Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning January 2006 » Foreclosures at record rate in Wayne County « Previous Next »
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Gannon
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Username: Gannon

Post Number: 5624
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 70.236.198.22
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 3:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Detroit News is reporting this story...how we are leading the nation by over 50% in foreclosures in the month of January alone...our 3,364 is more than 1000 more than the next down on the list.

Wow.
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Gannon
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Username: Gannon

Post Number: 5625
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 70.236.198.22
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 3:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Kudos to them for illuminating this properly.


quote:

The numbers illustrate one of cruelest side effects of the region's economic troubles. Every repossessed home is a broken American dream for families, who lose not only money and a home, but also give up years of happy memories and hopes for a solid future.


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Livernoisyard
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Username: Livernoisyard

Post Number: 183
Registered: 10-2004
Posted From: 69.242.223.42
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 4:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What some call a dream, others may call a nightmare and still others - temporary insanity. Anyway to a typical Bush-hater, "It's all Bush's fault!"
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Czar
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Username: Czar

Post Number: 2940
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 129.137.179.215
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 4:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Actually, it's all Greenspan's fault.
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Lurker
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Username: Lurker

Post Number: 1600
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 65.196.220.198
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 4:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Actually, it's all David Hall's fault.
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Livernoisyard
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Username: Livernoisyard

Post Number: 184
Registered: 10-2004
Posted From: 69.242.223.42
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 4:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

So, Greenspan picked on Detroit - a city (and region) whose economy has been in the crapper the entire decade - so far. Besides, he retired.

(Message edited by livernoisyard on February 27, 2006)
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Gannon
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Username: Gannon

Post Number: 5626
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 70.236.198.22
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 5:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Why the obsession over who's fault it may be?

WTF difference does that make?!

We don't need to place blame, we need to move forward and find a solution for these people who are being made homeless and losing their accrued life savings that they planted in the ground because their financial analysts all told them to slave themselves to the American Dream.
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Gildas
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Username: Gildas

Post Number: 441
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 147.240.236.9
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 5:24 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

And perhaps, because they listened to what the media and finanicial world told them the "dream" was, and decided not to think for themselves, they went out and used risky home loans to buy more house them they could afford, took equity for the Plasma TV, SUV and vacation they couldn't live without and caused a self-inflicted financial meltdown.

Why does there have to be "we need to find a solution" fix to poor planning. I understand that people lose jobs and layoffs have been happening, but this trend in Wayne county is beyond that.

Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
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Rustic
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Username: Rustic

Post Number: 2116
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 130.132.177.245
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 5:39 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Although Wayne County may apparently lead the nation in foreclosed homes I'll bet it is also a leader in lower middle class and working class home ownership. Many more potential homes to foreclose on in Wayne County vs elsewhere. (Btw forclosures are on the rise all over the place, not just in ecomonically punch drunk metro Detroit.) imo when it becomes apparent that the realestate bubble here on the east coast has leveled off (or popped depending on your location) I fear a lot of people will be in a severe financial bind that they did not anticipate.
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Gannon
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Username: Gannon

Post Number: 5627
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 70.236.198.22
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 5:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Well, Gildas, how would you rather it be handled?


Those without the problem bury their heads in the sand and allow everyone in these situations to fend for themselves?


I'll be very enthused to hear you whine about the increase in crime as those without become more desperate.


It will NOT be the docile waiting-in-lines for food like we see from those depression-era photos.


Lack of proper empathy, or even sympathy, will certainly constitute an emergency on your part, and THEN it will be much too late to do anything about it.
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Lowell
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Username: Lowell

Post Number: 2321
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 66.167.211.61
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 6:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

A portrait of George Bush's America [yep, he is the pres]. Detroit Westside Feb. 2006.

foreclosed
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Rrl
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Username: Rrl

Post Number: 453
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 71.213.227.199
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 7:05 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

hate to say it, but many areas in the D looked like this ^^^ LONG before either Bush was in office.
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Tndetroiter
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Username: Tndetroiter

Post Number: 20
Registered: 12-2005
Posted From: 24.158.164.229
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 7:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Foreclosures are up everywhere, even down here in Tennessee. My mom's house (the I lived in since I was 13 'til i left for college) just got foreclosed on. The News did hit it on the head, having your house go into foreclosure can absolutely destroy someone. It's definately not an experience I'd wish on anyone.
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Goat
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Username: Goat

Post Number: 8147
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.71.56.201
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 7:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't think it's Bush's fault (to a degree) nor Greenspan's (his economics have been outstanding throughout his career...remember Clinton's years??)

I believe the myopia we are seeing is due to corporate greed. Slash and burn, or sell North American jobs away has been the norm for the middle class for the past 10 years. I believe that we are finally seeing those effects first hand and at the the full scale it has become.
The rush to invest in China has only increased the problem...the middle class will not exist too far into the future at this rate.
We can already see this with the increase divide between poor and upper class. The monetary gap is growing and growing at a fast pace.
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Barnesfoto
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Username: Barnesfoto

Post Number: 1724
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 66.2.149.124
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 7:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hmm, and bulk collection has been discontinued.
The city is going to be very messy by summertime!
As for the forclosures, I would guess that this is the beginning of a wave, as some people are still squeaking by, borrowing money from relatives, etc.
You can blame them for buying more than they can afford, (isn't that the American way?) but I'd rather live on a block where everybody owns their home than a block where everybody rents.
And who was it that was yammering about an "ownership society" last year?
I was speaking with a man who does real estate the other night, and he told me of investors from Sacramento who are buying up homes in Detroit, renovating them and then trying to sell them for big bucks, so far without success. It seems that speculators are keeping the market going, to an extent.
I think that there's going to be a lot more cheap empty houses in the area in the next few months. Already, my parents' modest area in Redford Tw. seems to be sporting one vacant house per block, as does adjacent areas of Southfield.
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Dougw
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Username: Dougw

Post Number: 985
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 136.2.1.153
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 7:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Rustic makes a good point that there are higher levels of home ownership here.

Also a big factor may be the dramatic recent increase in mortgage fraud... see this story: Mortgage Fraud Soars
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Goggo
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Username: Goggo

Post Number: 172
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 64.136.49.226
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 7:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

FDR's Detroit
FDR's Detroit
LBJ's Detroit
LBJ's Detroit
Nixon's Detroit
Nixon's Detroit
Reagan's Detroit
Reagan's Detroit

All above images from the outstanding Wayne State/ Detroit News collection on :
http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu

(Message edited by goggo on February 27, 2006)
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Goggo
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Username: Goggo

Post Number: 173
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Posted From: 64.136.49.226
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 7:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

P.S.: Gildas, Lurker and Goat have it right, I believe. Financial irresponsibility and financial greed (being bombarded by 'easy money' refinance vultures and being WalMarted out of a job) come together to make this such a big problem in southeasterm Michigan.
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Gildas
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Username: Gildas

Post Number: 442
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 69.222.64.169
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 9:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Goggo, you have it wrong history and the ills of the Detroit area and the world started when GWB was elected president.

Personal responsibility, I read about it somewhere, it doesn't apply to me however, I'll just whine and say "how could the government allow me to do this to myself, where is my entitlement!!"

Seems to work more and more around here.

Lowell, you've been around awhile and yet the ignorance you post is amazing, as if any resident of Detroit will say things were always wonderful until the arrival of GWB. I should hope that you could do better.

Gannon,

I would expect it to not be handled at all, not at least by government. However, I may have to call my attorney and real estate broker to get me the court filings on forclosures. Might be shopping time.

Finances are an individual issue how do you suggest that the problem be handled? More handouts to those who have proven unable to handle homeownership? I live in Detroit, so whinning about crime is mute, but it does illustrate your belief that those losing thier homes will resort to crime as opposed to looking for jobs. You, who want to help everyone sure show a lack of faith in hummanity. If your logic is taken to the next level, one might ask why bother, unless it makes you feel better about yourself. Me, I would hope that they would work more and fight harder to get back on thier feet.

A true disconnect between our beliefs.
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Goggo
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Username: Goggo

Post Number: 175
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 64.136.49.226
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 10:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Right.

Rather than try to argue about Bush's responsibility about Detroit's woes, please explain to us about Detroit being Nirvana prior to 2000. I missed out on that, or I was living in a Detroit that was in a parallel universe.


(Message edited by goggo on February 27, 2006)
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Reetz12
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Username: Reetz12

Post Number: 32
Registered: 09-2005
Posted From: 69.246.61.199
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 11:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

http://www.modeldmedia.com/int henews/hotmrkt0221.aspx

Foreclosures at record rates, but this article is showing the housing industry going at record rate to the positive.
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Pjazz
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Username: Pjazz

Post Number: 26
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 69.212.63.169
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 12:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think this has something to do with it.

[img]http://detroit.mgmgrand.com/im ages/gaming/photo_slots.jpg[/img]
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Alexei289
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Username: Alexei289

Post Number: 1045
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.61.183.223
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 1:54 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

... Maybe its the fact that the economic system of America has made it literally impossible to own a home on a modest income. I guarantee those that got their homes forclosed on were skimping their heat bill to pay their mortgage before they got them forclosed.. I can promise that they werent out buying Flat screens. Its not about responsibility.... its about ability.

THe economic health of this country is in dire straights for nearly half of it.. While the other half leapfrogs over. A Wallmart job doesnt pay a mortgage. Two of them dont either... The fact is that within 10 years, 50% of all American assets, from mortgages to the lease on your car, will be owned by foreign entities... I wonder who has your interest at heart... because those that are selling those assets can afford to float their own American dreams a few years longer... just to sell more assets... while the rest slave away to China and Dubai.


Do you realize that our country is being sold away and we are all getting fuked for it? Wake up people!
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Lowell
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Username: Lowell

Post Number: 2322
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 66.167.211.61
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 2:04 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm sorry, you're right. George Bush is never responsible for what what goes on in this country, even after being in office for five years; it's someone else's fault, probably Clinton's or Carter's.

It's not his fault that our tax dollars are being spent on new schools, firefighting equipment, firefighters, policemen, and more in Baghdad, while the same are being reduced or closed here.

How silly of me to connect those big fat dots! How ridiculous to think handing Halliburton billions to import gasoline into Iraq so drivers can buy $0.40 a gallon while our airlines go broke and our auto industry staggers from fuel costs.

That would have nothing to do with layoffs here, the collapse of manufacturing and resultant home foreclosures. I apologize Mr. President.
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Huggybear
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Username: Huggybear

Post Number: 162
Registered: 08-2005
Posted From: 70.236.169.121
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 2:28 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

... Maybe its the fact that the economic system of America has made it literally impossible to own a home on a modest income.


Since when is owning a house a right? Outside of 20th century Detroit, where houses now can cost less than cars, it is usually an aspirational goal.

When I look at the foreclosures around here, it makes me think home ownership is not too hard but too easy. Easy come, easy go. And it isn't flat screens (in all cases). A lot of the time it's expensive cars parked in front of crumbling bungalows. Ever driven along the Southfield Freeway?

Property ownership is useful where houses are in demand. Where they aren't, it is a great way to destroy liquidity (this, I suspect, is why equity mortgages and foreclosures are so prevalent around here).

And around here, they always say that it's the mortgage tax deduction and you shouldn't throw money away renting. Big potential fallacies.

First, the mortgage interest tax deduction is not that great in itself (because it only results in a fraction of the interest being refunded) - and when it comes to tax deductions, it's often better to simply not spend the money than to spend a lot to get a deduction. Unless you're in a high tax bracket, there may be no economic sense in owning a house here. It may well be the case that people whose houses are being foreclosed are suffering that because the circumstances were not right for their long term ownership of property (income too low to support the property, no independent savings, etc.). The fact that appreciation is low only accelerates this day of reckoning.

Second, in a lot of cases, renting does not mean "throwing away" money. The only difference between renting and owning is that you are accumulating equity (and paying property taxes) when you buy. The thing is that equity is nothing more than a form of savings - and equity accumulates so slowly and appreciates so slowly (at least around here) that you might have a lot better investment opportunities.
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Detrola
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Username: Detrola

Post Number: 4
Registered: 02-2006
Posted From: 69.14.28.209
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 10:14 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

All too often we look to washington for an answer to our problems. We blame lawmakers that are far removed from the communities in which we live. The answers and blame for the problems wayne county is facing start in wayne county. I'm not picking on wayne county. The original post sited the foreclosure rate in wayne county.

Blaming Bush or Greenspan only lets the politicians directly answerable to us off the hook. They count on this. Here is one example.

Auto insurance in detroit is higher than any where else in the nation. What has monica conyers done to address this? What is KK's position on the cost of auto insurance in the D. Bob Ficano, what is he doing about this issue. What has been done by state rep steve tobacman to put some pressure on the state house to address this? What has Mike Cox done. What about Granholm. Lest we forget how powerful the detroit electorate can be in a gubernatorial election. Onward to washington.

Like Don Quixote, john conyers has been very busy with his impeach the president crusade. A noble yet fruitless cause pursued while his city faces the worst economic crisis in it's history. What has he done to address the red line that encircles the city. Does stabenow serve us or the DNC? All these people repesent us.

Each of these people bears the blame for the problems faced by wayne county. Each of these people make decisions daily that impact our lives far more directly than the decisions made by the president. Every time we look to blame bush these local officials breath a sign of relief. Perhaps it's time to turn our gaze more close to home.
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Livernoisyard
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Username: Livernoisyard

Post Number: 188
Registered: 10-2004
Posted From: 69.242.223.42
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 10:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Some of the high insurance rates are attributable to the ineptness of decadeS-long abuse in the DPD concerning a very high rate of unfounded police reports from not being expunged from the records before being reported to the FBI database. There were news reports in the late 1990s of unfounded police reports still on the Detroit police "database" after twenty or thirty years!

That the DPD is still under critical review by the Feds should pose no surprise to any intelligent observer. And the taxpayers and insurance buyers keep paying and paying for these incompetencies.

(Message edited by livernoisyard on February 28, 2006)
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Gildas
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Username: Gildas

Post Number: 443
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 147.240.236.9
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 10:40 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Lowell,

When called out, resorts to apologitic whinning to make a poor point. So lets look at it.

Lowell you are right the president is responsible for the country, and as a country :

"STATEMENT FROM SECRETARY ALPHONSO JACKSON ON RECORD MINORITY HOMEOWNERSHIP
The Census Bureau released data today showing that minority homeownership hit an all-time high during the first quarter of 2005. The new quarterly record rate of 51.6 percent means that 15.7 million minority families now own their own homes.

There was also a new quarterly record for Hispanic homeownership. The rate of 49.7 percent means there are now 5.8 million Hispanic homeowners in the United States.

Overall homeownership was also at an all-time high in the first quarter, with 74.5 million American families now owning their own homes."

Link: http://www.hud.gov/news/releas e.cfm?content=pr05-057.cfm

Regarding OIF and our nations unemployment:

"THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: JANUARY 2006

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 193,000 in January, and the
unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job gains occurred in several
industries, including construction, mining, food services and drinking places,
health care, and financial activities."

Link:http://www.bls.gov/news.releas e/empsit.nr0.htm

Regarding our European friends, lets look at France and Germany:

"German hopes that economic reforms would start to work their way through into economic expansion may have to wait till 2006, with the latest unemployment rate of 10.8 per cent pointing to the jobless rate rising towards 5 million during the year."

France:

" In France, where unemployment is close to 10 per cent, a newly-announced ?2 billion programme to encourage innovative industries that will draw on privatisation proceeds will take time to become effective, and may not be big enough to create the 'national champions' the French dream of."

It should be noted that France has even embraced the idea of privatisation in order to revive thier economy, something our elected idiots in Detroit cannot seem to manage and in case people are wondering about the rest of Europe, many of the nations are doing worse then France and Germany (but some better.)

So it seem that we are able to keep unemployment down and fight wars, etc. So as a nation the President seems to be doing an OK job. Now as everyone knows, all politics is local, so lets look at Michigan and Detroit.

Michigan:
" Michigan Unemployment Rate
(Seasonally Adjusted)

December 2005
Change Over Month
Change Over Year
6.7 %
+ 0.1
- 0.8
Link: http://www.michlmi.org/

and Detroit:The highest unemployment rates among the large areas were reported in Detroit-Warren- Livonia, Mich., 7.9 percent, and Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark., 7.3 percent.

Link:http://economics.about.com/od/ metropolitanemployment/a/metro _jan05.htm

So I would think that it is our local leaders who have failed the residents of Michigan and Detroit, as the rest of the nation seem to be doing OK, lets look at the Single Business Tax and Michigans tax environment:

"Michigan has been in a "one-state recession" for several years, while every other state — except those slammed by hurricanes — has experienced impressive growth. The causes are complex, but largely come down to the fact that Michigan is burdened with destructive business taxes, excessive regulations and bad labor laws that make ours one of the least competitive business climates in the United States.

Exhibit number one is the SBT. Only a handful of states levy all three of the following: A sales tax, a personal income tax and a business tax. These states are economic growth laggards. Not only does Michigan belong to this losers club, but the SBT is almost the worst business tax in the nation. It is obscenely complex, the rate is very high and it is filled with perverse incentives (for example, employers who provide health insurance pay more tax)."

Link:http://www.mackinac.org/articl e.aspx?ID=7588

Detroit Tax Rates:

City of Detroit 2005 Income Tax Rates


January 2005

The City of Detroit has suspended the individual tax rate
reduction that was scheduled for July 1, 2005.

Income tax rates for the calendar year 2005 and
subsequent years are as follows unless otherwise notified:

Resident Individuals 2.50%

Non-Resident Individuals 1.25%

Corporations 1.00%

This affects 2006 employer withholding account filings
and estimated income tax filers.

Link:http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/fi nincometax/incometax_rates.htm

Property Tax:
HOMESTEAD: 53.7011

Non HOMESTEAD: 71.7011

I will not post ALL the links for cities and other areas around Detroit, but lets just state that they are lower.

So, Lowell, is this a failure of the president, or of local government?

Number of city employees:
During the 1990s, Mayor Dennis Archer increased the workforce. From 1994 to 2002, the number of city employees — including police, fire and EMS officers — increased from 17,797 to 20,990, says mayoral spokesman Howard Hughey. Kilpatrick has cut the size of the force to 18,705.

Other similar sized cities are functioning with thousands fewer employees, so if you are wondering why Detroit cannot afford basic services, look at it's payroll.

And while this article is dated (so are Detroits problems), but the updated material shows a continuing trend:

The budgets of Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York, St. Louis, and other large central cities have not been shrinking; they have been rapidly expanding for decades. In constant 1990 dollars, local governments spent, on average, $435 per resident in 1950, $571 in 1965, and $1,004 in 1990.

Also:

The key policy question addressed in this study is, What do growth cities--Phoenix, Raleigh, and San Diego, for example--do differently from shrinking cities--such as Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit? The answer is found, at least partially, in the fiscal policies of the cities. Using Bureau of the Census city finance data from 1965, 1980, and 1990 for the 76 largest cities, we find significant and consistent patterns of higher spending and taxes in the low-growth cities than in the high-growth cities.

Link:http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/p a-188.html

In summation: Considering that the rest of the nation seems to be doing OK and we in MI seem to be the problem. I would say that high taxes on individuals income, property and business has been far more damaging to Detroit and MI, then the President's national policy, which seem OK. These local issues are just that, local and could be corrected as such, locally.

Instead we cling to a dying auto industry, highly paid, underskilled unions, bloated government beaucracys, and high taxes for our salvation.

You connect your dots and i'll connect mine.
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Livernoisyard
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Username: Livernoisyard

Post Number: 193
Registered: 10-2004
Posted From: 69.242.223.42
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 10:54 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"So, Lowell, is this a failure of the president, or of local government?"

I'll take a stab at it. It seems that there is no local government. Therefore, the blame has to be placed clearly upon the President. No?
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My2cents
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Username: My2cents

Post Number: 128
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 24.253.67.62
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 11:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hmmm.........mayhaps this has something to do with it. The larger pic of our destruction in Detroit over the last 50 years:

The Global Labor Threat
Thomas Palley
September 29, 2005

Dr. Thomas Palley was chief economist of the US–China Economic and Security Review Commission. Prior to joining the Commission, he was director of the Open Society Institute’s Globalization Reform Project. He has written for The Atlantic Monthly, American Prospect and The Nation magazines. He can be reached at www.thomaspalley.com.

If the United States were to add two billion low-wage workers, you'd expect that wages would fall across the board, right? Well, there is a famous theorem in international economics—the Stolper-Samuelson theorem—that says when a rich capital-abundant country (such as the United States) trades with a poor labor-abundant country (such as China), wages in the rich country fall and profits go up. The theorem’s economic logic is simple. Free trade is tantamount to a massive increase in the rich country’s labor supply, since the products made by poor country workers can now be imported.

Additionally, demand for workers in the rich country falls as rich country firms abandon labor-intensive production to the poor country. The net result is an effective increase in labor supply and a decrease in labor demand in the rich country, and wages fall.

The relevance of the Stolper-Samuelson theorem is clear. For the last two decades, U.S. policy makers, from both major political parties, have worked assiduously to create a global market place in which goods and capital are free to move. Over the same period, two and a half billion people in China, India, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have discarded economic isolationism and joined the global economy. Now, these two tectonic shifts are coming together in the form of a “super-sized” Stolper-Samuelson effect, and they stand to have depressing consequences for American workers.
Much attention has been devoted to the adverse impacts of the U.S. trade deficit, particularly with China. And the U.S. government has been rightly criticized for failing to apply adequate pressure to get China to remedy its unfair and illegal trading practices. However, no one in Washington is talking about the deeper question of what happens to wages when two billion people from low-wage countries join the global labor market.

Such an event is unprecedented in history. In the past, countries joined the international economy through a slow evolutionary process. Initially, they would export a few goods in which they specialized and had natural competitive advantage. Thereafter, countries would gradually deepen their involvement in international trade. The process was one of gradual integration, and production was largely immobile across countries.

Globalization has changed this by accelerating the process of international integration. It has also made capital, technology and methods of production mobile, marking a watershed with the past. The new order is exemplified by China’s recent experiences. In fewer than two decades, China has become a global manufacturing powerhouse through massive foreign direct investment and technology transfer. The impact of this transformation on the U.S. economy is seen in the trade deficit, the loss of manufacturing jobs and downward pressure on wages.
Whereas classical free trade connected goods markets across countries, globalization creates a global labor market and moves jobs. Previously trade arbitraged goods prices, now it also arbitrages wages through job shifting.

With the emergence of China, India and Eastern Europe, the dam of Socialism that held back two billion workers has been removed. If two swimming pools are joined, the water level will eventually equalize. That is what is happening with globalization. Manufacturing has already been placed in competition across countries, with dire consequences for manufacturing workers. The internet promises to do the same for previously un-tradable services, and higher-paid knowledge workers will start feeling similar effects.
Not since the industrial revolution has there been a transformation of this magnitude, and that revolution took one hundred and fifty years to complete.
By comparison the new revolution is a mere 25 years old. These developments have a significance that goes far beyond the currency manipulation and WTO rules violations that have been the focus of trade deficit policy discussions. There is no reason to think the end is in sight, and American workers can look forward to the international economy exerting downward pressure on wages and work conditions for the next several decades.

As is so often the case, workers have understood the new reality long before economists and policymakers. Workers realize that trade is no longer a matter of exchanging exotic commodities for manufactured products, and that the new system involves trading their jobs and arbitraging wages. Especially bitter is the fact that the process of globalization is being driven by large American multinational corporations that American workers helped build. U.S. policymakers have also abandoned American workers by promoting free trade agreements that have de facto created a global labor market that threatens workers’ livelihoods and economic security.
Globalization demands that we begin anew the task of establishing fair and just rules that make the economy work for all. This challenge is the same as that faced by American workers at the beginning of the 20th century. Unions, minimum wages, and fair labor practices were essential to meeting that challenge, and they are essential again. But such tools are no longer sufficient when applied nationally. They must be applied globally. That means China, India and other industrializing developing countries must agree to, and enforce, core labor standards and worker rights. Trade cannot be free without worker freedom and the right to share in the wealth created.
Successive administrations have pushed free trade without worker protections and they have given the green light to a global system without core labor standards. Through poor diplomacy and lax enforcement we have given away access to U.S. markets and valuable negotiating leverage without getting commitments on labor standards in recent free trade agreements. The consequences of these trade policies and the reality of the new global system must be exposed so that our approach can be changed. This is a task that will not be easy given Washington’s captive economic policy elite and big business’ interest in concealing the new reality.
© 2005 TomPaine.com
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Swingline
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Username: Swingline

Post Number: 406
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 172.135.120.145
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 11:57 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detrola is on target. The Detroit automobile and homeowners insurance "tax", which can exceed $3,000.00 per year for middle class households, is no different from a financial perspective than running up and then maintaining an unnecessary $15,000.00 credit card balance. This "spending" can push people over the edge. Insurance reform has the most potential to meaningfully improve the financial well-being of Detroit households. This is where the energies of our elected leaders should be focused.
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Danny
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Username: Danny

Post Number: 3763
Registered: 02-2004
Posted From: 141.217.174.221
Posted on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 1:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

You folks had to remember this:

A capitalist society was design for prime purpose, between the HAVES and HAVE NOTS. This is modern version of the feudal system, but this time rich and middle class are the lords and the poor and the low income folks are the serfs. Detroit's 14% unemployement rate remains the highest in the U.S. 34% of Detroiters are in poverty. Crime rate in Detroit is in its highest in 5 years. Stagging reports of killings, shootings and robberies. And this kind of common everyday urban plague has reached into the suburbs of the metro-Detroit area. Over 65,000 people had left Detroit when this city is in its early rennaisance development stage. It will continue until the year 2050 when new jobs come into DETROIT only and not to China.

You choose your leaders so they can represent our communties and be the mediators between two parties by the use of diplomacy. But remember this: You leaders don't do all of your public service everyday, but to do what's best for you and your community. Therefore your leaders are NOT your way, but their WAY and to the other person's WAY.

Foreclosure on most most homes in Detroit and Wayne County has been a problem for a long time. It's all comes down to some requirements: Do you have a good job that is not structional or too frictional and seasonal? Do you know how to buy a good home in a good area? Do you know how to make a down payment on your home? Do you know to apply for a loan from your bank or mortage company? If you have these requirements then you on te role. But watch out! for there are going to be some obsticles in way so your keep your home, job and family. If not let's just say that you did't imply your intellegence and solve your problem.
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Gildas
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Username: Gildas

Post Number: 460
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 147.240.236.9
Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 2:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I agree with alot of what you said Danny, education and responsible leaders are key and are something that Detroit is seriously lacking in.

However your analogy of the feudal system is WAY off. Feudalism is a series of mutual obligation between nobles to come to the aid of each other. It has no economic aspects.

You might be thinking of manorlism, which was an factor in Medieval society with economic issues.
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Danny
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Username: Danny

Post Number: 3809
Registered: 02-2004
Posted From: 141.217.174.223
Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 5:05 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gildas,

This is what our Capitalist Society is A ONE BIG MODERN FEUDAL SYSTEM!!!

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