Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Cities Towns Collapsing Under Strain

(snippet)
Across the country, a growing number of towns, cities and other local governments are seeking refuge in similar havens that many states provide as alternatives to federal bankruptcy court. Pennsylvania will have 20 cities and smaller communities in its distressed-cities program if Harrisburg receives approval. Michigan has 37 in its program; New Jersey has seven; Illinois, Rhode Island and California each have at least one. This is on top of troubled housing, power and hospital authorities.
The increasingly common pleas for state assistance — after two relatively quiet decades — reflect the yawning local budget deficits that have appeared in the last two years.
As tax revenue has fallen, the cost of providing labor-intensive government services, like teaching and policing, has proved hard to reduce.
The programs, which vary by state, generally allow troubled communities to tap emergency credit lines while restructuring their finances with some form of state oversight.

5 comments:

  1. All governments great and small...Federal, state, county, city spend too much in good times then find it hard to cut in bad times.

    Only thing that will cure it sadly enough is a crash...It forces people to live within means...Or cut the BS programs.

    Of course this only ends up costing more sadness and unemployment but it has to be done.

    It's basically a form of chemo where it kills good and bad but helps the patient survive.

    I'm a cop and I think we're overpaid I know for a fact firemen and teachers are too...Stop all pensions and make us all pay into social security...That alone will save about 1/4 off the main drains of benefits.

    I like my money but what good does it do to sin the ship by not giving in? Anyways honestly who really believes they'll be able to collect retirement or social security?

    I don't expect it so don't even kick into it and save the state, county, city some digital money to keep it floating a lil longer...Just being practical.

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  2. I have been thinking recently that the only police force a county should have is the Sheriff's office. We should do away with local/municipal police departments. Every home should have a gun and everyone who can legally carry should do so. Fire companies should be volunteer only. The only paid employees of a town should be full-time paramedics. We have too much government and too many bureaucrats. We need to start thinking about what is truly important.

    Think about the services that your town provides...how many of those services do you really ever use?

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  3. I'm apart of Generation Y. Most experiences in my life were encounters with miserable people who were filled with hatred, insecurity, and lies. Regardless of what jobs I've had or places I've been here in the southwest, it seems like these people represented the average modern American.

    They were as often as not largely overweight, most barely smiled, few knew anything about science, history, or other religions outside of Christianity even if they were college educated.

    When I was in grade school some years back I'd say kids who didn't do some kind of drug were hard to come across. Not too rare, but they were becoming a discriminant portion of the youth. My time there was when kids started using cell phones. My gosh they all forgot how to hold conversations.

    I'm very glad I'm not in school today, it's twice as bad now. I can only imagine what it will be like for those in elementary school now when they get into high school... if there is such a thing left.

    I don't know why my life mainly attracted such people, perhaps it was something I was supposed to see.

    Here's my take:

    Teachers are all apart of the problem - brain dead and unethical. These people are absolutely unqualified for their jobs. Most of them became teachers because they weren't capable enough to actually become mathematicians, physicists, athletes, etc.

    Economics... what a worthless science! Journalists, reporters, political theorists, whatever other group of chumps you can add there should be added to the list of worthless people to let go of.

    Nurses are probably more worthless than all of the above. Strange claim? Well, when you go to a hospital notice the large amounts of nurses doing nothing while the waiting room is full of people who are also doing nothing. Thankfully the 'Universal' Healthcare will do away with them. (Note that I do not like Obama, but I am glad he got through to help add fire to the chaos.)

    This all is a blessing. I get to watch this horrible FALSE world crumble in my lifetime and still be young after it happens to grow old and write about it. I'll teach the future generation what caused it and help show them a better path.

    Those who remember true Life will find all of the coming destruction to be the work of the Divine. Breathe it all in, it's invigorating!

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  4. 2:06 good attitude...Very true what you say...hard to find any positive people...Even in poverty there can be beauty.

    When I was young and poor I had real friends and beautiful women who were poor like me...Now it's hard to find anyone without issues, agendas or negativity.

    Still always got to smile cus this ride will be amazing on the way up and on the way down. :)

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  5. More then likely everyone of these cities on the verge of bankruptcy have not laid off or fired any employees. They still have four workers for every shovel and school teachers who never teach a class. And on the day they go bankrupt all these employees will go home with full pay and benefits. An intelligent mayor or administrator would have pared down the workforce to match the incoming revenues. Why didn't they do anything to cut costs???

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