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　　Protesters Join Funeral of Former British Prime Minister

As the funeral procession made its way to the cathedral, opponents of Thatcher lined the route...

Turning their backs on her coffin as it made its way through central London.

They chanted “waste of money” in protest at the millions of dollars spent on Wednesday’s funeral and waved anti-Thatcher signs.

While in power, Thatcher became an enemy of many on the left. A Conservative prime minister, she pursued privatization and deregulation, cut taxes on the rich and attacked trade unions.

On Wednesday, her opponents said they had not forgiven her.

“It’s a mark of not wanting to be involved in the pageantry really and the celebration of her life - because I don’t think it was a life to celebrate," said one woman.

“I’m here and I’m so happy today that she’s dead," said a man.

Wednesday was not the first protest since Thatcher’s death.

On Saturday, her opponents poured into London’s Trafalgar Square to “celebrate.”

They said they were protesting against her politics and the legacy they say she’s left behind - rising inequality and high costs of living in Britain.

Many Britons have been critical of those “celebrating” - but Thatcher’s opponents they say it’s a good chance to address divisions in British society.

A man handing out pamphlets Wednesday for a talk on Thatcher’s legacy said, “Britain is still a very divided society. She’s probably one of the most controversial prime ministers. So hopefully by having this protest and by raising the issue and showing there’s an alternative people will begin to tackle her legacy.”

Thatcher’s death, he hopes, will ignite fresh debate about Britain’s future.

　　Detroit Government Retirees Struggle to Keep Benefits

Don Taylor spent 26 years of his life as a police officer in Detroit, the city where he was born and raised. It was a dangerous job, but one he is fond of.

It also provided a dependable paycheck, as well as a guaranteed pension and health care coverage in retirement. Or so he thought. “There’s a dispute on the pensions, you know," he said.

“Borrowing a billion dollars to fund your pension, yes the pension is funded, but now it’s done through more debt," said Eric Scorsone of Michigan State University. He is on the team helping the city of Detroit emerge from its fiscal crisis.

“It’s probably as bad as any city has ever seen in terms of a fiscal crisis. My part is to work on tax and revenue forecasting and tax issues in general for the city as they work on a plan to move forward," he said.

The plan includes figuring out how to pay for retirement pensions funded with borrowed money, and how to pay for health care plans for current and retired public sector employees.

“The city really should be paying hundreds of millions of dollars more than it is right now, but there’s no money to do it, so the question is how do you fund that liability or do you reduce the liability by reducing benefits," said Scorsone.

Taylor says the pensions and health care plans of retirees are already modest.

“There are a lot of misconceptions too that in the city of Detroit, that the people’s benefits are “Cadillac” plans, and they’re overpaid, where the average pension is only $30,000," he said.

“I cannot believe that they could do any more cutting," said retired Detroit police officer Greg Trozak, who has two sons on the police force. While he is concerned about cuts to his own benefits, he is more worried about future benefits.

“I’m sure the active people are going to be hurting a lot more than a lot of us retirees are," he said.

“The elected officials in the city of Detroit should have seen this reduction in revenue coming, and should have seen that the population was declining years ago and should have adjusted for that, but they failed to do so. Now it’s resting on the backs of the employees and retirees," said Taylor.

The clock is ticking to turn Detroit’s finances around. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has less than eighteen months to make difficult decisions that would bring about the Motor City’s eventual solvency.