City of Detroit, banks reach new settlement in 2005 financial deal

[alp227]

Source: Detroit Free Press

The City of Detroit and creditors reached an agreement this morning after two days of negotiating to settle a disastrous Kwame Kilpatrick-era debt deal that cost the city potentially hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a federal court spokesman.

Terms of the deal will be available later today, spokesman Rod Hansen said. The agreement is subject to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes’ approval.

Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen oversaw the confidential discussions between Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, attorneys representing the city and creditors. Rosen was appointed to lead mediation efforts in Detroit’s historic bankruptcy. Orr was in on mediation sessions, along with members of the city’s bankruptcy legal team and creditors involved in the deal.

Rhodes, who’s presiding over Detroit’s Chapter 9 proceedings, ordered the city last week to renegotiate a deal with Bank of America and UBS to settle a 2005 arrangement the city approved to secure a steady interest rate on $1.4 billion in pension debt, but that deal backfired when interest rates dropped.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20131224/NEWS01/312240064/Detroit-swaps-settlement

[mitty14u2]

1. What the Corporate Media Won't Tell You About Detroit

No one, other than Mark Binelli, contributing Rolling Stone editor and author of Detroit City is the Place to Be: The Afterlife of an American Metropolis seems to grasp the real significance of the bankruptcy.

Predictably the corporate media is ignoring the really important take home lessons:
1.Contrary to Obama’s claims that the US economy is recovering, there is no recovery for the vast majority of Americans. Bankers and corporate CEOs are all doing just fine (thanks to federal bail-outs, subsidies and tax cuts), but the financial standing and quality of life for everyone else keeps getting bleaker and bleaker.

2.The bankruptcy of Detroit (and eight other US cities and virtual bankruptcy of scores of others) is the direct result of shifting the tax burden from corporations and the wealthy to poor and middle income Americans. The example of Detroit is especially ironic. US car makers are doing great now, thanks to massive bailouts. But not the tens of thousands of workers they laid off–nor existing workers who were forced to accept 550% pay cuts. Yet somehow laid-off and impoverished workers are expected to generate the tax revenue for Detroit to pay its debts.

http://open.salon.com/blog/stuartbramhall/2013/07/19/what_the_corporate_media_wont_tell_you_about_detroit

The secret plan to save Detroit's art (and leave retirees behind)

Rosen’s meeting remained secret for about a week, until the media found out about it. Rosen was then forced to issue a statement explaining why he convened the foundations. His statement read: “The meeting was intended to give [the participants] a perspective — not only on some of the challenges raised by the bankruptcy — but also some of the very real opportunities that the bankruptcy provides for a brighter future.”

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131129/OPINION01/311290003#ixzz2oQgyrOvd