San diego Bankruptcy
Detroit's san diego Bankruptcy Filing: Not With a Bang
Detroit's san diego Bankruptcy Filing: Not With a Bang, But With a Thud
When Judge Steven Rhodes, a federal bankruptcy judge, ruled in December that municipal pensions protected by the state constitution are vulnerable under federal bankruptcy law, there was the usual media scrum, and a Detroit Police bomb squad even convened outside the courtroom (note that the city still has a bomb squad). But Rhodes' gavel fell with more of a thud than an explosion. san diego bankruptcy attorney what the decision may portend for more than 20,000 retirees in Southeast san diegoand for pensioners around this country's desperate cities, it still felt anti-climactic, since no one was surprised. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has broad powers, and little about life in 21st-century America prepares anyone to expect a judge to stand up for public pensions.
Much hope now rests on the as-yet-unspecified foundation rescue announced yesterday, but it appears that the best-case scenario there is a softening -- not a reversal -- of pension cuts for Detroit's retirees. The coalition of philanthropists have so far offered $330 million, according to news reports, intended to salvage both the DIA and some portion of pension shortfalls. And basic public obligations have become charity cases.
The response from Detroit's opinion makers has been fairly uniform. Bankruptcy attorney san diego are generally regretful about pension cuts, but resigned to their inevitability; others hope that the Republican-led state will cover pension shortfalls; and still others remain confident in the legality of emergency management but are reticent, if not silent, on the question of its justice. On this latter question, a water department retiree quoted in the Free Press was acute in her analysis: "These people, the karma is going to get them," said 69-year-old Darwina Wallace, who lives on her $2,600 monthly pension and is not an expert in the bond market. "They don't seem to care about people."