Ed Rendell did not bankrupt Philadelphia. Nor is he responsible for its financial “miracle.” Ed Rendell hitched his star to the power of the Pennsylvania Legislature, which put Philadelphia into limited receivership and authorized a board to oversee the Democrat political machine — of which Rendell was a member — that had brought ruin to the city. His predecessor, Wilson Goode, presided over Philadelphia’s descent into insolvency. His most widely publicized act was to bomb the violent “back-to-nature” MOVE organization holed up in a West Philadelphia row house. His act of war in May 1985 on a civilian population set off a holocaust that burned more than 60 homes and killed 11 people. Goode whined that it was not his fault. Philadelphians re-elected him in 1987. As he could not run for a third term, the mantle passed to Rendell. With the state watching his back, Rendell did win concessions from the bloated unions. Conceivably, the alternative was full receivership, a greater terror. The city, down to junk-bond status, also was able to borrow $1.2 billion through the good faith and credit of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Agency. The debt retires in 2024. Or so the story goes. During the 1990s Philadelphia lost nearly 70,000 residents as flight from high crime and taxes continued a decades-long trend. In the new century, the state put the schools in receivership and granted them a special appropriation. In this century, population has declined by more than 25,000. The Philadelphia “miracle” by “America’s mayor” does not have legs, nor does it have credibility. People flock toward “miracles,” not flee them.

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