"Judge approves California city’s bankruptcy plan" Associated Press October 31, 2014
SACRAMENTO — A judge on Thursday approved a debt plan by Stockton, one of the largest US cities to declare bankruptcy, allowing it to reorganize more than $900 million in long-term debt and put more than two years of financial uncertainty behind it.
Marking a critical development in the city’s financial recovery, US Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein said Stockton can use the plan to exit the court’s Chapter 9 protection, which it sought in 2012. Klein’s ruling can be appealed.
‘‘This plan, I’m persuaded, is the best that can be done in terms of restructuring an adjustment of the debts of the city of Stockton,’’ he said.
The city negotiated deals with all major creditors except Franklin Templeton Investments, which argued it was being treated unfairly. The investment firm said the city is not touching a massive employee pension fund but is asking the company to walk away from collecting nearly $32.5 million still owed.
‘‘Obviously we are disappointed,’’ Franklin Templeton’s lawyer, James Johnston, told the judge. ‘‘We will evaluate our next steps.’’
Klein ruled earlier this month that bankruptcy law allows the city to treat pension obligations like any other debt, meaning the city could trim benefits.
An inland port city 80 miles east of San Francisco, Stockton filed for Chapter 9 protection in 2012, making it the nation’s largest bankrupt city before Detroit filed for bankruptcy last year.
Blame it on global warming.
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Related: Bankrupt California Post
UPDATE: Storm Stronger Than Sandy to Chill the U.S. An explosive storm surpassing the intensity of Superstorm Sandy is expected to bring frigid temperatures to much of the U.S.
Surprising Lows
»
"By late next week, temperatures will be well below average as far south as the Gulf Coast. The system is also expected to bring snow to parts of the Rockies and Plains next week."
Dammit! My government told me no more polar vortexes, and it's about time you agenda-pushing fart-misters admit the obvious: the global warming argument is bankrupt.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Judge approves bankruptcy exit plan for Detroit" by Ed White | Associated Press November 08, 2014
DETROIT — A judge cleared Detroit to emerge from bankruptcy Friday, approving a hard-fought turnaround plan with a fervent plea to the people of this one-time industrial powerhouse to ‘‘move past your anger’’ and help fix the Motor City.
Turn the water back on!
‘‘What happened in Detroit must never happen again,’’ federal Judge Steven Rhodes said in bringing the case to a close a relatively speedy 16 months after Detroit — the cradle of the auto industry — became the biggest city in US history to file for bankruptcy.
It's happening all around us!
The plan calls for cutting retiree pensions by 4.5 percent, erasing $7 billion of debt, and spending $1.7 billion to demolish thousands of blighted buildings, make the city safer, and improve long-neglected basic services.
Rhodes praised decisions that settled the most contentious issues in the bankruptcy case, including a deal to prevent the sell-off of world-class art at the Detroit Institute of Arts and a consensus that prevented pension cuts from getting even worse for thousands of retirees.
Related:
"The Detroit Institute of Arts, which is among the facilities caught up in the controversy over the city bankruptcy case, defended the six-figure salaries of its two top executives. Director Graham Beal’s total compensation was $534,000 last year, a 17 percent increase since 2011. Chief operating officer Annmarie Erickson received $337,000 in 2013, the museum said.It appears Erickson got a 36 percent raise in 2012, but the museum called that misleading. Some pay in 2012 was for work performed in 2011, after a promotion."
Yeah, that certainly ju$tifies it all, and at least some pension chump change was preserved after Wall Street decimated the funds.
He said the pension deal ‘‘borders on the miraculous,’’ though he acknowledged the cuts could still cause severe misfortune for some.
Who gives a f*** about taxsucking state vampires anymore? A deals a deal and.... hey, wait a minute, I guess it isn't when it comes to government. They are altering the deal, pray they do not alter it any further. Deal getting worse all the time, but.... thank God we got good government in Amerika, 'eh?
Politicians and civic leaders, including Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, hailed Friday’s milestone as a fresh start for the city and the beginning of what could be a bright new era. It was Snyder who agreed with state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr to take the city into Chapter 9.
For $ome.
Detroit, which has more square miles than Manhattan, Boston, and San Francisco combined, was brought down by a combination of factors, including corruption and mismanagement at City Hall, a long decline in the auto industry, and a flight to the suburbs that caused the population to plummet to 688,000 from 1.2 million in 1980.
Detroit didn’t have enough tax revenue to cover pensions, retiree health insurance, and buckets of debt sold to keep the budget afloat. ‘‘Detroit’s inability to provide adequate municipal services runs deep and has for years. It is inhumane and intolerable, and it must be fixed,’’ the judge said.
Yeah, it really is. Cops and EMTS were taking hours to respond.
In signing off on the plan, Rhodes appealed to residents who expressed sorrow and disgust about the city’s woes.
‘‘Move past your anger. Move past it and join in the work that is necessary to fix this city,’’ he said. ‘‘Help your city leaders do that. It is your city.’’
Yeah, pitch in to the whole program, salute smartly, and march!
The case concluded very quickly by bankruptcy standards. That was helped by a series of deals between Detroit and major creditors, especially retirees who agreed to accept smaller pension checks after the judge said they had no protection under the Michigan Constitution.
Then workers have no rights to pensions, so why contribute to them like the propaganda pre$$ is always advi$ing? so Wall Street can play with it and then keep it?
Also, bond insurers with more than $1 billion in claims eventually dropped their push to sell off art and settled for much less.
Awwwww!
Rhodes had to accept Detroit’s remedy or reject it in full, not pick pieces. His appointed expert, Martha ‘‘Marti’’ Kopacz of Boston, said it was ‘‘skinny’’ but ‘‘feasible,’’ and she linked any future success to the skills of the mayor and City Council and a badly needed overhaul of technology at City Hall.
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I saw no further forecasts in the Boston Globe, and I wonder how many other things they are not telling me in addition the the shallow and superficial bs I am getting.
