COMMENTARY | A Detroit City Council member believes President Obama should bail out the Motor City because a large majority of the voters in the city chose him in the 2012 election, according to Fox 2 Detroit. City Council member JoAnn Watson believes the 75 percent of Wayne County voters who backed the president's reelection bid should be rewarded. As someone who studies politics, I see Watson's comments as being reflective of the pay-for-play political environment the city needs to finally get away from.
Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is in federal court right now trying to defend himself against corruption charges. Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano has been the center of countless news reports focusing on various types of corruption and instituting a possible pay-for-play environment in the county he resides over. Former Detroit councilmember Monica Conyers will be a free woman this month now that her imprisonment for bribery will be coming to an end. While Watson is not offering President Obama money for assistance, the basic "Detroit pay-for-play mentality" is still at work in this instance.
Using Watson's train of thought, people who voted for President Obama should be rewarded for their support. It is illegal in the U.S. to pay people or give some type of award for their votes. Mayor David Bing and the current Detroit City Council have been trying to get the city out of the pay-for-play mentality and restore some type of honor to the embattled city. The current statements from the councilmember display how there is more work to be done to exit the stage of Detroit politics that has landed many local politicians in prison and promises to send more in the upcoming months.
At the same time, Watson also shows a narrow-minded approach to helping Detroit out. Should President Obama bail out every city that helped him regain office? Didn't the president help Detroit when he signed the bailouts for General Motors and Chrysler? How would the councilmember feel in the future if a Republican president helped out a conservative city? Votes should not equal assistance, as it countermines democracy and institutes a version of the Detroiter pay-for-play mentality all over the country.
bout 10 years ago. The titty bar scene ain't the same no more
I love my city but its starting to seem like its no hope here
He put on for the city and represents when ever he can... but i aint checking for him 
How about you corrupt nikkas stop wasting resources and get some shyt done.