Friday, May 01, 2015

For Detroit, More Bailouts Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry

The blue state model has been crumbling in Detroit for quite some time.

Now it is the Detroit Public School system's turn.

This is the school system where 94-95 percent of the children within it are not proficient in science and math and 66% are not proficient in reading. It's a loyal Democrat base of union protected teachers and corruption.

For whatever reason, whether due to belief in big systems, for political expediency, and/or to prevent Michigan's largest city from completely falling apart on his watch, or for some other reason, Governor Snyder seems hell bent on a mission to allow Detroit to continually avoid the consequences of its decades as a corrupt blue state Democrat-Union enclave to the detriment of the rest of the state.

Maybe he's trying to earn a place in history as the Governor Who Saved Detroit. Who really knows?

So when faced with the existence of a crushing $483 million dollar debt held by the Detroit Public School system, what is the proposal from Michigan's nominally Republican governor to deal with the insolvent DPS system?

It is to bailout the DPS out to the tune of $530-$720 million from the state school aid fund over the next 8-10 years to cover the DPS' present debt of $483 million. This will be at the expense of all the other schools in the state that will be deprived of those funds.

Note that this is after and in addition to the already kicked in $195 million the state gave to bailout the city itself.

The proposed bailout will not only have the state school fund pay for Detroit School's debt, but will keep all the union contracts, pension system and all other liabilities in place that led up to the problem in the first place.

Hilariously enough and in a rather brutal assault on the English language and in a feat of political-doublespeak Gov Snyder claims this would not be a bailout:

Asked if his plan in a bailout, Snyder replied, "I don't view it as a bailout when it's really being done in getting something stable and working well."

Folks, it's a bailout. When the state takes over an entity's debts leaving the taxpayer to pickup the tab for that entity's decades-long mismanagement without the entity having to pay a dime, it is a bailout.

Unsurprisingly, this proposal is being less than well-received outside of Detroit: The Detroit News: 'Detroit fatigue' greets Snyder's Detroit schools plan. Surprisingly its not meeting a ton of favor in Detroit and among Democrats and their stalwart Detroit union teachers as their proposal instead is simply for the state to hand over the money to payoff the debt, and then have no oversight reverting back to complete local control with no safeguards to prevent it from happening again.

The money for this bailout coming from taxpayers from all over Michigan, monies that should be going to their local schools. All the other public schools throughout Michigan will suffer to sweep the profligacy and corruption of the DPS under the rug and let it start anew.

How about not just "No" to this bailout proposal, but "Hell No".

1 comment:

Old NFO said...

Agreed, NO is the right answer...