Monica Patrick in green and Debra Taylor at left rally a crowd of 10000 April 13 2011 in Lansing during protest against PA4, the predecessor to the current EM law, PA 436. PA 4 was thrown out by Michigan voters.
FYI, These bills target Detroit and are designed to manage Detroit and its assets from Lansing for years and years. The state is using this bankruptcy to control the population of Detroit. This is unconstitutional and taxation without representation. Too many of our local officials are quiet, just to get a pay check — Cecily McClellan
- Jean Vortkamp
BY JEAN VORTKAMP
May 14, 2014
DETROIT — The Michigan House of Representatives bills I am about to describe are as shady as the “Grand Bargain” (named the same as the phrase for putting social security onto the market) itself. Crawling out the slime of Lansing…this is based on a Free Press article just from today. More in depth research is warranted, but it would probably make me sick.
Warning, below is crabby cussing.
Protest against ALEC/Photo Popular Resistance
HB 5568 sponsored by Gail Haines (R), who was herself a contributor to Duggan of at least $1000 and raised $37,550 at a dinner for him is sponsoring the suspiciously ALEC-esque bill to switch city pensions to defined contribution plan. (See http://www.alec.org/?post_type=model-legislation&s=pension for ALEC’s model bill.) HB 5566 creates a seven- member commission to oversee the finances of Detroit. It “must meet monthly and can contract for services BUT THEY WON’T BE REQUIRED TO BID COMPETITIVELY FOR THOSE CONTRACTS. ” Read whole bill at HB 5568 2014.
It is run through treasury for $900,000. In the old days (maybe before I was born) , there was a really elected mayor & city council, city departments, audits, and the FBI. Already paid for. Idiots.
HB 5567 for cities with over a 600,000 population (um, Detroit) with revenue estimating conferences twice a year for $100,000. Who the hell has a $50,000 conference to estimate costs? Isn’t that called the budget and a budget review that our tax money already pays for? What the hell is wrong with these people? Read whole bill at HB 5567 2014.
HB 5570 establishes an investment committee to recommend or reject pension investments (perhaps to be sure their friends are the investment managers and the entities invested in). It seems this is already in the Fourth Plan of Adjustment so I am unsure why they need this twice. Insurance for their sub-par F- bankruptcy plan? Hello, RICO. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racketeer_Influenced_and_Corrupt_Organizations_Act)Read whole bill at HB 5570 2014.
HB 5571 no future tax on DIA. Considering that the current $900,000 of tax money from the tri-county area will be quietly transferred to this new DIA governed only by greedy pigs…Whole bill at HB 5571 2014.
HB 5572 transferring money from the rainy day fund. Why couldn’t they have just use this money to take care of the $200 million we were in the hole in 2012 and be done with it. What the hell is going on? Whole bill at HB 5572 2014. http://www.freep.com/article/20130204/NEWS15/302040093/Michigan-Gov-Rick-Snyder-takes-heat-over-500-million-surplus-in-state-s-Rainy-Day-Fund
HB 5575/HB 5574 Michigan Settlement Administration Authority. Just what the world needs, another authority with little to no responsibility to voters. Icing on this cake of corruption is that it “provides release of any current or future claims against the state regarding the bankruptcy terms.” This is ALSO in the 4th plan of adjustment. Why twice? HB 5575 2014 and HB 5574 2014.
HB 5573 Really, is that the proper use of tobacco money? I thought it was to prevent smoking, not pay for banks’ stealing. Rainy day fund again. (Budget Stabilization Fund – sounds like a load to me) And really, we can’t have our revenue sharing, our hardest hit money, but these dumb asses can do all this dumb expensive shit. HB 5573 2014.
Unassigned bill: something about arbitration for police and firefighters. Maybe setting up for when they privatize it all (see the Detroit Public Safety Foundation…ready to go!)
Are the car companies jumping on board because of Syncora’s probable argument, if this crap newspaper is right, to get to the $100 million just so the bankruptcy can go through? Greedy pigs sticking together. It would mean they would also have a say in the governance of the pension fund. It also mentions that the J. Paul Getty Trust is interested in giving. Don’t they have something to do with Eli Broad? That’s no good to have an art collector like that lurking in this. http://www.philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/los-angeles-times-reports-on-broad-deal-with-getty-trust
But whatever, this bankruptcy seems to be attracting every unethical vulture for thousands of miles.
(VOD editor: Chapter 9 bankruptcy rules preclude creditors from demanding dissolution of a municipality’s assets, “UNLESS THE DEBTOR CONSENTS.” Our allegedly unbiased bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes immediately declared Kevyn Orr to be the City of Detroit at the beginning of this whole scoundrels’ paradise. Orr is the one who is consenting to these actions. Detroit is the only entity in the country going through Chapter 9 which is governed by an UNELECTED emergency manager dictator.)
