Obama drafts $320 million rescue package for bankrupt Detroit

The Obama Administration has pledged $320 million in aid to Detroit as the city emerges from bankruptcy. Bloomberg reports that a delegation of administration officials arrived in the onetime auto-manufacturing capital on Friday and announced a package of federal, state, and private aid.

Detroit, which declared the largest US municipal bankruptcy on July 18th, has more than $18 billion in debts and other obligations. Administration officials pledged grants for addressing crime, transportation, and housing needs. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama appointed Don Graves as deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department to oversee the recovery effort.

Administration officials have said that Congress lacks the political will to fund a federal bailout of Detroit, leaving them to assemble the patchwork of grants and private aid announced this week. Among other things, the grants will be used to tear down and refurbish buildings, Bloomberg reported. The city has nearly 70,000 abandoned homes and 80,000 empty lots, the report said.