With Detroit filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, everybody knows major root-canal cutbacks are coming. Cutbacks of out-of-control government spending, pensions, and health benefits. Major cutbacks. We know that.
We also know that the downfall of Detroit is again proof positive that the public-union collective-bargaining model has utterly failed. Unions just loot the benefit lock box at taxpayer expense. That was the message of Governor Scott Walker’s victorious crusade in Wisconsin. If any good comes out of the Detroit debacle, it will be the spread of that message across the country.
But there’s another important point here. If Detroit is to truly recover, a growth program of tax-free investment incentives must be part of the process. Specifically, Detroit should be made a tax-free enterprise zone, along lines proposed years ago by the late Jack Kemp.
Read my full column here.