http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2011/10/politics-nassau-county-style.html
Let's take a look at another little place called Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which just happens to be the capital of the state. It has now declared bankruptcy which puts it in the exact same position as Nassau County.
Also similarly, like Nassau County, Harrisburg has been threatened with a take over by a takeover from the State. While the State of Pennsylvania calls this a "financial rescue plan" it sounds very much like the rescue plans we have seen in places like Nassau County as well as Michigan, to say nothing of Greece.
The bankruptcy was authorized by the Harrisburg City Council last night. The City Council had already rejected two rescue packages that the city's Mayor Linda Thompson had agreed to. It rejected them on the ground that, "both plans were overly burdensome for Harrisburg residents and did not ask enough of the county, bondholders, and the bond insurer, Assured Guaranty."
It's important to keep in mind that filing for bankruptcy is a kind of protection:
"Mark Schwartz, the council's attorney in this matter, said on Wednesday that the bankruptcy filing would give the city ''bargaining power'' with its creditors and with the state, which is considering a takeover plan."
For more please see http://www.cnbc.com/id/44872831
While the Mayor's office claims that, ""(The bankruptcy) is hugely unpopular, but the council...is an independent body,'' said mayoral spokesman Robert Philbin, the Council sees it this way:
"They were tired of being humiliated and denigrated,'' he said of the council members who voted for bankruptcy on Tuesday. Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection is "a much better forum if you really want to address the financial problems of the city,'' Schwartz added.
City Controller Dan Miller said on Wednesday the filing was the right move for Harrisburg.
"I think it's the only real option that we had,'' he said, adding that the previous plans rejected by city council would have benefited creditors at the expense of the city. "They wanted to sell all of our assets and make Harrisburg destitute for decades to come."
' He said, she said' apparently. Although in this case I don't find it very hard to decide on who I believe. The voters may not either.
Despite what I've said in favor of the Strong Mayor policy in the past over and against City Councils this vote is proof that sometimes you get a better Council than Mayor.
In full context though I was mostly attacking Congress and drew an analogy between Congress and other similar bodies, like City Councils and school boards-school boards are really bad.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-congress-is-always-so-unpopular.html
No comments:
Post a Comment