Faith Doesn't Trump Math, Dickheads

It's amazing how this is being noted as "faith questioned." I mean, unless you are an imbecile. 

From Bloomberg:
"Detroit’s record municipal bankruptcy may set precedents for how retirees and bondholders are prioritized when a locality falls into distress. It’s poised to test the assumption in the municipal-debt market that states and cities will raise taxes as high as necessary to make full payments on bonds backed by their full faith and credit."

As high as necessary eh?

So a city or other municipality can raise taxes to 100% of residents income if necessary to pay bondholders, and should? Bondholders should assume that such a premise exists?

There are plenty of people who are spending too much time in Denver smoking bong hits among these so-called "investors" and ratings agencies.  I say this because there is plenty of evidence that raising taxes provides a disincentive to behavior and, what's worse, people CAN and DO move to lawfully avoid paying said taxes.

The premise of "full faith and credit" is therefore at the outset a lie to the extent that anyone believes it means that a government can raise taxes "as high as are necessary" to make bond payments.  They can certainly try but rates are immaterial; what matters is how much you collect.

If you have a 100% tax rate but the response is that the population all quits working and sits on their ass, collecting from the public dole instead, you get zero from that tax in actual revenue.

Isn't it funny how nobody wants to talk about that little problem, even when we have Detroit as a shining example of the consequences of failing to do so?

It's so coooold in the D!

Yes, it's an oldie, but this shit never ceases to be funny. And with the temps in SE Michigan dropping to the single digits, I can think of few better ways to ring in 2010 than the most hilariously bad video ever. Enjoy!

When Keepin It Real goes wrong: Detroit Lions Edition

Last Sunday the Vikings played the Lions at Ford Field. The Lions lost (disappointing, but no surprise) and Adrian Peterson was stifled for most of the day, putting me in a fantasy football hole that I would need 207 yards by Frank Gore to climb out of (disappointing and shocking.)

However, even if the action on the field was boring, my fellow Michiganders decided to keep it lively with an exciting in-stands melee. Observe:



The description of what started the ruckus, from the guy who filmed it: "The two girls in front of us were drunk before the game started. They grabbed one of our signs and trashed it (real classy) because we're Vikings fans, and then spent most of the first half mocking us instead of watching the game because the Lions were ahead.

They left their seats and we thought they were gone for good but somehow they managed to buy even more beer and get back to their seats. They were spilling beer on themselves, the seats, and some of the other fans. After they spilled quite a bit of beer on the guys in the row below them, they turned around and told them to SIT DOWN. One girl didn't like that so she poured the rest of her beer on his head. Then I knew it was time to start the camera."

Well done, sir. Isn't technology grand?