I'm not a Detroiter, but I did grow up in its suburbs. So I share a lot of
the sentiments of others who come from the area. As such, I really wish I could have attended this year's
Netroots Nation there. What better event to bring me back to my home state?
Still, if you are one of those fortunate enough to attend, there is one place I urge you to find some time to visit: Moo Cluck Moo. That's right. The fast food restaurant that pays its workers a $15 wage.
Lindsay Senia, 23, says she is able to pay her tuition out-of-pocket instead of taking out student loans.
Jennifer Aguilar is able to send her son to Boy Scout camp and can afford to send her daughter to cheerleading camp.
“I love what I do every day and this is very important for me,” Aguilar said. “I can do things for my children that I couldn’t do as a kid.”
Co-founder Brian Parker makes his point succinctly: “How big of a pile of money do CEOs have to sit on?”
There have been other posts with other great suggestions for places you should visit while in Detroit. But I definitely think Moo Cluck Moo is an establishment worth supporting, for taking the bold step of caring about its workers after working hours, in an industry that has historically done little of it.
It's about a 20 min drive away, but at least you can get a burger and shake.
And if you really want to get a good picture of the situation Detroit is in, and how much Republican Governor Rick Snyder and his ilk are practically looting Detroit at the expense of its hardest working employees and underserved citizens, I highly suggest these informative analyses:
The Detroit Bankruptcy
Detroit’s bankruptcy is, at its core, a cash flow problem caused by its inability to bring in enough revenue to pay its bills. While emergency manager Kevyn Orr has focused on cutting retiree benefits and reducing the city’s long-term liabilities to address the crisis, an analysis of the city’s finances reveals that his efforts are inappropriate and, in important ways, not rooted in fact.
Politics and Water in Detroit
From the beginning, the Emergency Manager misconstrued the nature of the system and sought to pull it into the bankruptcy proceedings. When he listed the city’s debt, he included the entire $5.8 billion of system debt. This inflated the headline number for city indebtedness—$18 billion in total. He did this even though the city government was not obligated to pay the Water and Sewerage debt and city residents represented only a small fraction of the total rate base. This simply did not make sense financially. Nonetheless, it pumped up the headline number, which of course made conditions seem more severe and justified his appointment and the bankruptcy. But there were other reasons to fudge the facts. It drew the Water and Sewerage enterprise into the Detroit insolvency.
What bled Detroit dry? (It's not pensions)
Instead, Detroit's cash flow shortfall must be addressed by fixing the problems that caused it in the first place. Banks must be told that they have profited enough from interest rate swaps that helped create this mess and will receive no more. The state needs to collaborate by increasing available revenues. Corporate tax loopholes must be closed and ineffective subsidies ended.
If you are headed to NN14, I imagine you may find yourself in conversation with Detroiters, or about Detroit. As such, the topic may very likely turn to Detroit's economic situation. I hope you use such an opportunity to provide some clarity and information on this convoluted topic. Native Detroiter or not, hearing the realities of the situation may not only sway them a bit, but maybe also convince them to feel a bit more passionate about it or, hey, maybe they should be pissed off about what these monsters in the GOP are putting the people of Detroit through just to line their own pockets.
Of course, I still wish I could be attending myself. Unfortunately, even though I just graduated in May with a PhD in physics, I have been unable to find a job, and things are getting tight. Certainly, it has given me quite the opportunity to experience what so many other unfortunate Americans have been dealing with for years now, and to sympathize on a deeper level. But perhaps that is a story for another diary.