Birmingham, Mi. is an attractive city, with beautiful lawns, lovely homes, flowers and clean streets. I understand that is relatively true for all the cities around Detroit, which has declared bankruptcy. As we traveled to downtown Detroit we passed from well-kept buildings into areas that were in poor condition, some little more than wrecks.
There is activity in the city. We saw crowds of people on all streets leading to the stadium; the Detroit
Tigers were playing.
Detroit's population of around 700,000 is the lowest it has been since 1914, when the population was at that number but was growing. The city reached its peak in 1950, a population of 1.8 million.
We should not confuse the City of Detroit with the government of Detroit, although they are entwined. For decades the city has been afflicted with corrupt and ineffective governing officials; they have damaged or destroyed much of what the city has to offer. including education.
Basically, there are only three ways jobs are created -- agriculture, mining and manufacturing. At its highest employment the city offered more than 250,000 manufacturing jobs, compared with some 27,000 at present.
Detroit is responsible for much of that, being throttled by unions and taxes. Much more can be blamed on the policies of the federal government -- unions again, unfair taxation and a crazy import-export policy.
If Obama has his way much longer, the entire country will be Detroit, with millions out of work and much of the country a disaster.
There is activity in the city. We saw crowds of people on all streets leading to the stadium; the Detroit
Tigers were playing.
Detroit's population of around 700,000 is the lowest it has been since 1914, when the population was at that number but was growing. The city reached its peak in 1950, a population of 1.8 million.
We should not confuse the City of Detroit with the government of Detroit, although they are entwined. For decades the city has been afflicted with corrupt and ineffective governing officials; they have damaged or destroyed much of what the city has to offer. including education.
Basically, there are only three ways jobs are created -- agriculture, mining and manufacturing. At its highest employment the city offered more than 250,000 manufacturing jobs, compared with some 27,000 at present.
Detroit is responsible for much of that, being throttled by unions and taxes. Much more can be blamed on the policies of the federal government -- unions again, unfair taxation and a crazy import-export policy.
If Obama has his way much longer, the entire country will be Detroit, with millions out of work and much of the country a disaster.
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