the Sacraments to spiritually move people."

"I think it's kind of a grieving process," Rigato said of the tears shed by the parish.

"We chose to close it, but for a lot of us, it was a big part of our lives."

Source

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What you just read, aside from being a sad state of the priority many of us give to ANY moral or ethical discipline, is the auto industry failing in Metro Detroit is now showing just how far and how deep it's economic effect will reverberate.

You don't just replace 80 year old congregations, multiple generations of faithful do not just come into being.

Regardless of your faith or mine, this is bad news.

Somewhere a church supply outlet is now one customer short, various church employees are now out of work, numerous families must now find a new congregation if possible, no water or electric of gas will be purchased by this church, no community outreach will come from the empty church, and on and on....

What do I expect next?

Vandalism, copper being stripped from the building.

A shell of a building sitting roadside for years decaying.

Crime, as drug users and others make use of it's shelter.

Threat of injury to kids.

A fire hazard as the less creative and more bored of the Metro Detroit area try to light it up annually on Devil's night.

Welcome To Detroit

GM Says "Hey It Worked Once..."

GM seeks $250M loan from Detroit pension fund

General Motors Corp. officials pitched a plan today to borrow $250 million from a city pension fund and refinance the Renaissance Center, but pension fund members did not approve or reject the request.

It is unclear whether, or if, the request will be voted on any time soon by the Detroit Police & Fire Retirement System.

Two members are against loaning GM that much money, especially considering the automaker's financial problems, which stem from an 18 percent drop in sales this year, a credit crunch and consumer shift away from profitable trucks and sport utility vehicles.

"It's just too much money," pension board member Barbara-Rose Collins said. "We can't uphold General Motors if they are having cash flow problems."

Another member, George Orzech, said: "This little fund can't cover something like this."

GM wants to borrow about $500 million from two city pension funds. The requests come as the automaker is trying to raise about $5 billion through asset sales and borrowing to survive the worst auto sales market in 15 years.

Source

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No No No No No No No No, you do not produce profit by incurring debt.

This pathetic proposal shows the truly criminal nature and limited vision of GM's top brass.

If GM get's their hands on those pension funds they are as good as gone, mark my words.


Welcome To Detroit

Federal Bailout, Golden Parachutes And Prosperity

Federal bailout, Dow Jones taking a dive, Executives taking golden parachutes...ahh don't worry about that stuff.

Enjoy these two pictures taken at a local Michigan fair on the main street right where all the festivities were taking place.

I cannot begin to tell you how cheerful this made the fair and the attendees.

Prosperity in action.

Welcome To Detroit

Give Us Your Poor...No Wait Send Them Over There.

Michigan no longer land of promise for Iraqi refugees

Michigan's economy is so bad that State Department is sending fewer Iraqi refugees to the area because of concerns that their future would not be bright.

After a request by relief workers, the policy of bringing Iraqis to Metro Detroit if relatives or friends live in the area was changed to allow only those with immediate family to settle here, according to the State Department.

"The State Department has taken the measure of things and decided it would be better to send them somewhere else, where they might be self-sufficient, instead of coming to Michigan, because the economy is very bad here and we have the highest unemployment in the country," Belmin Pinjic of Lutheran Social Services of Michigan said Thursday. The agency is one of several designated by the federal government to provide relief to the refugees.

Source

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Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free...wait better send them somewhere else, I can't even find a job.

If any headline encapsulates the plight of Michigan, it is listed above.

Yes it's that bad here, and people wonder why Michigan is a blue state.

We are turning away refugees because they have a better chance somewhere else...

Wait let me phrase this so everyone can fully understand...


A typical Michigander is worse off than a Iraqi refugee.


Welcome To Detroit

Eggs? Check, Bread? Check, Economic Despair? Check.

Census: Michigan's economic rank falls

Median income declines as home values shrink more than U.S. average.

By nearly every measure, Michigan has lost ground economically compared to the rest of the country, according to census figures released today.

The state lost nearly 200,000 manufacturing jobs from 2000 to 2007, according to census figures that paint a portrait of a state that looks far different than it did just a few years ago, when tens of thousands of those workers wouldn't have believed their futures could include a switch from making cars to making sandwiches.

The numbers, released as part of the 2007 American Community Survey, taken annually by 3 million households nationwide, show how quickly the state has transformed. As recently as 2004, Michigan incomes exceeded the national average and its home values, although lower, were rising as well.

The median household income for Michigan slid by more than $7,100 to $47,950 while the national average dipped by just over $1,000 to 50,740. Meanwhile, Michigan homeowners saw more than $4,200 in value slip away while home values nationwide rose by nearly $18,000.

Source

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With statistics like these why shouldn't Michigan either:

A) Secede from the union.

Or

B) Make Granholm pay for her mismanagement out of pocket.


Michigan had been breast fed from the teat of the auto industry for way, way too long.

It made those suckling lazy and unappreciative and those who couldn't get to the teats disgruntled and spiteful.

We have a state society where trying is not rewarded and failure is not to be avoided.

Just look at the auto industry here in Michigan, there virtually was no one here in Michigan who didn't see higher gas prices, performance, reliability and longevity as prime requisites needing attention by the big three and the big three could not break the paradigm of doing it old school even at the cost of their own throats.

But why should they? Failure is rewarded internationally, nationally and locally.

The big three have been lobbying for a financial bail out for quite a while now and why not when everyone is getting a buck from you and I.

How do corporations end up on the dole and those who make the least income pay for it?

The answer is quite easy actually, the U.S. government now serves corporations and not the people it's sworn to represent.

Doubt my words? Prove me wrong.

Well back to Michigan...there are some things we could do locally, painful but the rewards are there.

1) Let the automakers here in Michigan start paying their bills namely taxes.

The auto industry here in Detroit and Dearborn get huge tax breaks for their gracing us with their presence. That needs to stop, they can start paying their bills just like you and I for although the much publicized poor domestic market in the auto industry is still limping, internationally the big three have never seen better profits.

You won't see that on the news they don't WANT you to know, they want that bailout money, you can't get that by telling the world your Asian and European markets are doing bang up business and costs are down because you outsourced everything from the U.S. it's just not good public relations.

2) Require Michigan (preferably all of the U.S. ) companies that choose to outsource to be liable to hire two Michigan citizens for every national they hire over seas. Make it a penalty to outsource, not a reward.

If they are caught and convicted of circumventing this proposed law, jail time.
No plea deals, no parole....jail time, mandatory.

3) Tax those who make higher incomes at a higher margin, don't be greedy you know it's right to help a society the more you benefit from it just ask Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, they give away millions to the great benefit of many people and don't even have to be asked.

4) Force those responsible for repairing and maintaining Michigan roads to actually do their jobs.

If you have ever driven through Michigan at any point it's like going from pavement to a battlefield as soon as you cross the state line.

Why? Because a long time ago the auto industry somehow convinced (ka-ching) those in the state government to allow a higher weight limit in Michigan to allow the automakers to have heavier trucks to ship cars than they could have in the rest of the U.S in order to keep them in Michigan.

What do you get? Roads that last about 45 minutes after opening. Pay off for Michigan residents? Zero.

The OTHER why? Michigan road service and repair sucks ass. This state department needs a total overhaul and held to a pay for performance criteria...in other words they just plain suck at their job.

I have seen road workers for years not even bother to tamp asphalt into potholes (which is a shit repair to begin with.) and then you get asphalt you bought all over your car you also bought performed by workers you paid to not do a good job.

Asphalt poured into a hole is not a repair...cut the concrete and pour new concrete....they can make landing strips at airports out of special concrete that would last one hundred years before cracking from typical car use...lets just pay a lot once and not need repairs for a century, let the guy who is paid $55k a year to shovel asphalt into a hole get a real job. 

5) Have the state take over the Detroit school system. No explanation needed here if you live in Michigan but for "normals" in the real world outside of Michigan here goes...

Detroit runs their school system separate but equal from the state....ok stop laughing it's true.

While the rest of the state school system has benefited immeasurably from the state lottery, Detroit being separate is not part of that system because they wanted to run their own house.

The results speak for themselves. No pencils, no toilet paper, no books, massive school closings and one of the lowest graduation rates in the Country....yay Detroit.

Detroit would argue that it is their problem not the states, WRONG, when you churn out unemployable social misfits year after year after year that DOES effect the rest of the state through crime and unemployment so we DO have a say how you run your house.

6) Raise licence fees on hunters coming to Michigan from out state to hunt. Michigan has some of the best natural resources left in the country and we could easily change that into our state economy and away from industry and the auto makers in particular.

Taking care of hundreds of thousands of acres of state forest could employ countless Michigan citizens on a myriad of levels. Look at Yellowstone, Look at Custer..there are park systems that are very successful and we don't have to build much infrastructure to start them.

7) Bring in new business, why is this so hard? Kwami Kilpatrick and Jennifer Granholm were and are both dismal failures are doing this, why?

"Give" a business an empty building to get started here, we have enough of them. Doubt that? Pull out the foreclosure list, empty buildings aren't making any money for banks or the citizens, they are just sitting here like magnets for crime and economic despair.

If you can show a financial plan that ensures you will employ 50 or more people for three years or more you get the building for three years free....free!...businesses will be flocking here.

After three years they get a no bid offer to rent at market price locked for ten years so as the economy grows their rent won't for a decade.

Whats the difference? The buildings are just sitting there empty now not making money for anyone.

8) Get rid of the casinos, they do not employ as many people as they promise and they create little to no economic benefit in their wake.

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I could go on but the point being there ARE things that could and should change in order to get us back on track as a state....what are we actually doing?

Welcome To Detroit

$700 Billion For Corporate Criminals

Administration Is Seeking $700 Billion for Wall Street Bailout

The Bush administration on Saturday formally proposed to Congress what could become the largest financial bailout in United States history, requesting virtually unfettered authority for the Treasury to buy up to $700 billion in mortgage-related assets from financial institutions based in the United States.

Source

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Well that comes to roughly $2272 dollars for every man, woman and child on estimates that there are roughly 308 millions U.S. citizens currently.

Frankly I don't see why I have to bail out those who are responsible for this mess.

This deregulated horn of plenty has been going on for the last eight years unattended and now you, I, Grandma Jones and little Timmy down the street are to bail out these a-holes?

I say let them fail...all of them...hold them responsible for their mismanagement like I am if I fail to pay my bills.

Whats the worse that could happen?

Depression instead of recession?

Seriously do you really think that is much of a threat?

I am not working now, what difference does it make if I am not working in a recession versus not working in a depression?

I am broke either way.

The only ones who are really hurt by this economic disaster and I mean really, really hurt are the ultra rich, those with great financial stake in the market.

Those with the President and Congressional leaders collective ears.

The President in his speech Friday 9/19 said he decided after hearing just how bad the economic prognosis was "to act and to act boldly."

The President isn't acting...he is reacting....and reacting after waiting far too long.

Reaction is the typical response of a follower not a leader.

As for myself, I have no stake in the market, broke is broke to you and I but to the self proclaimed movers and shakers on Wall Street this is truly terrifying.

Let me define of whom I am describing.

I am not talking about the hundreds and thousands millionaires of this country, they are small potatoes in this as much as you or I.

I am talking about the multi-billionaires, the financial elite, the crème de' le' crème, who decide financially the fates of whole industries or corner markets in this country.

Those financiers who for the last decade have built and compounded the division of the classes from humble beginnings as a few mere decimal points into a yawning chasm of the haves and have-nots.

They could lose billions if not trillions.

Me? I am just out $2272 as a rough estimate...I can deal with that.

But to those who lobby Washington and our elected officials to change regulations on financial markets, to those that decide the destiny or millions of U.S. citizens on a daily basis, to those that outsourced all of the U.S. employment to foreign countries to maximize their bottom lines, to those who routinely seek to change legislation in the country to work decidedly to their financial benefit, to those who knew they were building a economic bubble to burst based upon their willingness to invest in bad loans because of their pure unadulterated greed...to those I say...fail, fail, fail.

I can get by without you, I am an American.


Welcome To Detroit

DUH, There Is A Focus Group In My Pants

As State Fair closes, officials puzzle at low turnout

Crowds at event drop 7 percent over last year despite sunny weather, slate of musical acts.

The Michigan State Fair ended Monday, and officials plan to meet soon to try to figure out what caused this year's disappointing attendance.

Through Sunday, attendance at the nation's oldest fair was down 7 percent -- and General Manager Steve Jenkins spent a good portion of Labor Day trying to find out why.

"I've been sitting here trying to figure it out," said Jenkins, who didn't have the exact attendance figure. "You sure can't blame the weather."

Source

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Duh...before you go blowing money on a focus group let me educate you, 1 in 11 people in Michigan are unemployed and gas is almost 4 bucks a gallon. Drop the ticket price and forgo any parking fees.

There you go free of charge, save the 50 grand you would probably spend trying to figure that one out, then patting yourselves on the back for a job half-assed done and bring the Michigan State Fair into the 21st century with some real draws people will travel to see and enjoy.

And for those of you not from Michigan, for decades the state fair has been held in the crappiest of crime riddled neighborhoods.

Why?

Tradition of course.



Welcome to Detroit

More Urban Prosperity In Metro Detroit

More Urban Prosperity In Metro Detroit

Jim's place closed

Computer store couldn't find anyone to buy stuff, had to close.

I guess nobody rents videos anymore, this place sold everything then closed.

Friggin HUGE store...totally empty now

Front of it is starting to look overgrown too, windows must have been broke.

This place sold Halloween crap...LAST YEAR. They didn't even bother to take their signs down when they left....pretty huh? It's right next to the place above.

This place looks open doesn't it? It's been closed for a while now....no one goes out to eat dinner much anymore in Metro Detroit.

Welcome to Detroit