Detroit 2012: The Model for Obama's America

Detroit, a once great city, in 2012 is dysfunctional, insolvent, and teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.

There are 3 valuable lessons to be found in Detroit's decline: 

Lesson #1: Obama claimed he saved Detroit and the auto industry. He was re-elected based on this claim. Obama was lying- he didn’t “save” anything. He just dumped billions of our taxpayer dollars down a rat hole to buy Democrat votes. Detroit was never going to be saved. Like an out-of-control drug addict, those running the city have made Detroit is a self-destructive spending addict headed for a tragic ending. Obama only postponed the inevitable and bought votes by using your children's and grandchildren's money. They will be paying the interest on this debt 50 years from now- and they won't even get a car in the bargain.

Lesson #2: Mitt Romney was criticized harshly for saying Obama bought the election with bribes? Did you see the Democratic councilwomen from Detroit saying that the voters of Detroit voted overwhelmingly for Obama, so now he owes them? Sounds like Romney hit the nail on the head. Obama’s voters did indeed vote for the candidate they thought would provide them with the most freebies (bailouts, free contraception, entitlements) and handouts. Here is the irony- this is the exact same mentality that led to the death of Detroit.

Lesson #3: Detroit’s demise is America’s future under Obama.

Look at the facts. Detroit is a one party town. It has been run 100% lock, stock and barrel by liberal progressive Democrats for decades- politicians who ruled with the exact same agenda and policies as Obama. There is no opposition party, no checks and balances. Republicans sightings in Detroit are just a rumor from the past- kind of like dinosaurs. So Detroit is the perfect test case for proving what happens when you allow Democrats like Obama to run things their way. Detroit has followed Obama’s policies of big government always knows best, and massive taxing and spending for decades.

Look at the results. Detroit has $2.5 billion in debt- Obama’s America has $16 TRILLION in debt (and with unfunded liabilities it's actually over $100 trillion). Detroit, due to too many government employees, who are paid way too much, and allowed to retire way too young, with obscene pensions and unaffordable health care paid for life, has $11 billion in government employee retirement obligations. $11 billion in one abandoned city.

Obama’s America, for exactly the same reasons has several TRILLION in unfunded liabilities for government employees.

Detroit’s unemployment rate is sky high- just like Obama’s America. Actually unemployment is twice as high as the metropolitan area around Detroit. Why? Because many of the towns around Detroit are Republican suburbs run with discipline, fiscal responsibility, lower taxes, and lower spending.

Unemployment and bankruptcy aren’t the only results of Obama's progressive liberal policies. Detroit is the most violent, crime-ridden big city in America. It has America’s most disgraceful public schools. Two thirds of Detroit’s street lamps are broken. But why fix them? No one lives there anymore- during the past decade a quarter of its population has escaped, leaving a literally vacant town.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Detroit's abandoned lots combined are bigger than the entire city of Paris, France.

Detroit’s historic Woodmere Cemetery, where the town’s most prominent citizens have been buried since 1867, has been vandalized and desecrated, with desperate thieves stealing copper doors off mausoleums and selling the stolen goods for scrap metal. Folks, this is what Armageddon looks like. This is Greece in America. But most importantly and most frightening of all, it’s the test case for what America will look like if Obama gets his way.

Detroit’s policies are Obama’s dream come true: Big government, big taxes, big spending, powerful unions, out-of-control entitlements, big deficit and debt, too many government employees, early retirement, obscene pensions, public schools run by all-powerful teachers unions with no competition and no choice for parents, and free healthcare provided by government (for government employees and the poor, which is pretty much all of Detroit’s population). Wanna bet Detroit leads the nation in percentage of population on food stamps? If it doesn't, it's only because Obama's Chicago is in first place.

What is at the center of this tragic American nightmare? Unions. You know, the ones that are Obama’s staunchest supporters and contributors. The same ones that now own him and most progressive liberal politicians. The Wall Street Journal points out that Detroit will spend $160 million this year and $135 million next year on just the retirement benefits of government union employees. That’s after factoring in the Mayor’s labor reforms. Unions bankrupted Detroit.

Government employees in Detroit have defined benefit pensions that let them retire in their 40’s and then get paid a fortune for 40 or 50 years- twice as long as they worked! This exact insanity is bankrupting cities, counties, states, and even our federal government- from sea to shining sea. Keep in mind there are over 22 million government employees in America. Yes, I said TWENTY TWO MILLION. All are aiming to retire with big pensions in their 40’s, to live 40 more years of leisure built around golf, cruises, early bird dinners, and of course voting Democrat on election day.

This is Obama’s America with everyone working for government, or unions, or living on entitlements and handouts provided by government. This is what happens when an economy is run based on "The Big Three" of fairness, equality, and social justice. This is what happens when the politicians and bureaucrats of government get together with the unions, entitlement addicts, and class action lawyers to rig the system so that "the rich" and the business owners are the targets to pay for it all.

The final result is just like Greece- the rich and business owners leave as fast as they can. They run for their lives to protect themselves and their families.

This is the Obama blueprint. This is how you run a country with no Republican opposition in the way. Detroit is our future laid out before our eyes. Detroit is our canary in the coal mine.

By re-electing Obama, a majority of Americans, voted for what Detroit has become today.

Be scared. Be very scared.