Quote Originally Posted by Detroit_ExPat View Post
Well, most people with the means have already moved out. No, I don't want to screw the poor of Detroit. If you haven't noticed, people aren't exactly sitting along Eight Mile lighting cigars with $100 bills saying, "''tis a pity about the poor in Detroit." You could tax the Illitches and Devoses at 100%, and that wouldn't change anything.

Detroit and the whole state are in the throes of a Depression. The state budget would be a lot worse off, if not for the requirement to balance each year. [[In fact, there has been a years-long state budget crisis in Michigan.)

The problems we have are structural. We are no longer the economic powerhouse we once were, and we won't be again anytime soon. Our state and municipalities need to rationalize accordingly. We can do it methodically or we can just hit the wall train-wreck style.
If anything, Michigan's compromised economic situation calls for more government services [[and higher taxes to fund them) since more people depend on the government when times are tough. Government aid can soften the blow of a bad economy and lead to a more rapid recovery. Cutting government programs when people need them most, despite what the Gospel of Reagan preaches, only makes things worse.