Just ridiculous...

The idea that they'd cut off a quarter million a day in funding is ridiculous. Can't they pass a "shutdown" budget which lets them keep revenue-generating areas open?

Detroit: Casinos to roll in shutdown
Detroit Free Press

LANSING - The City of Detroit will defy the state and keep its three casinos open if a budget impasse forces a partial shutdown of state government Oct. 1, a spokesman for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said Wednesday.

The privately owned MGM Grand, MotorCity, and Greektown casinos are cash cows for Detroit and the State and employ 7,000 people, including many city residents.

"It's thousands of jobs and also revenue," said Kilpatrick press secretary Matt Allen. "If we have this go into violated status or be cited on this, that's fine. But we're not shutting the casinos."

Greektown's attorneys are studying all options for staying open in a shutdown, including the possibility of going to court, said Roger Martin, a Greektown spokesman.

"We're hoping that what the mayor's office is saying is true," he said. "We don't want to close. It's not good for the city, it's not good for the state, it's not good for the public schools...and certainly not good for the 7.000 people who depend on these jobs."