Leadership?

Monday, for the first time in state history, Michigan's governor, Rick Snyder, was asked to testify under oath in the Detroit bankruptcy trial. He said he felt Detroit filing for bankruptcy was the right thing to do, although it was "a difficult decision."  he also expressed his poll tested sentiment, oft repeated, that he "wanted the people of Detroit to get the services they deserve," adding churlishly that," that includes retirees."  He dodged a lot of questions, using attorney/client privilege, and the predictable "I don't recall."  But his actions leading up to and since the filing have less to do with any concerns about  services and a moral high ground, and everything to do with political expediency.

Governor Snyder took an oath to uphold the Michigan Constitution. Public Pension Protection is part of the State Constitution. It isn't just for Detroit, it's for all public employees in Michigan, nearly 600,000 people and their families. When Governor Snyder deliberately chose not to protect those pensions, which he is sworn to do, he didn't exercise an option, he violated his oath of office.

When asked in federal court, he asserted that the state could pay the City's pension shortfall, but only if the judge instructed him to. Does this mean he's daring the federal court to force him to do something he's reluctant to do, or does  he want to be taken off the political hook with re-election looming in 2014,  and shift responsibility for a Detroit bail out decision to the Federal court?

These are the same public employee pensions Snyder and his Republican dominated legislature  raised income taxes on when he took office. Michigan now has a budget surplus, yet aside from his sentiment about "the services people deserve," Snyder's spending tens of millions of dollars of tax payer money on law firms and consultants, but he's put no state resources into Detroit.  Rather, he's made it clear Detroit should expect no help from the State.

 The financial institutions that share a large portion of responsibility for the crisis may walk away with .75 on the dollar, but workers, who are not creditors, who earned their pensions, face foreclosures and Food Stamps. Public Pensions in Illinois, California, New Jersey, and other parts of the country, are in trouble. According to credible estimates, New Jersey teachers' pension fund is only 10% funded.  They're all watching Detroit right now. Tens of millions of lives will be affected by the precedents set in this trial.

 It doesn't take an expert to slash pension benefits. It is the easiest, most expedient thing to do. An intelligent leader would search for ways to resolve this bankruptcy without imposing undue hardship on retirees. Those same people who now contribute to the local economy, will most assuredly become a burden to taxpayers if they lose their benefits, so the myth that taxpayers won't have to pay for this bankruptcy has already been disproven.

The provision in the State Constitution to protect public pensions is there for a reason. If there were no danger of abuse, why have a law? The law exists to protect from harm. That law is not applicable when there is no threat, but precisely for those times when there is a threat.  Detroit is not General Motors. That's why Chapter 9 exists. Corporations and personal bankruptcies have their own set of federal statutes.

An important distinction between Chapter 9 Bankruptcy protection and Chapters 7 & 11, is that Chapter 9 attempts to preserve the democratic process, to give proper acknowledgement to state and local rights, insisting on negotiated settlements approved by, but not imposed by a Federal court.  That provision in the State Constitution exists so our elected officials will have a care for the public good, in a way that is not required of corporate America. It's not up to Gov. Snyder to abrogate that provision of the State Constitution.  For the Governor of the state to play these legal games demonstrates a moral bankruptcy that is unconscionable, and a contempt for the law that is disgraceful.