Woe is the Budget

From the Economist:

CHOOSING the bleakest statistic from a report issued by Kevyn Orr, Detroit’s emergency manager, on his city’s financial health is like choosing the wettest raindrop in a monsoon. It could be the $1.3 billion general-fund deficit Detroit is forecast to run, absent restructuring, by the 2017 fiscal year. It could be the $200m revenue decline since 2008, the roughly $3.5 billion in unfunded pension liabilities or its $5.7 billion in non-pension retiree liabilities.

With the Free Press covering the impending woe of Detroit pension beneficiaries, this issue is only going to grow in profile. It's scary. These guys were made promises that the city cannot keep. There is no money there. I know there's a lot of debate about over-criminalization, but it truly is a crime that that these fiscal decisions were made and innocent workers will suffer.