Allowing states to declare bankruptcy would end federalism and convert states into wards of the federal government, claimed John Baker, professor emeritus of law at Louisiana State University and Federalist Society contributor, offering his analysis on Friday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow.
The Swedish municipality of Bengtsfors has petitioned the national government for aid due to massive costs incurred by taking in more migrants than the municipality could afford.
The Trump Administration appears to have made a break-through in negotiating terms for a $4.7 billion Community Disaster Loan to rebuild Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
The city of Stockton, California, is planning to offer a basic income grant of $500 per month to poor residents, making it the first U.S. city to provide a guaranteed income.
For decades, California courts have prevented any cuts to luxurious public employee pensions, but the California Supreme Court is now reviewing arguments in a case that could allow slashing benefits.
The Obama administration has picked seven people to serve on a financial control board overseeing the restructuring of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s $70 billion debt burden and $43 billion unfunded pension liability. Under congressional legislation signed after the island
With a Congressionally appointed federal control board about to take over Puerto Rico’s finances, the U.S. territory just admitted that its massively spiked public pension plan owes another $43 billion.
With the governor of Puerto Rico refusing to pay interest on $370 million of $73 billion of debt by 5 p.m. on Monday, May 2, the U.S. territory will enter the third-largest default in history of the planet.
Although House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) warned that Congress needs to “bring order to the chaos” in Puerto Rico, conservative House Republicans are giving the cold shoulder to a plan that would let Puerto Rico wipe out $33 billion of its $73 billion debt in bankruptcy.
San Bernardino, which owed almost $10 million on its pension bond debt ever since it declared bankruptcy in 2012, has defaulted, according to Reuters. Since September, the city has avoided dealing with the bondholders, who have been left out in the cold.
The City of Stockton emerged from bankruptcy on Wednesday, February 25, after a 31-month ordeal. There were no winners in trying to restructure over $2 billion in debt and obligations. Nearly half of non-safety city employees were dumped, the survivors’ wages were cut by up to 23 percent, and retirees lost $500 million in lifetime medical benefits. Bondholders and creditors are receiving pennies on the dollar. Hopefully the sad lessons about what happened to Stockton might help other California cities to control spending.