How odd, to read that the Governor of Michigan believes that Detroit's bankruptcy filing is the "right answer". No, it isn't. Bankruptcy means that the city is breaking its promises to certain people, because it could not come to an agreement.
On the one hand conservatives who pushed through tougher personal bankruptcy rules insist that personal responsibility is required; on the other hand Governor Snyder and other Republicans are pushing blame for Detroit's situation onto Democrats (who'd previously been in charge of Detroit's management), but then alleviate themselves of the mess by pushing Detroit through bankruptcy. In other words, it's all about political responsibility.
Then there's this issue of whether or not the US government (or Michigan) should help bailout Detroit. I have news for people: This union of states has, for most of US history, meant that we redistribute funds to those who need it. Without it, there would be no point to being the United States; we'd be the 50 +/- nations of North America.
I'm not saying that the US take on all of Detroit's liabilities. To the contrary, I think every stakeholder should take a haircut, including pensioners and bond holders. What this Republican governor is saying however, is that he's perfectly fine with pensioners taking on most of the debt (residents and corporations within Detroit bear the rest of liabilities), while bond holders get back 100% of their money.
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