Quote Originally Posted by Fisherking View Post
Wait, it was the government that went bankrupt, why is it a discussion of the poor?

They taxed themselves out of existence. They could not operate any longer on promises and raising taxes. They went from a population of around 2 million to 700,000.
Taxes only contributed to Detroit's problem. People didn't leave the city because of high taxes.

On a side note, I find it funny property taxes in the city of Detroit are often more than the homes themselves! Why anyone would pay high taxes to live in residential cease pool is beyond me.

Jobs left the area so people had to follow. Not all can be laid at the feet of the city government, the national government played a part to, as did the fall of manufacturing jobs but much of that was all intertwined.
I 100% disagree. Almost all the blame can be placed on the city government. Jobs and people left Detroit BECAUSE of the city government and corrupt, incompetent, and often racist leadership. There is a reason why Southeastern Michigan is and will continue to be much better than the city of Detroit itself. Jobs (for the most part) didn't disappear, but simply move to the more friendly suburbs. There is absolutely no reason to set up shop or continue to operate a business within the city. I still work on a few clients located within the city and I admire their loyalty.

My heart goes out to all the pensioners who are now left with almost nothing. They also had to pay in their money to retirement funds but have now lost it.
On one hand I feel bad because a lot of people aren't financially savvy. On the other, anyone who did any kind of research or paid attention what was going on in Detroit could have seen this coming 20 years ago.

It could happen elsewhere too. Is Social Security much better off?
Yes. Social Security is still solvent and will be for years to come.