By now, you may have heard that a federal judge ruled that Detroit’s pensions may be cut during bankruptcy proceedings, even though the Michigan state constitution expressly protects them.

What you may not know is that the average pension is $19,000 a year.

David Sirota is outraged.

Michigan officials say there is no money to pay the $100 million pension gap yet the state can afford $6 billion each year for corporate subsidies.

Nor is anyone deterred from paying more than $400 million in public funds for a new hockey stadium for Detroit.

As Sirota wrote:

“Every now and again there’s a piece of crystal clear evidence left at the scene of a complex financial crime that shows, beyond any reasonable doubt, what went down.

“If future generations want to understand why the current era is sometimes referred to as a new Gilded Age, they need look no further than Detroit. The city’s financial troubles have far more to do with deindustrialization, destructive trade policies, population loss, political mismanagement and Wall Street’s shady municipal rip-off schemes than it does public pension liabilities.

“Yet, as you might have heard, a judge yesterday handed down a landmark ruling allowing Michigan officials who took control of the city to violate the state’s constitution and slash the average $19,000-a-year pensions of Detroit’s municipal retirees. This ruling is already being touted as a precedent setter for places like California, where a pension-slashing ballot initiative campaign is already underway and where some cities are trying to get out of paying the pension promises they made to retirees.”

Maybe the impoverished retirees can sell soda and popcorn at the new hockey stadium.