I'd like to see the legislature pass a law that would hold local government officials personally and criminally accountable if their decisions cause bankruptcy or severe financial hardship. Maybe this would rein in the City of Portland's excessive borrowing and spending. We've got to do something.

Jack,
Ever since Vallejo, California went bankrupt back in 2008, I've been meaning to ask the following question:

Why aren't the employees on the city pension plans more outspoken in keeping the politicians from crashing a city's finances? Don't they have the most to lose if a judge slashes their retirement benefits, etc...in bankruptcy court?

I'm sure individual employees, still on the job, fear retaliation if they speak out against outrageous spending projects, but what about those who have already retired? Aren't they like retired generals finally able to speak out about a losing war plan?

Why don't the city-related unions raise heck when one of these South Waterfront plans comes along: "As the head of the firemen's union, I can't sit by and watch our members risk their pensions in what is a get-rich scheme for a few, but risks the future for many city workers."

My guess is that we are dealing with the "It can't happen here" syndrome, combined with "Don't worry. Relax. It's a wired gig."

On a related note, I also don't understand how airline pilots, etc...can endure having their pensions stolen in some corporate takeover, without doing something more dramatic. Now we're about to see how city workers react. This problem is a beast and it's about to crawl out of the swamp and raise havoc.

I know Harrisburg has not declared bankruptcy...yet, but one sign of the increasing risk ahead is that I had never heard of Vallejo, California when they got in trouble - but I think we've all heard of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Y'know, Bill, it's not much of a stretch to see a similarly incomprehensible behavior pattern in us all, acting against our own interests, self-mutilating. We're our own worst enemies, when we pay TV our money each month to dumb and numb the public sensibility so it doesn't notice media LIARS driving full on fascism and wrecking one-person,-one-vote democracy and trashing equal Justice under the law. ... and then we reward the absolutely powerfully corrupted 'celebrity' joy-riders -- wheee!, they're ON TV -- by paying their paycheck again next month.

Sedition, treason, fomenting public riot, falsely (when there is no threatening enemy) shouting 'Fire your guns!' in a hate-crowded theatre of warterror, is a crime, crime, crime, and criminal incitement to crime.

But there's never a cop around when you need one:

Facing deficit, Michigan town eliminates police, © 2010 The Associated Press, Sept. 4, 2010

CLARKSTON, Mich. — A small town in Michigan has eliminated its police department as a way to save money.

...

The Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce says about 1,000 people live in the community.

In California, the city of Maywood eliminated its police department earlier this year because of budget problems. Maywood is southeast of Los Angeles and has about 45,000 residents.

.

I think every city that needs an "emergency cash advance" should have to get it at one of those check cashing stores, just like broke and desperate citizens sometimes do.

Not enough -- from 2 hrs. ago:

Assured Guaranty, TD Bank Sue Harrisburg
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703466704575489950726788336.html

Bill McD.: You should really check out the news stories in the Wall Street Journal from time to time. The bankruptcy stories about Vallejo and Harrisburg have been written about there for at least 6-8 months.

Dave A,
I wade through as much of this financial garbage as I can. I've come a long way from a few years back when I had never heard of derivatives. I would have preferred that the suits hadn't run the economy into a sewer.
That way, I wouldn't have to follow any of it.
Speaking of that, the Harrisburg Incinerator sounds like the Jefferson County, Alabama sewer system. Did the Wall Street Journal mention if the bonds had been structured to hurt by our friends on Wall Street?
Who's involved here? Is this the Goldman Sachs crowd...again?
An incinerator that eats a state capitol. It's quite a twist on the saying, "Money to burn."