Page 844 - Pensions News Today

Like i say, most of my money i try to save, i try to help my grandchildren out, and so, yes, it would hurt me, but im sure it would hurt a lot of other firemen and policemen probably a little bit more than me. >> larry, good luck to you. well obviously hope for the best in detroit. i know that city going through a horrible situation right now. larry newberry spent a long time, he put his life on the line as a firefighter in detroit and now hes retired but hes deeply concerned, as are so many oth...

Same thing we could say about detroit. detroiters are in this great e dyasper all over the country. new orleans must be there because thats our -- we are the port city. right? it matters that we exist in that space. similarly i think we have to ask what is it about detroit that becomes the kwiquintessential tg beyond the romanticism of detroit and brings people back into those houses. and that we do that rebuilding in a way thats just. the other struggle that continues in new orleans is that eve...

Try to save gm? >> sure. gm had problems with pensions and particularly with retiree health care benefits that looked a lot like -- >> does detroit have the same problems? >> they have similar problems, but theres one huge difference. detroit has had declining revenues for many years now because of the fall in population we talked about. detroit actually -- general motors had the hope of rising revenues as they sold more cars. detroit may or may not have a viable economic model. general motors w...

Borrowed $1.5 billion supposedly to fix the pension issue in 2005. what weve done under the doctrine in bankruptcy of secured parties an unsecured is say were going to treat both classes of creditors completely, secured gets paid in full, but unfortunately because of the dire circumstances and magnitude of the debt we simply cant treat all unsecured as being paid in full. theyll all have to participate in some form of adjustment and that includes pensions. thats only though for the unfunded port...

The tax base has been reduced so much because so much of the population base has fled the city that its hard to raise funds and potentially pensions might have to be altered at some point. you have to feel bad for those folks. and the auto industry is rebounding and you wish that detroit was reflecting that. hopefully, eventually it will. >> you saw the skyline there. it really looks like a beautiful city. before the skyline, you saw a couple of abandoned buildings. whats happening is there are ...

Ive never seen anything quite as devastated as what you are showing. just the decline of this once great city. what about future options? weve seen stories, very positive stories about the high-tech industry trying to get a foothold and change it, the way pittsburgh an or industrial rust belt cities have changed and transformed themselves can new industry coming in, the medical community in pittsburgh in particular. >> it is hard probably to see. there is a company back there called galaxy solut...

The unemployment rate is over 18% and the city never really recovered from the housing crisis. today, close to 80,000 homes have been abandoned and the median value of the ones still occupied is below $40,000. crime is also a major problem in detroit as the citys homicide rate is at historically high levels ranking among americas dangerous cities for more than 20 years. the future of detroit remains far from certain with no clear road map to how the motor city survives. the filing begins a three...

And the city never really recovered from the housing crisis. for now the future of detroit remains far from certain with no clear road map to how the motor city survives. the bankruptcy will impact the 9500 city employees and 20,000 retirees, many of whom could face cuts to pensions and other city programs. and joe, moving forward, theres so many questions in terms of what this means for detroit and our economy overall. >> no doubt about it. i want to follow up with steve ratner. you talked last...

Changes in pensions and in health care benefits and so personally, i think this is a place where governments going to have to step in. >> that will be interesting to see that play out. well talk about this throughout the show, what it means for city workers in detroit and retirees but also the president meant to prevent this. he vowed to prevent this. what this means on a broader perspective as well look at. couple other big stories to get to. the fallout from the "rolling stone" cover controver...

Well go through the eligibility determination. i dont thing any person of serious measure is going to contest detroits solvency. or maybe some discussion about good faith negotiations. we think weve bent over backward. other people may have a different opinion. >> of the $18 billion, how much of it is pensions? >> well, you know, the $18 billion, 16.2, related to secured debt. were going to pay that. going to be clear. weve also said in bankruptcy theres two types of creditors. we use that rubri...