Today, San Bernandino, California filed for bankruptcy. This follows on the heels of the June bankruptcy filing for Stockton, California, and the July 4 filing for Mammoth Lakes, California.
In Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Friday, the Mayor cut all city employees salaries to the minimum wage.
Why? Because,
…the city had just $5000 in the bank last week after transfering enough money to cover the city’s payroll at $7.25 an hour [the minimum wage]…
For the Mayor of Scranton, it was either that, or a 78% property tax increase over 3 years to cover expenses.
Scranton is not alone in Pennsylvania. About 20 cities, including the capital, Harrisburg, and the city of Pittsburgh are “operating under a state law for fiscally distressed municipalities”.
All of them have run out of other people’s money.
Well, you say, I don’t live in any of those places, so I’ll just ignore that as it doesn’t apply to me.
Or does it?
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I’ll bet there are a lot of cities–and states, for that matter–that will follow in San Bernardino’s footsteps. I’m sure there are a lot of of cities watching to see what happens with the Cali cities.
Didn’t they have canaries in coal mines for a reason? Isn’t Scranton in coal country?
Scranton? Isn’t that where Gaffman, our VP, is from?
And dem dam dems are killing coal;
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/29/obama-kills-coal-as-promised/
What have these union beholden liberal bureaucrats done to our beautiful country? It’s eroding away fiscally thanks to overspending and while I still think we’re the greatest country on earth, we are a mere shell of what we used to be. I see a domino effect looming where city/state bankruptcies are concerned. CT will eventually be one of those states with Malloy at the helm.
CT is already there, Malloy and the General Assembly just know how to play the shell game better. State Treasurer Denise Nappier tried to sound the warning, but nobody heard.
Corrupticut will follow along that path sooner then can be imagined.
As California goes, so goes the nation. At least if one is stupid enough to leave liberals in charge….
The spend-crazy, bigger-government-is-better, progressive, liberal Democrats keep getting elected. Everyone who is connected has gotten a state or federal job and is looking at a very cushy retirement thanks to the Democrats. Meanwhile, the towns, cities and states are burning, out of money. I wonder why?
Malloy keeps doling out the money to his favorite people and companies. One company got millions to move their operations 18 miles down the road. Another, United Technologies Corp., was effectively told to go pound sand. They are moving their headquarters out of state. Would anyone like to bet that UTC wouldn’t kick back to the governor and thus got the cold shoulder? And, I’ll bet the companies that got state money made their contribution to the Malloy/ Democrat syndicate.
Hmmmmm?
Nobody mentioned that the Mayor of Scranton is a Democrat.
But we don’t ned to, you just did. Thank you.
Look not to the mayors unless they are lifers. Look to the councilmen/women who sit there for years and years.
My town’s council gave the town employees (at least the town hall) 2 days off without pay, claiming lack of funds.
3 months later this same council voted to spend $70,000 on a dag walking park.
I disagree. Look at the damage that Malloy has done with the aid of a heavily Dem legislature. Øbama’s mini me, Deval Patrick, is no winner either, although he doesn’t seem to be quite as bad as Malloy.
I lived just down the road in Wilkes-Barre in the mid-90′s. Even in a good economy Scranton was struggling due to the loss of jobs in the coal industry and no leadership with vision. PA is full of tiny little townships that are only concerned about their municipal services, all democrat, all union. I’m surprised they’ve been able to survive this long. I saw the writing on the wall and moved here, likely will be moving again soon.
The last one out of Corrupticut,please,turn out the lights.
And the cities will seek help from the states.
The states will say “They are broken and we can help.”
And the states will seek help from the Feds.
The Feds will say “They are broken and we can help.”
The Feds will seek help from the UN ot the world bank.
And the price for all will be the loss of sovereignty.
Perhaps by design… we shall see.
The US could:
raise taxes on the wealthy as a prelude to raising taxes on the middle class,
impose taxes (horrors!) on the 48% of Americans who pay NO taxes,
ration the most desirable consumer commodities (post-WWII Britain),
allow drilling on Federally controlled lands and increase oil exports,
print more money and risk hyperinflation (Zimbabwe),
beg Germany for a bailout (that would be karma full-circle),
devalue the dollar (more than the Fed has already done), against what?
There is all sorts of economic schemes. Schemes are all they are.
How about: a flat tax for everyone! Lower taxes, cut spending, grow the economy, remove onerous and petty regulations on business activity, vote Obama out of office, vote all of the Democrats out of power, remove the US from the UN and tell it to go someplace else, incentivize businesses to hire employees,
Always have been for a flat tax, and always will be. It is the true (not liberal) definition of “fair” or “just”. Everyone has proportional skin in the game.