The Motor City in Ruins


Detroit was supposed to be a liberal utopia. Designed and built on federal dollars and federal-private collaboration for big business, the place has collapsed in on itself.

Steven Crowder has headed to Detroit to show just want happens when liberals get everything they ask for.

You really, really need to watch this video.


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America....here is your future

marshmom (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 7:28PM EST (link)

under the Obama administration.

 

Maybe time to blow it up and not start over....

izoneguy (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 7:45PM EST (link)

n/t

The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.

 

An article mentioned today on the radio down here........ Detroit has an almost 50% unemployment rate.

Kenny Solomon (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 7:49PM EST (link)

That’s not from a blog, or some loon spouting off……. It’s a real news article, researched and developed.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20091216/METRO01/912160374/Nearly-half-of-Detroit-s-workers-are-unemployed

Mayor Dave Bing recently raised eyebrows when he said what many already suspected: that the city’s official unemployment rate was as believable as Santa Claus. In Washington for a jobs forum earlier this month, he estimated it was “closer to 50 percent.”

===========

Let’s all pray it’ll be just an electoral bloodbath, not a real one……… Because if the SHTF there, it’s gonna be fast, hard and very VERY bad for everyone.

 

Democrats have killed a great American city.

NeoKong (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 7:59PM EST (link)

See for yourself.

The US government is looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature Photo: GETTY
Headquarters of General Motors: US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive
Headquarters of General Motors Corp. in Detroit Photo: BLOOMBERG NEWS
Old house in Detroit: US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive
An empty house in Detroit Photo: DEREK BLAIR

The government looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature.

Local politicians believe the city must contract by as much as 40 per cent, concentrating the dwindling population and local services into a more viable area.

Understand…? Someone thinks that razing whole neighborhoods of homes that were once filled with families is “pioneering
A once bustling industrial area is becoming an empty field.
If you watched that whole video you saw massive, gorgeous and beautiful buildings abandoned in a desolate wasteland caused by Democrats.
Everything liberals touch they destroy.

Follow me on Twitter.

 

Bravo!

grumpy_old_soldier (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 8:09PM EST (link)

Well done. This is our brain on Obama.

 

Detroit mayor rides in luxury as city decays

izoneguy (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 8:13PM EST (link)

Read this and you will see the problem….is not just electing
democratic politicians.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/feb2005/detr-f02.shtml

Kilpatrick came to prominence long after the black Democrats abandoned any pretense of liberal reformism. The son of US Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and Bernard Kilpatrick, the chief of staff of former Wayne County Executive (and Democratic Party machine boss) Ed McNamara, Kilpatrick has been hailed by the media as a part of a “second generation of black leaders.”

These black Democratic politicians, who include US Representatives Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) and Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn), reject the policies associated with the civil rights era and have embraced the reactionary politics of “personal responsibility” and the capitalist market. Summing up their outlook recently, Cincinnati Councilwoman Alicia Reese told the Detroit News the civil rights movement had been fought “to open the doors to the marketplace.” The struggle today, she said, was about establishing “a new generation of entrepreneurs. We’re talking about venture capital.”

Kilpatrick epitomizes this grasping and reactionary social layer. In his State of the City address demanding sacrifices from Detroit workers, he quoted approvingly from the prescriptions of the Mackinaw Center, a right-wing think tank in Michigan that promotes unrestrained free-market policies as the solution to every social problem caused by the profit system.

The recent revelations about his administration constitute one more refutation of the claim that the Democratic Party speaks in the interest of the working class and expose, in particular, the bankruptcy of racial politics. Black workers cannot defend their interests by electing black capitalist politicians, whether Democrats or Republicans, but must join forces with white, Hispanic and immigrant workers in a common struggle against capitalism.

The struggle is still socialism vs. capitalism….
Capitalism made Detroit and Socialism ruined it…
Any questions???

The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.

 

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's profligate spending impairs restitution obligation

izoneguy (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 8:18PM EST (link)

Hmmmm, do we see a pattern here:

Kwame Kilpatrick’s profligate spending impairs restitution obligation

http://www.examiner.com/x-19336-Detroit-Crime-Examiner~y2009m12d11-Kwame-Kilpatricks-profligate-spending-impairs-restitution-obligation

Spendthrift practices by ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick have convinced Wayne Prosecutor Kym Worthy that he has violated the terms of his probation requiring him to pay $1,000,000 in restitution. This revelation came Wednesday at the close of a six day hearing to determine an appropriate monthly payment on the amount.

The proceeding, which Wayne Circuit Judge David Groner called a restitution hearing, produced evidence that Prosecutor Kym Worthy believes warrants the filing of a probation violation motion that could land Kilpatrick back in jail. She contends that Kilpatrick was not truthful about his finances, failed to provide records documenting his assets, and has moved thousands of dollars through various bank accounts to obfuscate his actual worth.

Worthy paints a portrait of a man reluctant to allow his million dollar obligation to interfere with his high brow lifestyle. The prosecution subpoenaed many of Kilpatrick’s financial records; they showed monthly cash withdrawals and debit payments in excess of $3,000, and purchases including green fees, Gucci shoes, $158 nail salon visits, as well as leases of luxury vehicles and a suburban Dallas mansion.

The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.

 

I lived in SE Michigan for 28 years.

Flagstaff (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 8:26PM EST (link)

I left in 2000. Things were bleak then, but never as bleak as this looks now.

My ophthalmologist is from the Detroit area. He told me today that the Fairlane Town Center, which was built about 1974 just across the Southfield Freeway from Ford World Headquarters, is now practically a Ghost Town Center.

There was a famous case of eminent domain takings that preceded Kelo by many years. It was called “Poletown,” and it was an entire neighborhood razed so that GM could build a state of the art assembly plant for B-O-P. It was a project concurrent with the modernizatin of Buick City in Flint. You know, the place that Michael Moore made famous. So that whole thing didn’t work out too well, but we own them now to some extent, don’t we?

Detroit has enjoyed a terrible reputation for many years, and now it looks like it is truly deserved.

This video makes me sad. Lord have mercy on Dave Bing.

“The press is so powerful in its image-making role that it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”– Malcolm X, Audubon Ballroom, December 13, 1964

 

If it were not for the outlying suburbs

michigan Monday, December 21st at 8:35PM EST (link)

and taxpayer dollars via government programs and grants, the City of Detroit would be no longer. You drive past 7 mile road and it gets a bit post apocalyptic or like the History Channel show “Life After People”, many scenes of the like that Steven Crowder highlights and is quite accurate. The Detroit public schools have been under State control for years. Corruption, malfeasance, thuggery and theft have decimated the city and its coffers. Dave Bing is now Mayor. He’s a Democrat, an ex pro basketball player and seems like a decent fellow, totally unlike the “Kwamster”. There has been much hope placed in him, so everyone here hopes he sees successes and not scandals. The city of Dearborn has seen much change. With the automakers folding their tent and seeking greener pastures, tens of thousands have lost jobs and moved on; so you know the old saying how “nature abhors a vacuum”, so what has replaced the customs, traditions and values of the people that have gone? Islam.

 

OI!

Mike (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 8:35PM EST (link)

Some see here the fall of a great city, and shake their heads in sadness at the plight of the poor, poor people suffering under the velvet-gloved iron fist of liberalism.

I see a job opportunity.

Here’s what the job is: Documentarian.

I know we’ve got somebody out there who is willing to do this — think Breitbart, or that guy who made Indoctrinate U. This is the sort of thing that just begs to be expanded into a full-length documentary. So I’m gonna see if I can find someone to help me make this.

First one to produce it wins. I say we skip the movie theaters and go straight to Hulu or some other internet-based launch system. If marketed correctly (and, of course, made correctly), it could be a game-changer. Liberals should be forced to see the ends of their means.

First Step: Calculate How Many Federal Dollars have gone to Detroit in the last 40 Years!

Ausonius (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 8:42PM EST (link)

I would estimate – and this would NOT include welfare checks to individuals – somewhere between 25 and 50 Billion.

You would have to adjust previous decades’ money for inflation.

And what did that money buy?

Ausonius: 310-395 A.D. Teacher, Poet, Consul, General, Farmer.

Personal Tutor to the future St. Paulinus of Nola and to young Gratian, heir to the throne during the turbulent final years of the Western Roman Empire. When his former student Gratian was assassinated, Ausonius threw up his hands and retired to his farm in Gaul. Rome was captured by barbarians 14 years after his death.

Cato@rock.com

 
 

This Nov. 6, 2009 WSJ article may have inspired Crowder

ColdWarrior (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 9:20PM EST (link)

From the article:

“Detroit has 80,000 abandoned lots and buildings, according to the city’s planning department. Old housing projects, homes, strip malls and even high-rise buildings sit empty across much of the city. Motown has more vacant office, retail and industrial space than nearly every other big city in the country.”

Here’s the article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125745924791631907.html

Thank you.
ColdWarrior

In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

 

Question

avgamerican (Diary) Monday, December 21st at 11:41PM EST (link)

How do you convince the voters who need to be convinced of this truth? There comes a point when debate is lost through obstruction and propaganda. The MSM and the statist education system are the biggest culprits here. There is another reason the left is against school vouchers besides a loss of revenue. They don’t want school children learning free market and Judeo Christian values.

You're right avgAm

Warrior (Diary) Tuesday, December 22nd at 1:57PM EST (link)

I’m convinced conservatives really DO need a TV channel all their own, and none of that fair and balanced stuff either.

Videos like this would be standard fare. Also, frank and free discussions, in depth, regarding the hacked EAU/CRU e-mails and so many other topics would fill the airwaves.

Segments would be devoted to deconstructing left wing “news” reports from the alphabet networks. Even now, without half listening, I can destroy, show as false or describe the slant in the coverage of alomst every story they broadcast.

And it would be FUN as well as enlightening.

Even with Fox news in ascendency, the Public still isn’t getting the message, as you point out avgAm. I talked to a couple the other day who were in favor of Obamacare until I laid out a few simple facts — like rationing (or even denial) of dialysis, transplants, life-saving (but expensive) meds, etc. They were obviously horrified.

Oh man, we could explain why raising the min wage makes it worse on those wage earners; why we NEED rich people in this country; why gubmint dependency is a BAD idea; why we NEED big oil, big pharm, etc and so much more.

All we need is some serious money, and TehWon has outlawed money for us low-class rednecks…

“Racial criteria are irrational, irrelevant, [and] odious to our way of life.” — Thurgood Marshall for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1950 Supreme Court case of McLaurin v. Oklahoma

 
 

I hope he was armed

makemyday (Diary) Tuesday, December 22nd at 9:11AM EST (link)

You may think that Steven may have cherry picked the worst there is in Detroit, let me assure you he did not. Oh yes there are some neighborhoods (Indian Village or Palmer Park) in Detroit that are beautiful, but for the most part you can shoot a video like Steve’s anywhere within the city limits. You can’t imagine how beautiful this city used to be from these shots of present day Detroit. The areas that Steven was in I can tell you he was in mortal danger. The one shot of the tall structure sitting in complete ruins was the old train station. I used to catch trains out of there to all parts of the country. A few years ago they found a body in a elevator shaft frozen and encased in pool of water at the bottom. It was left there until the spring thaw if I remember the story correctly.

Not to be picky about Steven’s of using Detroit as an example of liberal ideals, I have said for years the same thing. The Michigan motto is “If you seek a beautiful pennisula, look about you”. In Detroit “If you seek a liberal utopia, look about you.”

When all else fails…….. Shoot!

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” –American author Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times.” –George Washington, letter to Philip Schuyler, 1777

 

Watching Detroit and worrying about America. Why the left can't stop itself. They know the truth too.

archer52 Tuesday, December 22nd at 9:55AM EST (link)

http://truthandcommonsense.com/2009/12/22/you-wont-see-this-video-on-cbs-pjtv-shows-the-underside-of-detroit/

From my website. In my book I have a character, a Senator, that is on board with the takeover of the nation for one reason, he is afraid. Afraid the Ponzi scheme of the federal government giving away money and free stuff in exchange for votes was going to fall down- soon. I believe the left gets that the train is coming to the end of the tracks and wants one of two things. They want money to build more track in order to delay the inevitable, or enough money so they can just jump off and watch it crash.

Either way, us regular folks riding on this train are screwed.

Great website archer

Warrior (Diary) Tuesday, December 22nd at 2:12PM EST (link)

I couldn’t agree more. Socialist schemes are doomed to failure from the start. Either they cannot continue the level of benefits they promised (due to many things, but mostly from politicians piling on benefits) or becasue they didn’t take human nature into account (folks will only work for so long w/o being allowed to reap the rewards of their labor.

But you’re absolutely right. Unless drastic measures are taken NOW to dismantle the socialist aspects of our state, it can’t end well. And no one will want to take the blame either, as you point out. So it’s every man for himself and no one wants to be lefy holding the bag.

The choices are: prop up the status quo long enough to rob it, take over and enforce draconian laws to supress opposition, or throw the bums out now and start repealing laws and shutting down gubmint nonesense ASAP.

“Racial criteria are irrational, irrelevant, [and] odious to our way of life.” — Thurgood Marshall for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1950 Supreme Court case of McLaurin v. Oklahoma

Everybody hates "gubmint nonsense" except for the teat they're attached to. nt

Achance (Diary) Tuesday, December 22nd at 4:39PM EST (link)

In Vino Veritas

Yeah Art, things never change

Warrior (Diary) Wednesday, December 23rd at 9:55AM EST (link)

My Dad always used to say it depended on whose ox was being gored.

However, I think conservatives could agree on a few cuts right off the bat: Dept of Education; Dept of Energy; EPA; Natl Endowment for thr Arts, etc….

“Racial criteria are irrational, irrelevant, [and] odious to our way of life.” — Thurgood Marshall for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1950 Supreme Court case of McLaurin v. Oklahoma

 
 
 
 

The great liberal experiment has failed

redpens (Diary) Tuesday, December 22nd at 4:25PM EST (link)

but the left thinks it needs to do more. What more could they do to Detroit? This is America’s future, under Obama and the Demo-communists. We have to stop it.

 

The left will claim it was the big evil autos that destroyed Detroit

Common_Cents (Diary) Tuesday, December 22nd at 4:57PM EST (link)

That the greedy car companies didn’t heed Obama’s brilliance and make high MPG cars, electric cars, car that run on fairy dust etc…

Obama=Golfer in Chief, Leading from, behind, the Back Nine.
Leaders don’t create movements. Movements create leaders. Get involved. Your future depends on it.
Govt “invests” YOUR tax money for POLITICAL return rather than economic return.

But for the brief period of $4.00/gallon gas, MPG had little impact

6eorge Jetson (Diary) Tuesday, December 22nd at 5:03PM EST (link)

The extra $1,200 the Big Three needed to charge to cover union benefits, did however. As did poorer quality for the same price.

On your next trip out, look to your left & to your right and try to pretend that you don’t see any SUVs.

It's funny how Big Three

Warrior (Diary) Wednesday, December 23rd at 10:01AM EST (link)

Somehow, management was fine until the unions became so rapacious.

Right after WWII, we were essentially the only country in the world producing marketable cars. However, as the Japanese powerhouse started cranking out quality autos, the Unions would not give any concessions to allow management to compete.

And thus the Soviet traktor factories we have now masquerading and automobile manufaturing companies.

“Racial criteria are irrational, irrelevant, [and] odious to our way of life.” — Thurgood Marshall for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1950 Supreme Court case of McLaurin v. Oklahoma

The intersection of unions, government, and management.

Achance (Diary) Monday, January 4th at 10:00PM EST (link)

Before WWII, the car companies made cars and little else. They were hardcore holdouts on unionization even in the face of the New Deal and strikes, sitdowns, and all sorts of violence from the very communist-influenced UAW. They were all but nationalized in WWII and turned into defense contractors making whatever the government wanted and the government wanted it done under a union contract with a no-strike clause and grievance arbitration. These big industries set the patter for US labor relations that persisted until the ’80s and still persists structurally.

After WWII, the car companies did not go back to being just car companies, they stayed in government funded work, mostly defense but also other things, particularly GM’s foray into railroad locomotives. It is lost to memory pretty much but the first really regulated and unionized industry was railroads.

With Democrat control of Congress and about alternately the WH in the ’50′s, through the ’70′s the automakers could not get crossthreaded with unions because the Democrats controlled the pursestrings for buying things they made. Consequently, the automakers reached a truce with the UAW; patter bargaining. The automakers were willing to do this both because it prevented UAW whip-sawying and because it prevented any one company from having a significant labor cost advantage. Letting the labor costs be quite high had the additional advantage of being a barrier to entry and pushing out the lesser competitors such as Studebaker-Packard and American Motors.

I don’t know that the Japanese and other foreign cars were expecially better made but they enjoyed all sorts of taxation and regulatory advantages under American law and the US government not only did nothing to level the playing field regarding taxes and regulations, it refused to protect the US makers in the guise of free trade.

Long story short, I’m no great fan of the UAW and I think their influence on this Administration borders on criminal, but there is plenty of blame to go around for the demise of the US auto industry and it can be allocated to labor, management, and government and to Democrats and Republicans alike.

In Vino Veritas

S/b: "pattern bargaining..." nt

Achance (Diary) Monday, January 4th at 10:01PM EST (link)

In Vino Veritas

 
 
 
 
 

Done talking

iamtrue Monday, January 4th at 8:42PM EST (link)

I had came into to the game late and yes i am very peeved at myself but i’m also glad that obama came into the picture cause it helped me to understand the hurtful and painful things that took place in my life from the time of graduation to now, well i’m done talking i’m going to do everything in my power to turn this GREAT STATE OF MICHIGAN from BLUE to RED. And put it back on the map. I just have to figure out how, and i will.