Michigan Town Tearing Out Its Streetlights In Cost-Cutting Measure

Monday, November 7, 2011 Michigan Town Tearing Out Its Streetlights In Cost-Cutting Measure The economic slowdown has put countless people out of work and eliminated millions of dollars in homeowner wealth. States and cities haven't been immune to its effects, either. Faced with shrinking tax revenues and pressure to cut costs, more than half of U.S. cities have cut staff, cancelled construction projects or raised fees this year, according to The National League of Cities, and many communities have had to scale back the kinds of public services that in more robust times people simply took for granted. Highland Park, Michigan, a city in the greater Detroit area, is the latest town to implement dramatic austerity measures, according to the Associated Press. CFTC Chairman, Gensler Says He'd Be 'Distraction' In MF Global Probe Proposed Wall St. Tax Would Raise More Than $350 Billion Federal Employees Paid One Quarter Less Than Private Sector Workers Judge Approves $410 Million Settlement In BofA Overdraft Suit New Measure Signals U.S. Poverty Ranks Swelled To Record High BLOG POSTS Dean Baker: Home Economics 101: George Will And Niall Ferguson Flunk George Will and Niall Ferguson recently dismissed the proposal for a Right to Rent program, both insisting that it's wrong to assume that it would be cheaper to rent than to pay the mortgage on people's homes. Will and Ferguson need to review the data. Costas Azariadis: To Euro or Not to Euro? None of the drawbacks outweigh the obvious and immediate benefits that a suspension of interest payments would confer on Greece. Govindini Murty: In Time and Tower Heist: Can Robbing the Rich Solve Inequality? A pair of new films this week offers a critique of capitalism sure to gladden the heart of any Occupy Wall Street protester, but they offer simple solutions to a very complex problem. Leo W. Gerard: Traditional Voting Fails; Alternative Works Saturday was "move your money" day. Wall Street banks won't tell how many customers they lost. But depositors, more than 78,000 of whom pledged to make the move, made their point. They voted differently. They voted with their feet and their wallets. And they won. James Peron: DOMA and the High Cost of Government-Mandated Discrimination With DOMA, employers in states with marriage equality are forced to establish a dual system of employment where one set of employees is treated one way, and a second set another way, when it comes to federally regulated issues such as taxation and pensions.

MOST POPULAR ON HUFFINGTONPOST.COM Most Of The Unemployed No Longer Receive Benefits Wealth Gap Between Young, Old Americans Is Widest Ever Michigan Town Tearing Out Its Streetlights In Cost-Cutting Measure ON TWITTER Who Funds The Chamber Of Commerce? Help HuffPost Find Out PHOTOS: 9 Killer Brands Launched During Downturns ON FACEBOOK Wealth Gap Between Young, Old Americans Is Widest Ever McDonald's Job Applications Dumped On 'Occupy' Protesters Banks Earned More Under Obama Than Bush