Really? The White House is saying to Detroit basically “take a hike” when it comes to a bailout — but, don’t worry, pension holders in Detroit, you have a defender…the Republican Michigan attorney general. This is bizarre and troubling.

The Republican:

Attorney General Bill Schuette announced over the weekend that he plans to represent city retirees in the bankruptcy case because he said their pensions are protected by the state constitution—setting up a battle between state law and the federal bankruptcy code.

“”We’re going to aggressively defend the Michigan constitution,” Mr. Schuette, also a Republican, said in an interview Sunday.

The White House:

Prospects for a federal bailout dimmed further Sunday as Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew suggested Detroit will need to solve its financial problems largely on its own.

“Detroit’s got serious financial problems. They’ve been a long time in the making,” Mr. Lew said on CNN, adding, “I think the issues that Detroit has in terms of problems with its creditors, it’s going to have to work out with its creditors.”

Am I seeing this wrong? Does anyone else see something troubling here?

As I wrote from the beginning, the troubles of Detroit are all about the failure of the so-called “free market”. And regular people should not be paying the price.