Obama's plan to cut Social Security benefits for senior citizens is more than draconian. It will further impoverish millions more elderly people who rely on these already too small checks for over 50 percent of their household budgets., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
July 11, 2013 at 10:43 pm
White House not offering Detroit help to avoid bankruptcy
David Shepardson
The Detroit News
Washington— The White House offered no help to the city of Detroit to avoid a potential bankruptcy filing, but a spokesman Thursday said President Barack Obama is keeping tabs on the city’s financial woes.
White House spokesman Jay Carney was asked by a reporter for the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call at the daily press briefing if Obama planned on doing anything to save Detroit from a possible bankruptcy filing. The president in 2009 helped finance the bankruptcy filings of Detroit-area automakers General Motors and Chrysler.
“I know that the president is aware of the situation in Detroit and that administration officials have been in contact with leaders in Detroit, but I am not aware of any plans or proposals that the president has, but we’re certainly aware of the circumstances,” Carney said.
The state of Michigan appointed an emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, to run the city, which has as much as $20 billion in debt. Last month, the city stopped making payments on some unsecured debts, including pension obligations. Orr is trying to convince some creditors to accept as little as 10 cents on the dollar in an effort to avoid what would be the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Orr and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing in early April met with White House officials including Obama’s senior adviser Valerie Jarrett to discuss Detroit’s financial situation, said Bill Nowling, an Orr spokesman. On Tuesday, Orr updated Jarrett and other White House officials by phone —the same day the New York Times ran a front-page story about Detroit’s finances, Nowling said.
“They wanted an update about what’s going on in Detroit,” he said of this week’s call.
Nowling said at the April White House meeting “there was never a formal ask, but I think the way it was portrayed to me that it was pretty clear there was going to be no bailout ...akin to what we saw in scope and intent for the autos or for Wall Street.”
On July 2, a petition drive was launched on the White House website asking Obama “to address the fundamental issues that led to Detroit’s financial crisis, and to examine the viable option(s) to bankruptcy, canceled pensions, and more poverty and violence.” The petition needs 100,000 signatures to get a response under White House rules. It had 18 supporters as of late Thursday afternoon.
dshepardson@detroitnews.com
(202) 662-8735
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130711/METRO01/307110113#ixzz2YneWyvf4
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