Amid the furore of Sunday morning political programming, Detroit Mayor Bing and Michigan Governor Snyder have been quite vocal. Bing made it clear that "a lot of negotiations will go into fixing our city," and when asked whether he will seek a Federal bailout, he responded, "not yet." The decisions following this huge bankruptcy are likely to be precedent-setting as Bing noted that more than 100 urban US cities "are having the same problems we're having." As the WSJ reports [4], Bing warned, "We may be one of the first. We are the largest. But we absolutely will not be the last. And so we have got to set a benchmark in terms how to fix our cities." Snyder was a little more hopeful that salvation will come from above as he stated that while "I don't view that as the right answer... if the federal government wants to [bail us out], that’s their option."
Via WSJ [4],
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing on Sunday left the door open for a federal bailout after the city’s bankruptcy filing, saying the nation’s response would “set a benchmark” for aiding other struggling cities.
Asked directly whether Detroit would seek a federal bailout, Mr. Bing said “not yet.”
...
More than 100 urban U.S. cities “are having the same problems we’re having,” Mr. Bing said. “We may be one of the first. We are the largest. But we absolutely will not be the last. And so we have got to set a benchmark in terms how to fix our cities.”
...
Republican Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, appearing on other Sunday news programs, also left the door open for federal bailout money. “If the federal government wants to do that, that’s their option,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” But he added, “I don’t view that as the right answer.”
...