Wednesday, October 30, 2013

This Is Just The Beginning

monopoly man running with money bag
Detroit Lenders Stealing From Pensioners
From Fox News: It was the politicians, and not longtime city workers like Olivia Gillon, who brought Detroit to the brink of insolvency, but now Gillon can only watch as lawyers negotiating the Motor City's bankruptcy bid place a new value on her hard-earned pension: 16 cents on the dollar.
The beleaguered city, facing debt of as much as $20 billion and led by a state-appointed manager, tried nearly a year ago to renegotiate with creditors. When those talks broke down, the city filed for bankruptcy last July, but the filing was ruled unconstitutional by a judge. A series of state and federal rulings followed, culminating in a trial that began last week in which the city must show it is eligible to enter bankruptcy. That's when the frightening magnitude of the "haircut" being sought for some 21,000 retirees emerged.
“It’s wrong on every possible level,” Gillon, 68, told FoxNews.com. “I earned my pension. I retired expecting it and I feel that I should have it.”...
 But for a retiree counting on a modest annual pension of, say $30,000, the proposed cut would leave him or her with $4,800. Of all the once-proud city's creditors, including banks, vendors and bondholders, retired workers are the least able to take the hit, said Gillon.   http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/30/detroit-bankruptcy-proposal-would-leave-pensioners-with-16-cents-on-dollar/?intcmp=latestnews
This is just the tip of the ice berg.  There are going many more bankruptcies around the country, with the biggest probably being in California, where they cannot sustain their pension plan.  It's also true that Social Security cannot sustain itself over the long haul.
Try to live on $4800 a year whole the major creditors, like the banks, will get most of their money that is owed them.
But hey, the pensioners can go on ObamaCare, collect food stamps and become wards of the State.

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