Michigan Gov Blames Detroit for Bankruptcy

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder defended his decision to file for bankruptcy Sunday, putting the blame almost entirely on Detroit.

The Republican governor and bankruptcy lawyer Kevyn Orr spoke on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday. The two adamantly stood their ground, holding that filing for Chapter 9 was inevitable, considering the city's history of corruption and inaction.

“In many cases for the last 60 years, people have ignored the realities of the situation. We’re being real now," Snyder told NBC. "This can has been getting kicked down the road for decades. Enough is enough and now's the time to turn it around."

Snyder added that the decline of municipal services for Detroit’s remaining 700,000 residents is another major issue.

“This is a tragic, difficult decision, but a right one,” he said in another interview on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday morning. “It’s not about just more money, it’s about accountable government.”

Now, the next step for the city — which is in roughly $19 billion in debt— is defending its right to file at all. But as Orr said Friday.“I don’t think anybody (is) debating whether or not Detroit is insolvent.”

Next on Orr's list is making significant cuts to the pensions of the city’s 21,000 current retirees — but there he'll face a battle in federal court, where, earlier in the week, groups representing the retirees successfully petitioned a freeze on the bankruptcy process.