House Dems to Detroit Parents: No New Charter Schools For You

In the debate about a state bailout for the Detroit school district, the greatest divide may be the future of charter schools in the city. Democratic lawmakers have often shown a bias against charter schools, and did so again this week.
Read more at Michigan Capitol Confidential Read More......

America's Clash of Generations: How Many Working People Can Support One Retiree in the Future?

We are locked in a generational war, which will get worse before it gets better. Indeed, it may not get better for a long time. No one wants to admit this, because it's ugly and unwelcome. Parents are supposed to care for their children, and children are supposed to care for their aging parents. For families, these collective obligations may work. But what makes sense for families doesn't always succeed for society as a whole. The clash of generations is intensifying.

Last week, a federal judge ruled that Detroit qualifies for municipal bankruptcy. This almost certainly means that pensions and health benefits for the city's retired workers will be trimmed.

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The Unsteady States of America

WHEN Greece ran into financial trouble three years ago, the problem soon spread. Many observers were mystified. How could such a little country set off a continental crisis? The Greeks were stereotyped as a nation of tax-dodgers who had been living high on borrowed money for years. The Portuguese, Italians and Spanish insisted that their finances were fundamentally sound. The Germans wondered what it had to do with them at all. But the contagion was powerful, and Europe’s economy has yet to recover.

America seems in a similar state of denial about Detroit filing for bankruptcy (see article). Many people think Motown is such an exceptional case that it holds few lessons for other places.

Read more at The Economist Read More......

Schadenfreude, Michigan, and Mitt's Big Fumble

In all honesty, I am having a hard time not feeling a touch of schadenfreude as the abject disaster of the once great city of Detroit becomes obvious. I'm not defending that response -- and I do have other emotions as well -- I'm just being honest. You probably feel it too. After all, we both know that people in the Motor City, and the state of Michigan in fact, have brought this doom on themselves with their very liberal ballot habits of the past 60 years. Conservatives have warned them about it for at least several decades, to no avail. Hell, even a casual viewing of Gran Torino or the show Hardcore Pawn tells the story's inevitable end. This is a colossal "we told you so" moment -- and something Biblical about reaping and sowing comes to mind.

Read more at the American Thinker Read More......

The Downfall of Detroit

It took only six decades of “progressive” policies to bring a great city to its knees.  By the time Detroit declared bankruptcy, Americans were so inured to the throbbing dirge of Motown’s Greatest Hits — 40 percent of its streetlamps don’t work; 210 of its 317 public parks have been permanently closed; it takes an hour for police to respond to a 9-1-1 call; only a third of its ambulances are driveable; one-third of the city has been abandoned; the local realtor offers houses on sale for a buck and still finds no takers; etc., etc. — Americans were so inured that the formal confirmation of a great city’s downfall was greeted with little more than a fatalistic shrug.  But it shouldn’t be. To achieve this level of devastation, you usually have to be invaded by a foreign power. In the War of 1812, when Detroit was taken by a remarkably small number of British troops without a shot being fired, Michigan’s Governor Hull was said to have been panicked into surrender after drinking heavily. Two centuries later, after an almighty 50-year bender, the city surrendered to itself.

Read more at National Review Read More......

Potential breakdowns in homeland security protections

THE HILL, 12/26/2009 - Congressional hearings will begin in January to investigate the alleged attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight just before touching down in Detroit on Christmas Day, as top lawmakers voiced concerns about potential breakdowns in homeland security protections. Read more at The Hill...

Added 12/27/2009 - Video: Napolitano On Failed Terror Attempt: "The System Worked"
Added 12/28/2009 - Napolitano Corrects: "System Did Not Work in This Instance" Read More......