Buffalo is Next in Line

Below is a copy of an editorial from today’s Wall St. Journal.  Whether you are conservative or liberal doesn’t matter, the point is that we are on a fast march to bankruptcy for many of our cities in America and Buffalo is leading the pack.  If the pithy politicians of Buffalo, don’t change their short term, self-serving, I need to maximize my pension at all cost mentality and their protect my power base from any major changes policies, we will be following Detroit, California, Pennsylvania, Ohio and others on the road to true bankruptcy. Buffalo needs a new play book with new authors because the current book ends at Chapter 9 - Municipal Bankruptcy.   

Today's WSJ Editorial:  Last week's repeal of Ohio's collective-bargaining law was hailed as a victory for labor and a harbinger of Democratic gains next year. In truth, it is more likely that unless Ohio's public-union labor agreements are revisited, the vote could come back to haunt Ohio and its Democrats. For evidence look no further than Detroit, Michigan.

Yesterday, Mayor Dave Bing announced that Detroit will lay off 1,000 workers by early next year, about 9% of the city's workforce. Savings realized: $12 million. Savings needed: $45 million, which is Detroit's projected budget shortfall for this fiscal year.

As if reading a script repeated in many cities—and soon across Ohio absent changes—Mayor Bing asked unions for "concessions" on pension reforms and work rules. Without concessions, David Littmann, an economist with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, says Detroit could go into default in four months.

Vallejo, Calif. declared bankruptcy in 2008. Harrisburg, Pa. filed last month, followed recently by Jefferson County, Ala. The causes are a combination of unmanageable public costs and fiscal mismanagement. The results are the same: urban deterioration.

As to Ohio, an informed school of thought holds that the labor-reform law was defeated mainly because voters came to believe it would de-fund police and fire departments. But unless Ohio's legislature revisits labor reform quickly, the state's cities and towns will face cash crunches that force reductions in services and layoffs. Ironically, opinion polls taken before the vote on Issue 2 indicated that voters favored proposals to require public workers to make greater contributions toward their health-care and pension benefits.

Detroit, Vallejo, Harrisburg and Jefferson County may be only the first wave of U.S. cities heading to the brink of bankruptcy. Too many more labor "victories" like that in Ohio, and much of urban America is undone