Michigan and Detroit take over

[Red Commissar]

You guys may recall a couple months back when the governor of Michigan along with his allies in the legislature jammed through a right-to-work law (http://www.revleft.com/vb/michigan-right-work-t176837/index.html?t=176837) using questionable methods to pass it. The government's next direction was that of Detroit, which has been in budget problems for sometime.

In order to avoid the city declaring bankruptcy, the state took the extraordinary step of taking control of the city's finances through an emergency law. This caused a lot of backlash among city citizens who've already been facing cuts by the city which apparently aren't enough by the state's standards (plus the Kwame Kilpatrick trial which showed abuses).

Anyone in the area or in the know help me understand this better?

[Popular Front of Judea]

Here's a good overview of what is at stake in Detroit. I think the appointment of an emergency manager for Detroit will prove to be as pivotal an event as the (near) bankruptcy of New York in 1975.

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/03/29/detr-m29.html?view=print

(I have no connection to the Socialist Equality Party, the host of the World Socialist Web Site.)

[Red Commissar]

It is a good overview though being SEP they had to throw in some bits about the unions and trying to cast doubt on whether or not there is a racial angle on the shut down. Considering the current racial make up of inner-city Detroit it's kind of dense to say that there isn't a racial dimension to this.

I've read that the Detroit police are said to be engaging in essentially what amounts to deportations of the homeless (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/18/detroit-homeless-police-aclu_n_3111725.html). In addition to the practice of basically demolishing city blocks to "downsize" the city (http://www.revleft.com/vb/Detroit Begins Demolishing Hundreds Of Vacant Homes) to reduce their finances. The city take over is already a brutal practice with all this in mind. There was enough criticism of the city's policies being harsh, so I don't want to see what the state seems to think is "fiscally responsible" as the favorite phrase is.