Bankrupt

The Drudge Report headlines reads Detroit: $14 billion in the hole. 

Yeah, it didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that Detroit's finance have so sharply deteriorated that only bankruptcy might save it. Might.

Among the findings: 

The city did not balance its checkbook every month, just once a year.

The city sometimes recorded expenses in the wrong place, wrong account or the wrong year.
Some information about city workers did not match information in the personnel files.
When the city paid some insurance claims, they kept a record of the payments, but not of the claims that forced them to make the payment.
The city had no process for anonymous reporting of ethical or fraud violations.
The city used restricted funds to pay for things those funds could not pay for. That's why they're called restricted funds. As a matter of fact, some funds shared the same bank accounts.
The city sometimes determined weekly paychecks without computers and without having the amounts verified by managers. So some paychecks, perhaps many paychecks, were wrong.

And worse:

• As far back as 2005, the city’s general fund has operated at annual deficits ranging from $155.4 million to $221.9 million. The primary method of reducing it: issuing more debt in the form of bonds.
• As of June 30, the 36th District Court had $279.3 million in uncollected fines, fees and other costs from parking violations, civil infractions, traffic and drunken driving cases and other misdemeanors. The court’s collection rate of 7.7% is way below the 60% rate in suburban courts.
• The Detroit Police Department has about 2,030 employees, but the city has “no reliable information” on how they are deployed. Some city officials said one-third are on patrol, but police officials say that number is 68%.
• The city charter contains restrictions that make it “extremely difficult to restructure city operations in any meaningful and timely manner.”
• Detroit’s long-term liabilities, including unfunded pension obligations and retiree health care, exceeded $14 billion in 2012. Those obligations are expected to cost $1.9 billion over the next five years, yet the city has “no satisfactory plan” to address the issue.

And yet: "Councilwoman JoAnn Watson said earlier today that the council should challenge a finding by the state that Detroit is in a financial emergency because corporations, the state and others owe the city more than $800 million. But that’s a figure Bing and others in his administration say is overestimated." Worse: "Watson called the takeover a "right-wing agenda" that's "anti-union" and "anti-black.""

And worse: "Community activist Sandra Hines objected to the review team's finding. She is part of the group Free Detroit No Consent, which opposed the city's consent agreement with the state.
"We have a mayor. We have a council," Hines said. "We feel it's nothing the city can't handle.""

Really?  What is "anti-black" is continuing to let the hundreds of thousands of Detroit citizens dwell in dire, stark poverty, with accruing debt, and citizens being shot outside of 5 year olds birthday parties. What is "anti-black" is for no one to intercede, no one to do anything. Intervening is the only thing to do.

I hate to see the city I grew up in descending into bitter partisan squabbling over trying to fix one of the very many problems plaguing the city. If the City Council proved at all able, there may be an argument for letting them take the lead. But their paralysis demonstrates otherwise. Let the state do what it can before more time is wasted.