Why are liberal-led places like Detroit, Chicago, and California going bankrupt?
Please don’t confuse the economy of California with the fiscal health of its state and local governments. They are not the same by a long shot.Nor should being the 5th or 6th largest economy lead to the assumption the state government is equally healthy. I lived in CA from my college graduation in 1969 until 2017 when I gave up and moved away. A few observations: First, what goes up must come down. I lived through a number of recessions and CA falls faster and further than other states because it always climbs higher during the up cycles. The dot com/Y2K boom resulted in a horribly long recovery in CA. Second, the state seems to set its spending based on the peak tax revenue which, of course, is not sustainable when the downturn arrives. It is then CA faces a fiscal crisis. I can remember 2001 when the state revenue set a record and spending was increased to match—even though the businesses and individuals who generated those revenues in 2000 were already seeing sales fall and were laying off staff and cutting costs like crazy. Third, California’s infrastructure is in terrible shape. Estimates for deferred highway maintenance are obscene. From Gov Brown’s own 2017 budget, the deferred infrastructure estimate is $78 billion. The recent projection of a one year surplus by June 30, 2019 of $6 billion is just a drop in the bucket—-if it comes true. http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2017-I... Fourth, CA has a huge unfunded pension liability. And it continues to get worse. California’s public pension crisis in a nutshell. Fifth, the water system was designed for a population of about 20 million, not the near 40 million in the state today. Bottom line, the State of California is headed for a financial crisis across the board. Believing it isn’t an issue is naive.
Can any liberal explain why the cities and states in the most trouble financially are predominately liberal?
If you list the most bankrupt states and cities, then list the most liberal states and cities, you will see that the list is identical. Solutions are either slashing the budget OR raising taxes. Slashing budgets is a Conservative solution. Raising taxes is a liberal solution, pretty much how they got in the situation they are in in the first place. Explain how liberal solutions do not make a bad situation worse.
Why Doesn't Government Help Detroit?
Come on we send billions and billions to Israel every year. Why can't we help our American city get back into shape and pay off it's debt and rebuild it. Why can't we have plans to rebuild and get jobs to Detroit. Detroit was a big part of our economy before bad things started happening. Why are we wasting billions in the Middle East but refusing to help Detroit?
Will detroit ever become the thriving city it was during the 1950s?
The reasons are both macro and micro. Unfortunately manufacturing, the base of its economy, and the economies of many other rust belt cities, is dying in this country. There are many reasons for this, most glaring is the competition, both fair and unfair, from China and other countries. As for the local reasons, the city government is horrendously over extended and corrupt. While its budget woes stem from the failing economy, the inability of the city government to effectively trim its budget accordingly is a big contributing factor.
How safe is Blacktown in NSW compared to Detroit?
Despite Blacktown having a relatively high crime rate for Sydney, it's still much lower than in Detroit. The number of assaults in Blacktown per 1000 people is slightly over a third that of Detroit. So Blacktown is much safer.