http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article17158667.ab
http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/detroit-kan-ga-i-konkurs_8358716.svd

Vad innebär det i praktiken, mer dollar som kommer tryckas (och inget mer)? En liten domino effekt eller ingenting alls?

Innebär nog inte så mycket. Verkar vara fackföreningar och pensionsfonder som får ta största smällen. Bankerna verkar inte vara så exponerade...

Peter Schiff om Detroit från 2008.

Från http://www.usatoday.com

DETROIT -- The city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in federal court Thursday, laying the groundwork for a historic effort to bail out a city that is sinking under billions of dollars in debt and decades of mismanagement, population flight and loss of tax revenue.

The bankruptcy filing makes Detroit the largest city in U.S. history to do so.

The filing begins a 30- to 90-day period that will determine whether the city is eligible for Chapter 9 protection and define how many claimants might compete for the limited settlement resources that Detroit has to offer. The bankruptcy petition would seek protection from creditors and unions who are renegotiating $18.5 billion in debt and other liabilities.

The fiscal realities confronting Detroit have been ignored for too long. I'm making this tough decision so the people of Detroit will have the basic services they deserve and so we can start to put Detroit on a solid financial footing that will allow it to grow and prosper in the future," said Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. "This is a difficult step, but the only viable option to address a problem that has been six decades in the making."

Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, who in June released a plan to restructure the city's debt and obligations that would leave many creditors with much less than they are owed, has warned consistently that if negotiations hit an impasse, he would move quickly to seek bankruptcy protection.

Snyder signed off on the filing in a letter attached to court documents filed Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Michigan. A spokeswoman for Snyder did not immediately return telephone calls Thursday.

"It is clear that the financial emergency in Detroit cannot be successfully addressed outside of such a filing, and it is the only reasonable alternative that is available," Snyder said in the letter granting his state-required approval. "In other words, the City's financial emergency cannot be satisfactorily rectified in a reasonable period of time absent this filing."

Snyder continued: "I have reached the conclusion that this step is necessary after a thorough review of all the available alternatives, and I authorize this necessary step as a last resort to return this great City to financial and civic health for its residents and taxpayers. This decision comes in the wake of 60 years of decline for the city, a period in which reality was often ignored."

Orr's spokesman Bill Nowling said, "Pension boards, insurers, it's clear that if you're suing us, your response is 'no.' We still have other creditors we continue to have meetings with, other stakeholders who are trying to find a solution here, because they recognize that, at the end of the day, we have to have a city that can provide basic services to its 700,000 residents."

This week, the city's two pension funds (which have claims to $9.2 billion in unfunded pension and retiree health care liabilities) filed suit in state court to prevent Orr from slashing retiree benefits as part of a bankruptcy restructuring.

Ambac Assurance Guaranty, which insures some of the city's general obligation bonds, has also objected to Orr's plan to treat those bonds as "unsecured," meaning they're not tied directly to a revenue stream and would receive pennies on the dollar of their value. Ambac, and other creditors, have threatened to file suit.

A deal with creditors gives the city access to $11 million a month in casino tax revenues that Orr has said is key to maintaining city services while negotiations, in or out of bankruptcy court, take their course with other creditors and unions.

Plunkett Cooney bankruptcy lawyer Doug Bernstein, who is not involved in the bankruptcy and is not representing any parties related to it, said Thursday that the filing was critical for the city, given a growing number of legal challenges.

On Monday, an Ingham County Circuit Court judge was scheduled to hold a hearing on the city workers' and retirees' challenge to stop the city from filing for bankruptcy protection. The employee groups, and separately the city's two pension funds in another lawsuit, argue that the governor — who must and has authorized the bankruptcy filing — cannot do so if the filings include plans to reduce pension benefits, because the state's constitution explicitly protects public pensions. If the state has such plans, it wasn't immediately presented in the court filing.

Bernstein said preventing the court hearing Monday is probably a key part of the strategy behind a Chapter 9 petition by the city, because a ruling in favor of the employees could put a halt, at least temporarily, to any moves by Orr and Snyder to proceed with a bankruptcy petition. A bankruptcy filing immediately stays all such court proceedings.

"The stay kicks in as soon as the filing, whether it's Friday or Monday," Bernstein said before Thursday's filing. "The key is taking advantage of the automatic stay. Because of the lawsuit filed by the pension funds and the hearings coming up Monday, it became a factor, so to the extent that (Orr) wanted to continue negotiations with creditors, now the city is forced to" file a Chapter 9 petition.

The 30- to 90-day eligibility fight could be prolonged beyond that time frame if creditors mount a significant challenge to Detroit's eligibility for bankruptcy. In other communities that have filed for Chapter 9 protection, such fights have extended the process a year or more, including Jefferson County, Ala., and Stockton, Calif., two of the largest municipal bankruptcy filings so far in the United States.

Detroit's bankruptcy is by far the largest of its kind in U.S. history, in terms of the city's population of about 700,000 and the amount of its debts and liabilities, which Orr has said could be as high as $20 billion. Because of the stakes involved, and the impact on residents statewide, as well as 30,000 current and retired city workers and Detroit's ability to stay in business, the case could be precedent setting in the federal judiciary. It also could set an important trajectory for the way troubled cities nationwide settle their financial difficulties.

Bernstein noted that Orr has said repeatedly his office would "negotiate with creditors until and unless we find that the negotiations won't bear fruit, with the understanding that the city has a limited amount of time" for those talks.

City Council President Pro Tem Andre Spivey said he understood that negotiations Orr was having with creditors weren't as fruitful as he'd hoped they be, and that he hopes the bankruptcy process will be relatively quick. But he stressed to residents that they needn't worry about the impact of the filing immediately.

"City services we provide will not be shut down," Spivey said. "We'll still be providing services, but the challenge is where we're going to get to as we go through the bankruptcy process."

The city has lost more than half of its population over the last 60 years. In 1950, the city was the fifth-largest city in the country with a population of around 1.8 million. Today its population is estimated at just under 700,000.

En till från http://www.usatoday.com/

A bankruptcy judge will be appointed to oversee the city's case. Hearings could take place in Detroit, Kentucky, Ohio or Tennessee.

DETROIT -- Chapter 9 bankruptcy is poorly understood, in part because it happens so infrequently. Detroit's case is the largest in U.S. history.

The city filed a Chapter 9 bankruptcy petition Thursday in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Michigan. The filing includes additional information on the city's financial outlook and could include details about the city's plan to cut costs, such as potential layoffs and department consolidation, said Ken Schneider, a bankruptcy attorney with Detroit-based Schneider Miller PC.

Alice Batchelder, chief judge of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, will appoint a bankruptcy judge to oversee the city's case.

The bankruptcy judge will determine where to hold hearings, which could take place in Detroit, Kentucky, Ohio or Tennessee.

An automatic stay will be issued on most of Detroit's bills, including unsecured debts, Schneider said today. The city will continue to pay secured creditors, including water and sewer bondholders, who have the right to seize city assets if Detroit fails to pay.

An automatic stay also will be issued on lawsuits against the city, including outside challenges by pension officials and union members. This means hearings in those lawsuits will be indefinitely delayed. The plaintiffs can recast their arguments inside of bankruptcy court, said Jay Welford, a bankruptcy attorney and partner at Southfield-based Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss.

The city doesn't need approval to continue services. For example, the police, fire, water, sewer and public works are completely unaffected by the bankruptcy filing for now and will operate as usual. However, cuts are possible in the future. "You have the ability to use your cash," Welford said. "You don't need court approval."

Creditors can challenge the city's right to file for bankruptcy by issuing motions to dismiss the case.

In this case, bondholders and pension officials could accuse the city of failing to negotiate "in good faith," one of the key criteria allowing the city to file for bankruptcy. The judge would hear arguments on this issue. A ruling could take days, weeks or months — perhaps even a year.

The city also will have to prove it is insolvent, another stipulation required to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. According to the federal bankruptcy code, this requires the city to prove that it is not paying its bills. Emergency manager Kevyn Orr recently authorized the city to stop making payments on some debts. Bankruptcy experts believe that action was enough to satisfy the insolvency requirement, but creditors may still find wiggle room to argue the city is not insolvent.

If the judge authorizes the city to move forward with a Chapter 9 bankruptcy case, Orr would propose a plan of reorganization. This could take weeks, months or years. Bankruptcy court allows the city to restructure its operations and its balance sheet. This could involve budget cuts, layoffs, consolidation, the sale of assets, slashing union contracts, selling assets and dramatically reducing city debts, including outstanding bonds.

The city will attempt to win support for the reorganization plan from creditors, including secured bondholders, general obligation bondholders, unions and pension boards. If the city wins enough support, the plan would be put to a vote — and with enough support, the city could emerge from bankruptcy. Without enough support, the judge could tell the city it must continue to negotiate with creditors.

Orr may eventually pursue a "cram down" procedure, which would require winning support of a minority of creditors and convincing a judge that dissenting creditors are not being reasonable. "We'll probably get to that because I don't see how creditors are going to accept what he's talking about paying them," Schneider said.

The length of the case is widely debated. Some experts believe it could be as short as several months. Others say it could take years. Most complex Chapter 9 cases have taken several years.

ahh de är synd jag undrar vad som blir efter man kan inte låta bli å föra blick bakåt i tiden hehe
http://youtu.be/aBZ6hgA-Cc4
http://youtu.be/evxDI7ce6Z0
De finaste timmarna

Jag får tyvärr en känsla att hela USA lutar åt samma håll som Detroit.Det är en beklaglig känsla: "o du stora och väldiga
stad.......".

Hej chefen !
Jag delar din syn på USA !
Det är inga roliga nyheter som kommer därifrån . Om vi bildligt talar om USA , så kan vi säga att frihets gudinnan är en god symbol för det landet . Kvinna klädd i solen !!!

Läs vidare om framtiden för henne / Babylon i uppenbarelse boken kap 17-18 ...

Artikel från www.washingtonexaminer.com

Med största sannolikhet kommer Detroit få Bailout likt storbankerna efter kollapsen 2008.

Enligt Vita huset kommer man inte att ge bailouts.

White House: No bailout coming for Detroit

The White House on Friday shot down the idea of providing a bailout to Detroit, which this week became the largest U.S. municipality to ever file for bankruptcy.

“On the issue of insolvency and on those matters, that’s something that local leaders and creditors are going to have to resolve,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.

Some progressives have called on the Obama administration to bail out the Motor City like it did with the major American auto manufacturers.

But it became clear Friday that the White House was in no way eager to go down that path, stoking talk of general aid — not a cash infusion — for Detroit.

“[We] will be of assistance in general both in terms of policy as well as just being a partner with Detroit as Detroit finds its way and moves forward in the coming weeks, months and years,” Carney added.

Since news of the bankruptcy filing broke, Obama’s top surrogates have held a series of meetings with leaders in Detroit and Michigan. Gene Sperling, the director of the National Economic Council, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan and Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett have reached out to local officials in Michigan, Carney said.

But the White House is being careful not to ratchet up expectations for federal dollars.

“I don’t have a specific idea to present to you today,” Carney said when pressed for specifics about the White House’s response.

Vice President Joe Biden gave an even more blunt assessment earlier in the day.

“Can we help Detroit?” Biden said, repeating a reporter’s query. “The question is, we don’t know.”

In recent months — and particularly on the campaign trail — Obama trumpeted his bailout of the American auto industry. He proudly declared, “I wasn’t going to let Detroit go bankrupt” many times in the buildup to November’s election.

Now he’s left to deal with a mess with no end in sight.

Detroit is facing roughly $18 billion in long-term debt. And a Michigan circuit court judge on Friday called Detroit’s bankruptcy filing unconstitutional, ordering it removed from federal court — the state’s attorney general is appealing the decision.