Congratulations to Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, for having the highest per capita debt of any city in the country.

The town's 50,000 citizens are on the hook for $1.5 billion according to the NPR article Inside America's Most Indebted City.

The city has delayed payments to light bulb venders and paper sellers. Restaurants have hired their own security. A local strip club paid to keep the street light on. The city is projected to run out of money entirely in October.

A judge has recently ordered a 1% income tax hike on the people still left in Harrisburg. But the city council has promised to fight it.

$1.5 Billion Does Not Include Schools, Pensions, Unfunded Liabilities

The Patriot News notes Harrisburg's eye-popping debt total is just one piece of city's bleak financial puzzle
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Mike Shedlock

Mike Shedlock

Mike Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for Sitka Pacific Capital Management.

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AD15 Wrote: Sep 04, 2012 4:10 PM
The Bill Clinton syndrone. They have it covered so that NO ONE can come and get them.

Guess what? Someone should go and get them. And put them in jail for the rest of their miserable lives. That might deter other crooks in white collars.
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Alice153 Wrote: Sep 04, 2012 10:19 AM
What is true for a family budget is true for a city, county, state or federal budget. If one borrows to pay ones bills, one will eventually bankrupt. That is, unless any of the entities invest in moneymaking propositions like business, jobs or investment in productive companies. It is easier to sit still and spend; but, eventually the piper will demand payment. And, by the time it gets to that state, no one will lend.
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chipsmydog Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 10:23 PM
And still the liberals will vote for Obama in Pennsylvania.
They'll go for the con man since they reject the God-man, Jesus Christ.
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TechDel Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 8:32 PM
I live near Harrisburg. For years the idiots there thought Reed was the greatest mayor in the country. They had no idea he was playing shell games with their money and their future.
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Hubs Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 6:46 PM
The problem with Harrisburg and the idiotic elected officials is that they put all their "hope" on the new multi-milion dollar incinerator that they built to pay off the debts incurred by the City of Harrisburg. Well, that incinerator failed to perform! And, there goes the City.....
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Joseph1790 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 6:19 PM
Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be
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restoreliberty Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 4:18 PM
Yeah boy those democrats really know how to screw the people.
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DariusIII Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 4:08 PM
I am shocked! Shocked! to see fraud in this establishment. Oh yes and thank you for my fees. (with apologies to Captain Renault)
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willis9 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 3:34 PM
The list of names that set up these deals should all appear on a criminal indictment, the govt. should go after all personal and corporate assets. Though it would not cover the debt, people need to go to jail for fraud.
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Daniel982 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 11:24 PM
When the numbers get that big, wouldn't it be a better deterrent to execute 'em?
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Reginald10 Wrote: Sep 05, 2012 1:38 PM
If you do that legally, with infinite appeals and via lethal injection, it may be more expensive than just locking them up for the rest of their lives.

Of course, you can recycle a rope, so the cost overall is quite reasonable.
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calhar Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 11:51 AM
These fees that the promotors collected are the cruxt of the problem.These con artist had a very big incentative in the promotion of this scheme to borrow money.They are in that catagory of idiots that believe the more money throwned around the more "we" can get.Its perfectly clear these people should be behind bars.
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Leb2 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 10:56 AM
Overspend, overtax, the people will do what we the elected one's do and say, why the people need us, they don't understand, they can not cope with the world, we need to guide them, after all we are smarter than they are. Can you believe the people are talking against us, how could this happen, we just need to exert more control over them and they'll do what we want. Doesn't sound like America does it? Yet isn't this what's going on, and we the people let it.
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sashamanda Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 9:48 AM
It's easy to see what the problem is: Harrisburg did not borrow enough (the stimulus was too low).
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duggy2 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 9:20 AM
The biggest issue of all is the debt and how it got there. ....BORROWING  !

Debt is the issue. ..treasury is borrowing us into bankrupcy..doesnt anybody else see that the 16 trillion debt is our debt...not the govenment's debt...yours and mine..our taxes go to try to pay this attrocity

How do we  get away from the fiscal cliff  ?  Tinkering with spending cuts. ...austerity..soak the rich. ..stim pacs..trying to create jobs...taxing the air we breathe are all worthless..STOP BORROWING  ! Why is no one talking about the number one contributor to the econoslide...? Borrowing...

Many defend govt borrowing...why. ....?  no govt should be permitted to borrow a penny, let alone 16 trillion....yeah 16 trillion is solely the result of govt borrow
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Greg1084 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 8:55 AM
Let me guess. Was Stephen Reed a democrat?
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Sean245 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 9:53 AM
Yes he is and all the while H'burg was building parks and stadiums I was asking myself, "Where's the money coming from?" Now I know, its the same Democrat game, barrow, barrow, barrow, lie, lie, lie and when it all blows up blame, blame, blame.
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kwood742 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 8:38 AM
The judge 'ordered' the city to increase taxes? Ther judiciary does not have the power to taxe (in theory).
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Reginald10 Wrote: Sep 05, 2012 1:40 PM
If the City has been taken over by the Court (in bankruptcy, with a court-appointed Receiver), then the Court does have that power. It is ceded to the Court, when bankruptcy is filed.
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Blair31 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 7:58 AM
Fraud is the problem. Not just in Harrisburg but also in Washington.
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para_dimz Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 7:49 AM
What recourse does justice have when the guardians become corrupt but a turn to vigilante justice. Once that corrective is applied it will grow on the nation like a cancer. Therefore, somebody in government better get on the ball and somebody better be found responsible. Then the punishment must fit the crime. Do it or find yourselves where a Wild West museum would seem quaint.
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Bruce2142 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 7:30 AM
Liberal DemocRATs think that money comes from magic pixies and unicorns and that no wonder what scheme they implement to stay in power, the money will just show up. In MN, for years the DemocRAT controlled Legislature would implement costly entitlement and outright financially ignorant programs, i.e. light rail that is now being subsidized to the tune of around $12 million per year. When they got temporary fed money, they would build it into their budgets forever, just kicking the can down the road.
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Bob570 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 6:49 AM
Harrisburg's problems, like Scranton, and many other cities in Pa is quite simple, they have been electing the same Party to power for far too long. One party rule rarely works well.
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PhillupSpace2 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 3:00 AM
How do cities get themselves into these situations? It is easier than you think!

Just as the people who have no life are the first to show up for jury duty, the people who seek city council seats are not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

Kevin D. Williamson relays the story of the city council meeting to discuss the bankruptcy options of San Bernadino. One of the council members asked if they could get a Trader Joes to locate there wouldn't that help?

With these people plotting the future of the cities, rogues can encumber the city for the purchase of a stadium (if you build it, they will come) or agree to give lifetime healthcare to the guy who changes the oil in the fire trucks just because he has worked there for 5 years!
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PhillupSpace2 Wrote: Sep 03, 2012 2:10 AM
Mike, wouldn't we find that most of the cities with populations of more than 50 thousand are in the same boat if they were actually audited? Is this nation already bankrupt but no one wants to announce it until after the election?

It is certain that cities all did this when times were booming because no one took the time to check.

Property taxes have fallen as the value of real property is down by more than 40%.
Those property values and tax receipts they produce will not return to 2008 levels before 2020. So, when does the next black tuesday/ Lehman Brothers announcement hit the fan?
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Reginald10 Wrote: Sep 05, 2012 1:42 PM
Mid-November would be my guess...
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