Retirees to Get 16 Cents on the Pension Dollar in Detroit Bankruptcy Plan

City doesn't have the money

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.

Comments

[Sevo]

That's precisely $0.16 too much.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

"It was the politicians, and not longtime city workers like Olivia Gillon, who brought Detroit to the brink of insolvency..."

Wrong! It was the city workers, their unions, and the elected officials who gave in to the unions in exchange for a solid voting block that created this mess. I have zero sympathy for the parasite that kills its host. She should be glad she's getting 16 cents on the dollar. Feel the pain, bitch.

[Scarecrow Repair]

Mixed feelings here. I despise bankers getting $1M bonuses while trashing the economy, but at the same time I realize most of them were just following the incentives set by the fat cats getting $100M bonuses and appointed to powerful jobs in DC.

So it is with these city workers. Most of them were just following the incentives set for them by the real cronies, and it's hard to feel the same animum towards the two caegories. While both the $1M bonus bankers and the city employees were getting more than they wuld have in any fair system, they didn't have the power to change the system. I've seen my share of cronyism in private industry and gotten the raw end a few times. If someone had offered my a $1M bonus or retirement at 90% pay at age 50, I might well have taken it, and then be pissed when the rules changed later and I was hounded as the cause of all the problems.

But I hope I'd also realize I'd gotten a pretty good free ride and now it was time to get back on my own two feet again.