Michigan’s congressional Democrats are preparing a strategy to get more federal aid for Detroit as it faces the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history and anti-bailout sentiment in Congress, the Detroit News reported today. The Obama administration has said that it won’t rescue Michigan’s largest city from its more than $18.5 billion in debt, while some Republicans in the U.S. Senate are pushing for legislation to ban Detroit bailout funding. Against this political backdrop, Michigan Democrats are planning to meet today in an effort to generate more federal money for the city and find long-term solutions to help struggling cities. The initiative faces unclear prospects with Michigan’s nine GOP members in the Republican-controlled House. The state Republican representatives seem to be taking the lead from Gov. Rick Snyder and Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, who have said they aren’t asking for a federal bailout. Some GOP Michigan members of Congress argue that the bankruptcy process is necessary for Detroit after decades of decline and the best thing Congress can do is to turn around the national economy.
