The Fall of a Great American City?

This is no time for ease and comfort.  It is the time to dare and endure.
            Winston Churchill

What do you know about Detroit, Michigan?  If you are like most Americans, it is decidedly negative.  Images of collapsed industries, abandoned neighborhoods and ambivalent political leaders pop to mind.  Despite the recent Cadillac campaign blitz to show a city that is clawing its way back to relevance, the city faces seemingly insurmountable challenges that few of its predecessors have addressed.  Kevyn Orr, a bankruptcy lawyer and “turnaround expert”, has recently been tasked as emergency manager of the city and represents the largest U.S. city taken over by a state.  He is excited, he says he is optimistic but big government dependency and spending are hard nuts to crack. 

Before Mr. Orr has settled into his job and announced a plan of action, he has been met with a host of protestors, led by the likes of the Rev. Jesse Jackson.  Various groups, fearful of how major cuts in Detroit’s budget could impact them, are galvanizing their forces to object to anything proposed, despite its merit.  Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed the bankruptcy lawyer for the express purpose of turning around the shockingly degraded and possibly hopeless case of the Motor City – a city that, throughout U.S. 20^th-century history, was the epitome of American ingenuity, industry and innovation.  Throughout the world, Detroit was the standard bearer of what the United States could accomplish.   

What must be done?  How can Kevyn Orr resuscitate the decaying form of a once proud city?  What exactly are his powers?  There are a great deal of questions – not least of which are the broad powers Mr. Orr possesses and whether they are democratic in spirit or intent.  That notwithstanding, he faces near-overwhelming odds.  Recently, he announced that the relatively low salaries for the mayor of Detroit and the city council will not be touched.  In a press conference, he said that Detroit will not make it back from the brink without their help.  People have complained and Lansing is wondering what they will be getting for their money.   

The first thing that needs to happen is that the unions, both public and otherwise, need to be addressed.  They will fight vociferously against anything Mr. Orr proposes but some of the biggest drains on Detroit’s abysmal finances are the various salaries and benefits jealously protected by the labor unions.  That is not an easy request to carry out.  It could easily sink Mr. Orr’s efforts before they really begin but as the governors of New Jersey, Wisconsin and Indiana have proven over the last couple of years, it is one of the biggest steps towards financial stability.  Second, large-scale tax reform needs to draw businesses and industry back to the city.  For decades, Michigan Democrats have slowly killed the Motor City with anti-business taxation and regulations and it is little wonder that the last couple of decades have seen an Exodus-like flight towards the suburbs or out of the state altogether.   

Lastly, Mr. Orr needs to get out of the job as quickly as possible.  If the citizens of Detroit have little faith in an elected government, all these steps will be for naught.  A new crop of men and women must take the helm towards financial stability that spurns the age-old entitlements and built-in graft that have stripped the city of any ability to govern.  A leader must rise up, face the citizens of Detroit and let them know that, like a Phoenix, they can rise again.  Ultimately, unions, vested leeches and unelected “managers” will not pave the path toward the future.  A new type of leader is required.  Until that happens, Detroit will be the subject of study on how a city can get it so wrong. 

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

…let us remember it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy…but rather because only a more civil and honest discourse can help us face up to the challenges of our nation, in a way that would make (the victims) proud.
            President Barack Obama at a speech in Tucson, Arizona, 12 January 2011

Last year, Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa, during an address to union members declared, “President Obama, this is your army.  We are ready to march.  Let’s take these sons of bitches out.”  The “sons of bitches” in question were Republicans.  It appears that various union supporters in Michigan have taken this order to heart as it fights (literally) against the recently passed “right-to-work” legislation, which was signed into law by Governor Richard Snyder.  In the aftermath, the Republicans and other right-to-work supporters have been subjected to violence and the threat of more violence.    

As I come from a “union” state, I’m familiar with the rather heavy-handed approach they often use to make their points.  However, in the aftermath of the Michigan legislature’s actions over the last week, the unions in that bastion of unionism have ratcheted it up a notch in their protest.  At the head of this charge was Democratic State Representative Douglas Geiss, who declared that, “there will be blood.  There will be repercussions.”  It is difficult to know where to go from there when the opposition is actually declaring the need for bloodshed.  The hyperbole of the arguments used by union mouthpieces suggests a complete lack of logic and reason and the death throes of an institution.  The fact is, as columnist Charles Krauthammer made perfectly clear, the idea of “right-to-work” is a choice between high wages and high unemployment verses lower unemployment and a wider tax base – the latter something Michigan desperately needs. 

Outside the capital, union mobs increased the tension and the violence against anyone who dares propose a different course than the engrained path of unionism seen and upheld in Michigan for over a century.  The organization, Americans for Progress, attempted to put up a tent as part of a demonstration in favor of the legislation.  As they were nearly finished, a union mob descended upon them.  As the crowd worked themselves up, they began cursing and screaming at the people within and around the tent.  Soon, pushing and shoving ensued as AFP advocates were punched and knocked down while the union mob tore down the tent.  Various threats are easily heard on the tape.  It is not clear where the police were during the incident. 

It is easy to characterize these actions and words as those from a desperate and baseless group.  However, in Michigan, unions have wielded considerable power and enjoy unbridled support from the likes of no less than the president of the United States.  Mr. Obama’s support of these crowds, who in the last two years have perpetrated one violent encounter after another against their opponents, is particularly perplexing when one considers his own words.  After the attacks in Arizona that killed and maimed, most notably Rep. Gabby Giffords, the president was quick to suggest that there must be more civil discourse without the inflammatory and provocative.  He has as often chastised Republicans for their “rancor” but has uttered no condemnation of union aggressiveness.   

One of the things that supposedly holds our democracy apart from the squalors of dictatorship and totalitarianism is the rule of law and the belief in the democratic process.  Whatever is passed and not approved of by the people can be addressed in the following elections.  The tactics of mob violence and intimidation are the tools of bullies and fanatics.   President Obama said our discourse should provide a better place for our children.  Surely, he and the Democratic leadership can begin the process by disowning the methods of their own supporters.