.JoAnn Watson: Detroit deserves bailout 'at least' as big as GM The Detroit News
Detroit —Councilwoman JoAnn Watson is reiterating her call for a government bailout of Detroit, saying the city that built the middle class deserves as much help as Wall Street or General Motors.
Addressing the City Council today during Mayor Dave Bing's budget presentation, Watson gave a spirited pitch for federal funds to help the city whose population declined 25 percent since 2000 to 713,777.
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"We are worth it. We are worth at least as much as General Motors or Chrysler or the Wall Street bankers," Watson said. "It was this city that built military vehicles for World War II. It was this city that (invented) the middle class and the five-day work week.
"We should not be in a position to be victims. We are victors. And we should demand respect."
General Motors received $52 billion in government aid, while Chrysler received $12.5 billion, according to published reports. Mayor Dave Bing has traveled to Washington, D.C., repeatedly seeking more federal funds for Detroit.
Watson has floated the idea for years. The liberal magazine the Nation named Watson one of its 14 MVPs in 2009 for promoting a "multifacted Detroit Marshall Plan to revitalize her economically battered city."
In the past, Watson has said the city deserves at least $1 billion.
