Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) reiterated on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday morning that a federal bailout was far from likely for Detroit.
The remarks come after the city of Detroit, shouldered with more than $18 billion in debt, filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy Thursday, the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Though a judge deemed the filing unconstitutional, experts say it is likely to reach federal bankruptcy court.
Snyder said he's not counting on help from the United States government, and he doesn't plan to provide financial assistance on the state level.
"It's not just about putting more money in ... it's about accountable government," he said.
Michigan's congressional leadership is similarly not calling for a bailout: "We just need to step back and think about it," Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich) told the Associated Press.
But former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, said Congress needs to act to stave off problems like Detroit's with national strategies. On "Meet the Press" Sunday, she said the federal government should be helping states like Michigan develop advanced manufacturing clusters to create more middle-class jobs.
"In 1950, which was the heyday of Detroit's burgeoning automotive industry, there were 300,000 manufacturing jobs," she said. "Now there are 27,000 ... It's not just about tearing down blight."
Granholm said the problem extends across the country.
"Detroit is a symbol for the deindustrialization of America," she said Sunday. "This is not just Detroit. There are 50,000 communities across the country that have lost factories since the year 2000. This is not just a Democratic problem. This is a problem across the country."
Snyder praised "great things going on in Detroit" and pointed to an influx of young professionals and new businesses opening, as well as targeted efforts to improve city services, like a blight elimination program.
"The last major obstacle [to Detroit's comeback] is the city government," he said.
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